HOUSTON — alliantgroup has announced the release of a new proprietary software interface, epFace, which allows it to optimize modeling calculations for energy efficiency-based tax deductions. The company works with firms to help them claim tax deductions for their design work on government-owned buildings that meet energy efficient standards under the law. The epFace software allows for accurate and specific calculations while capturing the federal tax deduction established in Section 179D, The Energy Efficient Commercial Building Deduction.

“alliantgroup is the only tax consultant out there using this kind of software to capture tax deductions based on energy efficiency,” said Rizwan Virani, alliantgroup senior managing director. “This sort of state of the art modeling technology is typically reserved for basic or academic research. However, our investment has already started to positively impact business results for our clients.”

The epFace interface works hand-in-hand with EnergyPlus, the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) open-source modeling software used to simulate energy and water usage in buildings.

“We created an easy to learn, easy to teach interface for the EnergyPlus modeling program,” said Virani. “This new tool significantly enhances our energy modeling capabilities by helping us integrate the advanced heat transfer and HVAC models of EnergyPlus into our high-accuracy, high-speed oriented 179D practice.”

EnergyPlus is currently used by the IRS to calculate tax deductions offered through Section 179D. The epFace interface offers several enhancements designed to further improve on EnergyPlus, including automated 179D-specific user inputs and tools, and the ability to import and draw over building plans for ensuring a fast and accurate energy modeling experience.

“At alliantgroup, we use the same modeling software as the IRS uses to calculate energy tax savings to ensure every claim we make is done in line with standard IRS procedure,” said Linda McCluskey, alliantgroup managing director of energy credits and incentives. “The development of epFace further ensures we are providing the most accurate and specific calculations possible in identifying and optimizing tax deductions for our clients.”

For more information, visit www.alliantgroup.com.

Publication date: 6/15/2015

Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!