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COLORADO REAL ESTATE JOURNAL
— December 17, 2014-January 6, 2015
T
he message from
the voters in this
year’s election could
be interpreted as, “We are
tired of the gridlock and
partisanship!” Congress and
the White House may be
looking for opportunities to
illustrate that they can get
something done. As architects
on the front lines of job
creation, we have two easy-to-
implement ideas about how
to do just that. Each has as
its goal a primary concern of
voters – increasing jobs and
creating opportunity for small
business. Better still, each has
bipartisan support.
First, Congress can take
a big step toward reforming
how the government spends
taxpayer dollars on design and
construction.
The pool
of firms
included in
expanding
“short-lists”
under federal
procurement
policy may be
discouraging
the best
architecture
firms
from ever
competing
for government projects.
Firms are often forced to
spend hundreds of thousands
of dollars to compete for a
contract they have a small
chance of winning when a list
of three to five firms grows
to many more. That means
small architecture and design
firms face the dilemma of
“betting it all” on a contract
they have diminished chances
of winning, or declining to
pursue work for which they
might be imminently qualified.
Legislation in both the
House and Senate (in the
House: Design-Build Efficiency
and Jobs Act of 2013 - H.R.
2750; in the Senate: S.2652)
would alleviate the strain
on firms by improving the
odds that a qualified design
firm can win a contract. The
“Design-Build” legislation
would provide more certainty
and opportunities for design
firms of all sizes that wish to
enter the federal marketplace.
It will ensure that agencies
have the ability to select the
most qualified design-build
teams that will deliver the best
buildings for agencies and the
public. And it will encourage
more of the best talent in
the architectural community
to bid for federal projects,
which will benefit not only job
creation, but also taxpayers.
Second, Congress should
restore an important
incentive for energy-efficient
buildings, the Section 179D
incentive, which was first
included in the tax code in
the Energy Policy Act of
2005. Commercial buildings
consume roughly 36 percent
of the electricity generated in
this country, so improving a
building’s energy efficiency
is a smart shift to energy
independence and lower
electric bills. In the statute,
the more energy efficient the
building is, the bigger the
deduction (up to $1.80 per
square foot). Encouraging
savings through conservation
is an environmental issue
with agreement between
Republicans and Democrats.
Unfortunately, Congress let
the incentive expire at the
end of 2013. Restoring it will
create jobs and save energy: a
win-win for everybody.
The media seem to favor
concentrating on the discord
on Capitol Hill – perhaps
the optimistic view is that
this election showed that
discord is old news. The two
measures we highlight here
are opportunities to prove
to voters that Washington
is actually listening – and a
chance for Congress and the
White House to make news of
a different kind.
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Taylor Kohrs.
9351 Grant Street, Suite 500 • Denver, CO 80229
EXPERIENCE
A partnership withTaylor Kohrs is all about the experience:
Ours andYours.With our 30 years of construction knowledge and
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Kevin
Eronimous, AIA
2014 President,
AIA Colorado
Congress can
take a big
step toward
reforming how
the government
spends taxpayer
dollars on design
and construction.
