Council Member Laure Quinlivan, green building consultant Paul Yankie and green education advocate Chuck Lohre presented on Cincinnati’s success building LEED at a conference in Chicago on September 9, 2013.
The U.S. Green Building Council's regional Greening the Heartland conference and exhibition in Chicago featured the presentation "Cincinnati's LEED Property Tax Abatement: How? Why? Results?"
The three green activists shared the secret to Cincinnati’s success as the city with more LEED certified buildings per capita than any in the region.
The secret is the smart 15-year LEED property tax abatement that Cincinnati Council passed in 2007 and tweaked in 2012, sparking the rehabilitation or construction of 184 LEED-certified buildings. Cincinnati has a total of more than 500 LEED certified residential units.
The LEED levels of the City of Cincinnati’s 184 green buildings are:
Platinum – 6
Gold – 25
Silver – 84
Certified – 69
Council Member Laure Quinlivan built a LEED Gold home in 2011. In 2012, she authored a change to the city’s tax abatement to incentivize higher levels of green building. Chuck Lohre’s office is LEED Platinum.
Cincinnati’s program is one of the most progressive in the nation and is responsible for millions of dollars in residential and commercial investment during the recession that would otherwise not have occurred. Commercial buildings receive a 12-year, 75% property tax abatement for LEED Silver, Gold, or Platinum certifications.
Videos in the presentation illustrate how residential and commercial projects were built in Cincinnati versus other communities, and the benefits to the city including increased property taxes on the land, construction jobs, construction material sales, income tax generating residents, commercial jobs and revitalized neighborhoods.
The presentation is available in long or short versions for Cincinnati community council and other civic meetings, professional association events and municipalities.
Contact Chuck Lohre, 513-260-9025, chuck@lohre.com.
Chuck Lohre, chuck@lohre.com, President, LEED AP
Green Cincinnati Education Advocacy, LEED Platinum Headquarters, http://www.green-cincinnati.com
126A West 14th Street, 2nd Floor, Cincinnati, OH 45202-7535
877-608-1736, 513-961-1174, Cell 513-260-9025, Fax 513-961-1192
2. Cincinnati’s LEED Tax
Abatement Success
The story of how a small mid-western city is
well on its way to having more LEED buildings
per capita than anywhere in the world!
2
2012 ANNUA
3. Chuck Lohre, President, Green Cincinnati
Education Advocacy
Chuck Lohre is the second-generation leader of Lohre &
Associates, a Cincinnati-based marketing communications
agency with deep roots in the construction industry. Chuck
created Green Cincinnati, a division of Lohre & Associates
to advocate for sustainable efforts and to educate the
public about all aspects of green building.
Since then, Chuck planned a new office which received LEED
Platinum, and registered his own residence as a LEED
project. He also started a green newsletter with thousands
of subscribers and continues to lead numerous tours of
green buildings open to professionals and the general
public.
In the Queen City of the West, Chuck has come to be known as
Mr. Green Cincinnati and is frequently asked to speak at
events, contribute articles and comment on green efforts
in the area for a variety of media. Chuck is an active
member of the Cincinnati chapter of the USGBC and is on
the Advisory Committee of the Civic Garden Center of
Greater Cincinnati’s Green Learning Station.
Chuck Lohre <chuck.lohre@green-cincinnati.com>
4. Laure Quinlivan, City of Cincinnati Council
Member
Laure Quinlivan is in her second term on Cincinnati City
Council and Chairs the Strategic Growth Committee which
oversees economic development, and environmental
issues.
She spearheaded improvements this year to Cincinnati's LEED
ordinance, which rewards citizens and companies who
build LEED certified energy efficient buildings with a 15
year property tax abatement.
Quinlivan's work on council includes helping neighborhoods
revitalize through Community Entertainment District
designations that attract new restaurants.
She also created Mobile Food Vending and Mobile Produce
Vending in Cincinnati and led the effort to create a new
Business Retention Program for the City.
Peabody Award-winning journalist who has also won 18
Emmys for her investigative reporting work for television
stations.
Laure Quinlivan <laure.quinlivan@cincinnati-oh.gov>
5. Paul Yankie is the Chief Financial Officer of
Green Building Consulting
A provider of certification, technical assistance, consulting and
education on environmentally sustainable building and
community design, building science, and energy
efficiency.
Green Building Consulting has certified nearly 200 projects
across the south, mid-west and east coast regions with
Paul personally acting as QAD on more than half of them.
Paul holds leadership roles in the following organizations
within the Greater Cincinnati area: Chairperson of the
Residential Green Buildings Member Circle of the USGBC
Cincinnati Chapter, Liaison to USGBC National for their
“Green the MLS” and “Value Healthy and Efficient
Affordable Housing” Advocacy Campaigns.
Current and past professional designations include: LEED AP
Homes, LEED for Homes Green Rater, LEED for Homes
Provider QAD, Securities Licenses – Series 7, Series 63,
Series 65, Series 24 and Life and Health Insurance
License for the states of OH and KY.
Paul Yankie <pyankie@greenbldgconsulting.com>
6. Learning Objectives
1. What is Cincinnati doing and how did we get
here?
2. How do you pick a Green Building standard?
3. How do you implement a Green Building
incentive program?
4. What are the benefits of a tax abatement?
5. Lessons Learned, Best Practices, Takeaways?
12. Laure Quinlivan, City of Cincinnati Council
Member
Laure Quinlivan is in her second term on Cincinnati City
Council and Chairs the Strategic Growth Committee which
oversees economic development, and environmental
issues.
She spearheaded improvements this year to Cincinnati's LEED
ordinance, which rewards citizens and companies who
build LEED certified energy efficient buildings with a 15
year property tax abatement.
Quinlivan's work on council includes helping neighborhoods
revitalize through Community Entertainment District
designations that attract new restaurants.
She also created Mobile Food Vending and Mobile Produce
Vending in Cincinnati and led the effort to create a new
Business Retention Program for the City.
Peabody Award-winning journalist who has also won 18
Emmys for her investigative reporting work for television
stations.
Laure Quinlivan <laure.quinlivan@cincinnati-oh.gov>
14. Spark for LEED program
Local USGBC met with City Administration
in 2006 to brainstorm green building
incentives.
City issue – no budget and no staff to
manage a new program.
Solution – tax abatement for LEED
15. Why a Tax Abatement?
• No city staff or funds required
• LEED-CRA is easy adaptation of Ohio’s
Community Reinvestment Act (CRA)
legislation
• City already had 10 year abatement for
new construction, to $275,000
• LEED abatement is 15 years for new
construction and up to 12 renovation
16. Cincinnati’s LEED
Residential Property Tax Break
• Up to $562,000 abated for 15
years for LEED, Silver, or Gold.
• No $ limit on abatement for 15
years for LEED Platinum
17.
18. Cincinnati’s LEED
Commercial Property Tax Break
• New Construction: 75%
Abatement of improved value up to
15 Years, No Cap
• Renovations: 75% Abatement of
improved value up to 12 Years, No
Cap
19.
20. Property Tax Incentives for Energy Efficiency
Description
Abatement
Duration
Maximum
Abatement
Anne Arundel County - High Performance Dwelling Property Tax
Credit
80%
5 years
$3000/year
Baltimore County - Property Tax Credit for High Performance
Buildings and Homes
100%
5 years
$1000000/y
ear
Howard County - High Performance and Green Building
Property Tax Credit
50%
4 years
-
Local Option - Property Tax Credit for High Performance
Buildings
N/A
-
-
Montgomery County - High Performance Building Property Tax
Credit
75%
5 years
-
Nevada
Property Tax Abatement for Green Buildings
35%
10 years
-
New York
Local Option - Real Property Tax Exemption for Green Buildings
75%
10 years
-
City of Cincinnati - Property Tax Abatement for Green
Buildings
100%
15 years
Unlimited
City of Cleveland - Residential Property Tax Abatement for
Green Buildings
100%
15 years
Unlimited
Local Option - Property Tax Assessment for Energy Efficient
Buildings
-
5 years
-
State
Maryland
Cincinnati
Tax Break
Largest
&
Longest
Ohio
Virginia
21. LEED Tax
Abatement Benefits
• Owners pay no taxes on improvement value
of property for up to fifteen years.
• Tax abatement remains with property and
transfers to a new property owner.
• LEED homes are healthier, utilities lower
23. Quinlivan home –
LEED revitalizes older established
neighborhoods
Before and After >
Video: http://www.LQReportingtoYou.com or http://youtu.be/aXAa6QiLqNE
26. LEED Highlights:
Cincinnati has over 80% of all
LEED projects in Ohio.
Total LEED Homes & Condos: 167
66 Certified, 76 Silver,
19 Gold, 6 Platinum
Construction Type: 140 New Construction,
27 Rehab
27. LEED Highlights:
Cincinnati has over 80% of all
LEED projects in Ohio.
Total LEED Commercial: 17 (519 units)
3 Certified, 8 Silver,
6 Gold, 0 Platinum
Construction Type: 9 Multi-Unit Apartments
(519 units), 8 Rehab
28. Go for GOLD! January 2013
changes to LEED program
32. Paul Yankie is the Chief Financial Officer of
Green Building Consulting
A provider of certification, technical assistance, consulting and
education on environmentally sustainable building and
community design, building science, and energy
efficiency.
Green Building Consulting has certified nearly 200 projects
across the south, mid-west and east coast regions with
Paul personally acting as QAD on more than half of them.
Paul holds leadership roles in the following organizations
within the Greater Cincinnati area: Chairperson of the
Residential Green Buildings Member Circle of the USGBC
Cincinnati Chapter, Liaison to USGBC National for their
“Green the MLS” and “Value Healthy and Efficient
Affordable Housing” Advocacy Campaigns.
Current and past professional designations include: LEED AP
Homes, LEED for Homes Green Rater, LEED for Homes
Provider QAD, Securities Licenses – Series 7, Series 63,
Series 65, Series 24 and Life and Health Insurance
License for the states of OH and KY.
Paul Yankie <pyankie@greenbldgconsulting.com>
33. How Do You Implement a Green
Building Incentive Program?
33
2012 ANNUA
35. Approval Process
•Residential
• 1 Application, 1 Certificate, Automatic Approval
•Commercial
• The City approves application for documentation
and work completion
• The City analyzes the project financials, many
times in conjunction with the NDC (Neighborhood
Development Corporations), to determine whether
the project demonstrates a “need” for the tax
exemption. This step is skipped if LEED
37. How Do You Pick a Green
Building Standard?
37
2012 ANNUA
38. Why Did Cincinnati
Pick LEED?
• Because of who runs it: US Green
Building Council
– Non-Governmental Agency
– Non-Profit
– Consensus Based Decisions
– Great Brand Recognition
– Voluntary Program
– Tiered Program
39. Why Did Great American
Pick LEED?
• Higher
occupancy rates
• Higher resale
value
40. Why Did Cincinnati
Pick LEED?
• Because of the Well Documented Outcomes
from LEED Certified Buildings
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Reduction of Operating Costs
Energy Savings
Water Savings
Improved Occupant Health and Comfort
Increased Occupant Productivity
Reduction of Potential Liability
Enhanced Building Marketability
41.
42.
43. What are the benefits of a Tax
Abatement?
43
2012 ANNUA
44. The Benefits to the
Municipality
• Community Quality of Life
– Reduce the impacts of natural resource
consumption
– Enhance residents comfort and health
– Perception of being a forward thinking
community and thus attracting a forward
thinking resident (young professionals,
innovators, etc.)
– Better Schools?
45. The Benefits to the
Municipality
• Infrastructure
– Minimize Strain on Local Infrastructure by
Shrinking Water, Sewer and Energy Use
– More Mileage Out of Your Infrastructure
• Cincinnati Metropolitan Sewer District
46. The Benefits to the
Municipality
• Economic Benefits
– Increased Property Tax Collection – NOW &
LATER
– Increased Income Tax Collection
– Increase in Local Spending
– Job Creation
– Better Buildings = Better Tenants = Increased
Rents / Purchase Price = Increased Property
Valuation = Increased Tax Collection = ???
47.
48. Residential Tax
Abatement Math
•
Example 1 – New Construction Single Family Home (Quinlivan Residence)
– $415,640 Market Total Value (including land)
– $118,970 Market Land Value
– $296,670 Improved Value
– House achieves LEED Gold and qualifies for 100% of Improved Value up to
$564,000
– Annual Tax Savings - $296,670 (improved value) x 2.187% (tax rate) =
$6,488/year
– Total Tax Savings over the 15 year abatement - $6,488 x 15 = $97,320
– Total Tax Savings for Non-LEED Abatement for same house = $60,142+
50. Commercial Tax
Abatement Math
•
Example 2 – New Construction Commercial Structure (Moerlein
Lager House)
– $3,000,000 Total Market Value (including land)
– $750,000 Lot Value
– $2,250,000 Improved Value
– Building Achieves LEED Silver Certification thus having an
abatement of 75% of Improved Value of $2,250,000
– Annual Tax Savings - $2,250,000 x 75% x 2.187% = $36,905
– Total Tax Savings 15 year abatement - $36,905 x 15 =
$553,575
– Without Cincinnati LEED tax abatement: $0 (might be able to
negotiate an abatement)
51. What will critics say?
• “No one will use it”
• “The development was going to
happen anyway”
• “You’re giving away money”
54. Lessons Learned,
Best Practices, Takeaways
1. Urban revitalization is the benefit of tax abatements.
2. USGBC’s LEED Certification program adapts quickly to
advanced standards and is the lowest cost to administer.
3. LEED Green Building programs are accepted by
legislators globally, nationally, state and city wide.
4. Use the media, builders and residents to promote your
sustainable building program.
5. Sustainable cities preserve natural resources for future
generations.
59. Cincinnatians Share City’s
Green Success in Chicago
Council Member Laure Quinlivan, green building consultant Paul Yankie and green education advocate
Chuck Lohre presented on Cincinnati’s success building LEED at a conference in Chicago on
September 9, 2013.
The U.S. Green Building Council's regional Greening the Heartland conference and exhibition
in Chicago featured the presentation "Cincinnati's LEED Property Tax Abatement: How? Why?
Results?"
The three green activists shared the secret to Cincinnati’s success as the city with more LEED certified
buildings per capita than any in the region.
The secret is the smart 15-year LEED property tax abatement that Cincinnati Council passed in 2007
and tweaked in 2012, sparking the rehabilitation or construction of 184 LEED-certified buildings.
Cincinnati has a total of more than 500 LEED certified residential units.
The LEED levels of the City of Cincinnati’s 184 green buildings are:
Platinum – 6
Gold – 25
Silver – 84
Certified – 69
60. Cincinnatians Share City’s
Green Success in Chicago
Council Member Laure Quinlivan built a LEED Gold home in 2011. In 2012, she authored a change to the
city’s tax abatement to incentivize higher levels of green building. Chuck Lohre’s office is LEED Platinum.
Cincinnati’s program is one of the most progressive in the nation and is responsible for millions of dollars in
residential and commercial investment during the recession that would otherwise not have occurred.
Commercial buildings receive a 12-year, 75% property tax abatement for LEED Silver, Gold, or Platinum
certifications.
Videos in the presentation illustrate how residential and commercial projects were built in Cincinnati versus
other communities, and the benefits to the city including increased property taxes on the land, construction
jobs, construction material sales, income tax generating residents, commercial jobs and revitalized
neighborhoods. Another video documents the construction of Quinlivan’s LEED Gold home and the
elements that make it “green”, at http://lqreportingtoyou.com/index.php?page=videos&vid=73.
Laure Quinlivan, Paul Yankie and Chuck Lohre will give the presentation again at Cincinnati’s 3E Summit,
http://www.3esummitcincinnati.org/, Nov 22, 2013 at Xavier University’s Cintas Center. It is also available in
long, http://www.slideshare.net/ChuckLohre/cincinnati-leed-presentation-9-2813/, or short versions for
Cincinnati community council and other civic meetings, professional association events and municipalities.
Contact Chuck Lohre, 513-260-9025, chuck@lohre.com.
Editor's Notes
Perry Bush Homes, Citirama Cincinnati
Keystone Parke, Dan Neyer Properties
BALTIMORE HAS 100% ABATEMENT FOR FIVE YEARS. CLEVELAND HAS 100% FOR 15 YEARS, BUT THE STANDARD IS NOT JUST LEED, AND THEREFORE HAS HAD MIXED RESULTS.
No need to demonstrate economic need to receive LEED
My options: spend more than 250,000 to rehab and still have problem areas in home, or tear it down and build an energy efficient home in its place and stay in neighborhood
All 7 LEED homes sold, great solution to urban infill.
Add Laure’s notes: Commercial units that have more than 4 units count as one, The Banks for example
Add Laure’s notes: Commercial units that have more than 4 units count as one, The Banks for example
CHANGE IS YOU GET A BETTER TAX BREAK FOR GOING TO HIGHER LEVELS OF LEED, BECAUSE THAT’S A BIGGER INVESTMENT AND YOU SHOULD BE REWARDED FOR GOING AS HIGH AS YOU CAN.
BASIC LEED CERTIFIED YOU ONLY GET 275,000 FOR 15 YEARS….SILVER IT’S UP TO 400,000 AND GOLD IS 562,000….NO LIMIT ON AMOUNT FOR PLATINUM Commercial changes: No tax abatement for Certified
I’ll give you three tips. TIP #1: You start by thinking big. There’s a study by a University of Cincinnati Doctorial candidate that is in the process of being published that researched the available green building incentive programs currently in place across the US and assessed their effectiveness based on adoption rates of the programs. And the results are exactly what we see when we talk to our raters across the country. Bigger is better. Reduced permit fees, expedited processing, small tax credits/rebates that can hardly pay for an upgraded water heater even if you qualify to use them have little effect. Tax abatements on the other hand…
Tip #2 – MAKE IT EASY! ON EVERYBODY!. The Developers, The City, The Homeowner, EVERYBODY! Now I’ll grant you, that this looks pretty complicated. But with a closer look, you’ll see that this is a similar process that most every community goes through to grant some sort of economic incentive to the latest greatest project being developed. The green piece just adds one step that takes an additional 14 days to complete. And in the case of commercial projects, it actually saves time for the both the city administration and the developer. That’s the point. It has to or this program never takes off.
Residential – SIMPLE. Commercial – SIMPLER. Financial Analysis is no small amount of work, on the front end of the project with no guarantee, for the developer. They are happy to skip it.
TIP #3: PROMOTE WELL & PROMOTE OFTEN. EX. Columbia Township. Use everyone to promote. Media, your builders/developers, residents. EVERYONE
First of all, you don’t have to pick just one. But it might not be the worst idea to start. Take Cleveland for Example… But if you go this route make sure that your structure does not create unintended consequences.
Our very own Cincinnati Metropolitan Sewer District is in the midst of a $3 Billion federally mandated Consent Decree involving the construction of new, separated sewer infrastructure, enhanced treatment capacity at MSD’s wastewater treatment plants, and installation of rainwater source controls. Other communities are watching this and wondering where the money would come from.
Already get 10 years
Point #1 – There is some historical reference for this. Point#2 – Ex. My house & Potterhill/Hueber Point#3 – Next Slide
There are always critics. Ours is the county auditor. But you’ll hear from a developer who’s made a multi-million dollar investment in LEED multi-unit buildings that he would not have made without the tax break.