Hoekstra Reintroduces Bill to Increase Energy Savings, Improve the Environment

Press Release

Hoekstra Reintroduces Bill to Increase Energy Savings, Improve the Environment

U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, today reintroduced legislation that would amend the U.S. tax code to encourage investment in new heating and cooling systems. The Cool and Efficient Buildings Act is similar to that which was introduced in the 108th and 109th sessions of Congress.

The legislation would reduce the depreciation period for Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration (HVACR) systems in commercial buildings from the current 39-year period to 20 years.

"HVACR systems in today's buildings are old, inefficient and harmful to the environment and need to be replaced," said Hoekstra. "The Cool and Efficient Buildings Act is common sense legislation that encourages energy efficiency, protects the environment and supports the 123,000 workers in the HVACR industry."

New HVACR systems are 40 percent more efficient than those installed 20 years ago. The bill will provide commercial building owners the incentive needed to replace old systems. The simple change is estimated to achieve energy savings of 137 trillion BTUs annually, which is equivalent to the amount of energy consumed by approximately 1.4 million U.S. households every year.

The bill would also retire 37,000 chillers that use chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) refrigerants, which were banned from the U.S. under the Montreal Protocol in 1995 due to concerns about the impact of CFCs on the ozone. In addition, the accelerated replacement of cooling equipment will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of 174,672 passenger vehicles in 2007 to 16.5 million vehicles by 2015.

"The Cool and Efficient Buildings Act will encourage building owners to invest in new and more efficient equipment, which will create jobs and reduce emissions into the environment," Hoekstra said."Replacing a building's HVACR system enables building owners to not only decrease energy consumption and save money, but to create new business for manufacturers and contractors."

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