utility & performance incentives

Energy efficiency doesn’t just lower a building’s carbon footprint — it can put real money back into an owner’s pocket, if you know where to look and how to prove it. Federal deductions, utility rebates, and local tax credits all exist to reward high-performing buildings, but nearly every one of them has a catch: you have to demonstrate the savings, not just claim them. That’s where SBP comes in.

Because our foundation is rigorous, DOE-caliber energy modeling, we don’t just help you find the incentive — we help you earn it. Programs like the federal 179D deduction were literally built around energy modeling as the qualification mechanism; utility custom incentive programs size their rebates off modeled or measured savings; and county tax credit programs require documented, verifiable performance improvement. SBP sits at the center of all of it — running the technical analysis that both shapes a better-performing building and substantiates the incentives that building has earned. Across every program below, SBP’s role is the technical work — modeling, calculations, and certification documentation.

Federal Tax Incentives
SBP helps owners, developers, and designers evaluate and document eligibility for federal energy tax incentives, including the Section 179D Energy Efficient Commercial Buildings Deduction and the Section 45L New Energy Efficient Home Credit. These programs reward buildings and dwelling units that outperform code baselines — but claiming them requires defensible, IRS-recognized energy modeling and certification. SBP provides that technical backbone to your CPA or tax advisor.

A note on current program status: Recent federal legislation placed sunset provisions on both 179D and 45L, and the two now behave differently. 179D is tied to when a project begins construction, so it remains available to projects already underway — SBP continues to support clients with projects currently in construction or moving through design and documentation. 45L is tied to when a unit is acquired, sold, or leased, so its window has largely closed for new projects going forward; it may still apply to units delivered before the cutoff or in lookback and amended-return situations. SBP tracks the federal landscape and can advise on exactly where a given project stands.

Utility Incentive Programs
Across the Mid-Atlantic & beyond, utilities run some of the most generous — and most underused — efficiency incentive programs available to building owners. SBP helps clients identify and pursue incentives through programs including:

• DC Sustainable Energy Utility (DCSEU) — commercial rebates and custom/Pay-for-Performance incentives
• Pepco — prescriptive and custom business incentive programs (EmPOWER Maryland)
• BGE — commercial and multifamily efficiency incentive programs (EmPOWER Maryland)
• PECO — Pennsylvania business energy efficiency rebates and incentives
• Other regional utility programs, evaluated project by project

Because these programs are built on measured or modeled energy savings, SBP’s whole-building energy modeling does double duty: it’s already answering the design questions your project needs answered, and it produces exactly the calculations and documentation these programs require. Application submission, rebate processing, and payment logistics are handled through the utility program directly.

Montgomery County (MD) Tax Credits & Grants
Montgomery County offers one of the region’s most valuable local incentive structures: a two-tiered Energy-Efficient Buildings property tax credit, offering up to 100% credit against County property taxes for qualifying new construction and existing-building energy improvements. SBP guides clients through eligibility screening and the technical documentation required to secure and sustain these credits — along with other County Grant and incentive programs as they become available. As with our other incentive work, SBP provides the technical substantiation to your CPA or tax advisor.

Pennsylvania Tier II RECs
Get paid for efficiency. Pennsylvania’s Alternative Energy Portfolio Standard (AEPS) creates a compliance market for Alternative Energy Credits, and its Tier II category recognizes something most REC programs don’t: energy efficiency and demand-side management projects — LED lighting retrofits, HVAC optimization, VFD installations, and similar measures — alongside combined heat and power and other qualifying resources. For an new construction or existing efficiency project, that market represents an additional, often-overlooked revenue stream layered on top of any utility rebate.  SBP performs all necessary underlying energy savings calculations and leverages other industry partners to facilitate the registration, certification, and credit sales.

Whatever the program, the pattern is the same: performance has to be proven before it can be rewarded. SBP’s modeling-driven approach means that proof is already built into the project — incentive capture becomes an outcome of good design, backed by technical documentation you can hand straight to whoever’s filing the claim.