REBATES AND TAX CREDITS FOR SKYLIGHTS, WINDOWS AND DOORS

Many local utilities provide financial incentives for purchasing ENERGY STAR qualified windows, doors, and skylights. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 that allowed consumers to receive a federal tax credit for energy efficient improvements made on their home in 2006, 2007, and 2009. Energy efficient improvements made on homes in 2008 are not included.

What is a tax credit? Unlike a deduction, which reduces the amount of income subject to tax, a tax credit directly reduces the tax itself, or increases the amount of your federal tax refund.

When is the deadline? The tax credit applies to improvements made from January 1, 2006 through December 31, 2007 and from January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009. April 15, 2008 was the deadline to claim a credit for window, door, and skylight purchases on 2007 taxes. April 15, 2010 is the deadline for claiming a credit for window, door, and skylight purchases on 2009 taxes.

How much money will I receive for installing skylights, windows, and/or doors? By installing eligible windows and skylights, you may receive a tax credit of 10 percent of the cost up to $200. Exterior doors qualify for a tax credit of 10 percent of the cost up to $500. Installation costs are not included. The maximum amount of homeowner credit for all improvements combined (including roofing, insulation, HVAC, and water heaters) is $500 during the three-year period (2006, 2007, and 2009) of the tax credit.

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What windows, doors, and skylights are eligible for the federal tax credit? All ENERGY STAR qualified windows and skylights that are installed in the taxpayer's primary residence and are qualified in the appropriate ENERGY STAR climate zone are eligible to receive a tax credit. Most ENERGY STAR qualified exterior doors installed in the taxpayer's primary residence and qualified in the appropriate climate zone are also eligible to receive a tax credit, with the exception of exterior doors installed in certain parts of California.

ENERGY STAR Qualification of RES97 Rated Skylights

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has created a second representation of the minimum U-Factor performance requirements necessary for ENERGY STAR qualification for sky lights still rated under NFRC 1997 procedures for residential windows (RES97) that rated skylights at 90 degrees (Table 1). The current ENERGY STAR qualification criteria for sky lights presume performance is rated using the NFRC 2001 procedures, which rate skylights at 20 degrees. The RES97
procedures result in substantially lower U-Factor ratings than the NFRC 2001 procedures. The new ENERGY STAR performance criteria for RES97 rated skylights are intended to represent energy efficiency benchmarks equivalent to those defined for NFRC 2001 rated sky lights. DOE established these ENERGY STAR RES97 criteria in light of NFRC’s recent
decision to permit sky light manufacturers with RES97 rated products to use the residential rating numbers in the new NFRC one-size label until the product’s RES97 test results expire. Since NFRC allowed RES97 testing until April 1, 2004, and test results are valid for four years, RES97 rated products could be in the marketplace until March 31, 2008.

ENERGY STAR Marketing and Labeling of RES97 Rated Skylights
Skylights rated using RES97 must meet the following requirements to be marketed and labeled as ENERGY STAR:
1. Have NFRC-certified performance that meets or exceeds the ENERGY STAR qualification criteria for RES97 rated products;
2. Follow NFRC certification and labeling requirements and guidelines for RES97 rated skylights; in particular, skylights must display the NFRC one-size label which states: “RES97 rated at 90 degrees” on or before October 1, 2004; and
3. Abide by all applicable requirements of the ENERGY STAR Identity Guidelines and ENERGY STAR for Windows, Doors, and Skylights Label and Promotional Map Use Guidelines.

TERMS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Deck/sheathing: The surface, usually plywood or oriented strand board (OSB), to which roofing materials are applied.

Dormer: A small structure projecting from a sloped roof, usually with a window.

Drip edge: An L-shaped strip (usually metal) installed along roof edges to allow water run off to drip clear of the deck, eaves and siding.

Eave: The horizontal lower edge of a sloped roof.

Fascia: A flat board, band or face located at a cornice's outer edge.

Felt/underlayment: A sheet of asphalt-saturated material (often called tar paper) used as a secondary layer of protection for the roof deck.

Fire rating: System for classifying the fire resistances of various materials. Roofing materials are rated Class A, B or C, with Class A materials having the highest resistance to fire originating outside the structure.

Flashing: Pieces of metal used to prevent the seepage of water around any intersection or projection in a roof system, such as vent pipes, chimneys, valleys and joints at vertical walls.

Louvers: Slatted devices installed in a gable or soffit (the underside of eaves) to ventilate the space below a roof deck and equalize air temperature and moisture.

Oriented strand board (OSB): Roof deck panels (4 by 8 feet) made of narrow bits of wood, installed lengthwise and crosswise in layers, and held together with a resin glue. OSB often is used as a substitute for plywood sheets.

Penetrations: Vents, pipes, stacks, chimneys-anything that penetrates a roof deck.

Rafters: The supporting framing to which a roof deck is attached.

Rake: The inclined edge of a roof over a wall.

Ridge: The top edge of two intersecting sloping roof surfaces.

Sheathing: The boards or sheet materials that are fastened to rafters to cover a house or building.

Slope: Measured by rise in inches for each 12 inches of horizontal run: A roof with a 4-in-12 slope rises 4 inches for every foot of horizontal distance.

Square: The common measurement for roof area. One square is 100 square feet (10 by 10 feet).

Truss: Engineered components that supplement rafters in many newer homes and buildings. Trusses are designed for specific applications and cannot be cut or altered.

Valley: The angle formed at the intersection of two sloping roof surfaces.

Vapor retarder: A material designed to restrict the passage of water vapor through a roof system or wall.

Free Estimates

We welcome the opportunity to give you a free estimate on repair or replacement of your Siding, Windows, Gutters, or Skylights. Call us today for your free quote.

You may also visit our showroom during business hours to see these products for yourself!

Benefits of Velux Skylights

Reduced fuel consumption -
Daylight is free, reducing not only your lighting costs, but also the energy consumption load placed on our environment to produce power. In addition, the quality of light introduced to the home by our products results in better color rendition.

Physical health
The need for the body to absorb acceptable amounts of light throughout our lifespan is well documented. Skylights help to balance light, and the benefits received from them may have a dramatic benefit on consumers. As a result, people living in well-lit homes are healthier, creating less of a burden on our medical resources. This, in turn, reduces the burden on our environment and is especially beneficial for our children and seniors.


Manufacturing sensitivity
As a worldwide steward of the environment, VELUX understands the importance of a green friendly manufacturing policy. As a result, all areas of our process, including product design, raw materials, production methods and the use of technologically advanced equipment meet our highest environmental review standards.

Benefits for Commercial buildings

The US Green Building Council, in working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work, has created the LEED rating system. LEED is one of the tools used to develop design guidelines, policy positions and industry standards for the promotion of sustainable designs for commercial buildings. Because they provide natural lighting, VELUX® skylights are by nature a good element for a sustainable design and can be a great source of LEED credit in any commercial design, specifically in the following categories:

*Energy and Atmosphere - Optimizing energy performance (ENERGY STAR)
*Materials and Resources - Products manufactured in Greenwood, SC
*Materials and Resources - Use of certified wood (either PEFC or FSC)
*Indoor Environmental Quality - Controllability of systems (electrical skylights and blinds)
*Indoor Environmental Quality - Daylight and Views (75% of daylit space requirement and outdoor view from 90% of the space)