The One Big Beautiful Bill Act eliminates the Section 179D Commercial Buildings Energy Efficiency Deduction after June 30, 2026. That is not a rumor — it is in the legislation.
What 179D is worth
With prevailing wage and apprenticeship requirements met:
Without prevailing wage: $0.50-$1.19/SF. Still meaningful, but a fraction of the full amount.
Why this matters for LED retrofits
Most commercial LED retrofits easily exceed the 25% energy reduction threshold. A 70% lighting energy reduction — which is our average across 5,000+ projects — qualifies comfortably.
For a 100,000 SF building:
The timeline problem
179D requires completion and certification before the deadline. That means:
1. Audit and design
2. Installation
3. Third-party certification
4. Tax filing
If you start today, you have roughly 12 weeks to complete everything. That is tight but doable for most projects.
What to do now
If you have been considering a lighting retrofit, the 179D deadline makes the math dramatically better — but only if you move. After June 30, this deduction is gone.
We can model the 179D impact for your specific building as part of a free lighting evaluation.