Hear the Eco: Village of Pinecrest Incentives for Green Building and Remodeling

By Guest contributor, Melanie Dawn Wood, Sales Associate, Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate Pinecrest office

The Village of Pinecrest is dedicated to a more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable future for its residents. For instance, at the municipal level, the Village has enacted “green purchasing” and “recycling initiatives” for the municipal center and parks. In addition, the Village’s “Green Action Plan” pledges to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 7% below the 1996 levels by 2014.

But your Village didn’t stop there. Recognizing that, as noted by the US Green Building Council, remodeling your existing home “is inherently greener than building a new one,” Village of Pinecrest also offers incentives for builders and homeowners to go green with those remodeling/retrofitting projects. Ordinance 2011-5 provides expedited permitting and rebates of permitting fees if your remodeling project meets any of the many certification requirements from the Us Green Building Council, the Florida Green Building Council, Green Globes “Green Building Initiatives” or federal Energy Star standards. Permit fee rebates range from 15% up to 30% depending on which green certification is achieved.

The incentives provided by the Village of Pinecrest are in addition to the many tax credits, rebates and other incentives available to homeowners at the state and federal levels, including the 30% federal tax credit on your personal tax return for qualifying green remodeling projects.

So before you start your next remodeling project, be sure to contact Village offices for details because green remodeling/retrofits save money on your utility bills, are better for your health and the environment, and will help increase your re-sale value.