The Yudelson Associates Blog: What's New

Monday, March 19, 2007

Green Buildings Hotter than Chili Sauce in New Mexico!

Green building marketers, consultants and designers, pay attention. New Mexico Senate Bill 463, just passed and expected to be signed by Governor Bill Richardson, provides up to $10 million annually for commerical and residential green building tax credits, using LEED certification as the main tool: $5 million for commercial buildings and $5 million for residential. If greater than $25,000, the credit must be taken equally over four years. Here are two examples: a 50,000 sq.ft. LEED Gold building would get a credit of $127,500, or about $2.50 per sq.ft.; a 3,000 sq.ft. residence would get a credit of $11,000. These are credits: they directly reduce state taxes, dollar for dollar. Taking our example, at the LEED Gold level, there could be almost 2 million sq.ft. of such commercial buildings (or 39 total buildings at 50,000 sq.ft.) before the credits run out each year. At the residential level, the credit could pay for 400 such homes. Because of the “first come, first served” nature of the credits each year, the message to New Mexico builders, homeowners and developers is clear: get going! And for green building consultants, the message is also clear: find out about the law and open an Albuquerque or Santa Fe office immediately! For green building marketing, the tax credit should be the leading line in your marketing message. For a complete text of the green building tax credit law, email .

Posted by Jerry on 03/19/2007 at 06:23 AM

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