Renovating an Office with a Green Approach: Benefits and Tax Deductions

Environmental sustainability has become a crucial topic in recent times. Environmental respect and energy savings are issues to consider for various reasons: for the planet’s future, for our well-being, and more. Rethinking consumption in a sustainable way allows us to rationalize and optimize our resources in new ways, with significant economic savings as well. The construction industry plays a fundamental role in this regard. Recently, the Government has proposed various tax incentives for office renovations and other commercial spaces. This is the perfect opportunity to renovate your office with a green approach. Renovating an office with a turnkey renovation solution is particularly advantageous today. Let’s examine in detail what benefits this entails and which tax deductions are available.

What is a “Green” Office?

A “green office” refers to an eco-sustainable office, meaning a building designed to improve its energy efficiency, optimizing its structure and thermal insulation, including through the implementation of new low-impact technologies.

• Energy Savings

Energy savings involve many aspects that, when combined, make a difference. For example, to improve lighting efficiency, one could choose low-consumption lighting, favoring LED or energy-saving bulbs, but that’s not all. During renovation, an office’s entire lighting system can be completely redesigned, perhaps taking advantage of natural sunlight, opting for large windows and mirrors. This approach can also be applied to other resources, such as water, or to the building’s climate control. From this perspective, thermal insulation proves decisive.

• Thermal Insulation

Thermal insulation is a fundamental element for a building’s energy efficiency. The most important choices in this regard can be made during the renovation phase. When renovating a property today, you can use state-of-the-art insulating materials, panels capable of minimizing heat loss between the interior and exterior of a building. Quality windows and frames also play a crucial role. Making an investment in this area represents significant long-term savings.

• Prioritizing Ecological and Recycled Materials

Renovating an office using eco-sustainable materials represents an important choice in various aspects. The materials we choose make a difference not only environmentally but also contribute significantly to the health and well-being of workers. Materials like wood, cork, and bamboo are excellent natural insulators that offer competitive prices, are easy to dispose of, and generally don’t release toxic substances into the environment. In contrast, many plastic or resin laminate furnishings release particles harmful to human health.

• Rethinking Spaces

New ways of thinking about office spaces have emerged recently. Open-plan offices and coworking spaces, for example, have represented a winning model from an environmental sustainability perspective. Sharing spaces allows for maximizing the efficiency of available resources. More people use a single climate control system, a single lighting system. Obviously, these types of spaces must be carefully designed, respecting personal space and work performance geometry.

Office Renovation Tax Deductions

The Renovation Bonus with 50% tax deduction cannot be used when renovating a commercial building, as it only applies to residential property renovations. However, when renovating an office, you can benefit from the deduction reserved for energy efficiency improvements, as this deduction also applies to non-residential properties, provided they meet the requirements and compliance obligations.

• Office Renovation Energy Bonus

As mentioned, if the renovation work on a commercial space includes energy efficiency improvements, you can access a tax deduction of 65% of the total expense up to a maximum of 60,000 euros. This benefit is also available to professionals who don’t own the property being renovated. Public and private entities, corporations or partnerships, and professional associations can access the bonus. The deduction will only be granted to those who present an energy qualification certificate proving the actual energy efficiency improvement of the office, which is why it’s essential to consult a qualified technician who can issue the document.

• Office Renovation VAT at 10% or 22%?

Regarding VAT treatment, companies performing renovation work on an office cannot issue invoices with the reduced 10% VAT rate, as is the case with residential buildings, but must apply the 22% VAT rate.

Would you like to know more? Contact us, our renovation experts will be happy to provide their professional consultation.