My philosophy is that when it comes to tax benefits and other reasons to do an energy projects, be careful not to let the tail wag the dog. When you’re pitching, don’t delve into tax credits or deductions. They can be problematic for the following reasons:
- These kinds of financial promises come and go because tax codes change. Why risk making a promise that you can’t keep?
- If you can’t convince a person that non-utility cost financial benefits are greater than the benefits of saving energy or taxes, then you’re either working in the wrong market segment or not thinking very creatively.
In fact, in most cases, savings shouldn’t be driving the bus. What should drive the bus? Productivity increases. Waste decreases. Shrinkage decreases. Increased rents. Decreased vacancy. Increased sales price per foot. These are the positive outcomes you should talk about, and if you take the time to analyze those non-utility cost financial benefits, and then quantify and monetize them, you won’t have to worry about whether the tax benefits are big, small, temporary or permanent, period.
