Commercial property owners may qualify for a tax deduction for making their buildings energy efficient. The Internal Revenue Service has established a process to certify the required energy savings in order to claim the deduction.

The commercial building deduction, which was enacted in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, allows taxpayers to deduct the cost of energy-efficient property installed in commercial buildings.

The amount deductible may be as much as $1.80 per square foot of building floor area for buildings that achieve a 50-percent energy savings target. Buildings below the 50-percent threshold may, nevertheless, qualify for a deduction of up to 60 cents per square foot of building floor area if they meet a 16⅔-percent energy savings target.

To claim the deduction, the taxpayer must obtain certification that the required energy savings will be achieved. The Department of Energy will create and maintain a public list of software that must be used to calculate energy savings for purposes of providing the certification.

For more information, see notice 2006-52 at www.irs.gov.