Green Summit

Our expertise · Engineering-Based Cost Segregation

Industrial & Warehouse Cost Segregation

Know what serves the building and what serves the operation, then document the difference.

Industrial and warehouse properties rarely stop at the building. Loading infrastructure, heavy electrical distribution, process-related systems and site improvements are layered onto the general building systems, and the central question of a supportable study is which function each component actually serves — a question no standard percentage can answer. With 100% bonus depreciation permanently restored under federal legislation enacted in July 2025, getting that distinction right matters more than it has in years. Green Summit develops engineering-based cost segregation studies for industrial and warehouse properties, with licensed engineers who understand the installation and in-house tax professionals who review the result.

Who this is for

Owners, investors and operators of industrial and warehouse properties, the manufacturers and technology companies that own the facilities they run, and the accounting firms that advise them.

Accounting & Advisory FirmsBuilding Owners, Investors & OperatorsManufacturers & Technology Companies

What we do

  • Assess the actual asset. We review loading infrastructure, specialized electrical distribution, process-related systems and site improvements, and we keep the list of review candidates separate from any conclusion about their recovery period.
  • Develop supportable costs. We start from the acquisition and construction records you have, add documented estimating methods where the records stop and reconcile the analysis to the relevant basis.
  • Coordinate the investment context. We work with your tax advisor on ownership, utilization, hold period, disposition and state-treatment considerations, including lease terms that affect who bears costs and who holds depreciable basis.
  • Support your tax team. We explain the technical basis for each classification and answer your advisor's questions, during the engagement and if the IRS asks later.

Our process

  1. Screen the property. We review the facility, the tax-owner context, including tenant and owner asset ownership under the lease, and the records available before we define the study.
  2. Review the components. We examine installed components, functional use and cost evidence, tracing what each system serves: the building, the operation or both.
  3. Deliver and support. We deliver the engineering study and walk your tax advisor through the basis for each classification and each allocation.

What you receive

An engineering-based report with asset schedules and a cost reconciliation for the property in the study. The supporting analysis addresses building-serving and process-related systems, loading areas and site improvements, and it identifies every assumption and limitation so your tax advisor can determine usability, elections, accounting-method changes and the final return position.

Benefits

  • Property-specific analysis rather than a standard reclassification percentage.
  • A clearer asset and cost record for the owner's advisors, with mixed-use systems allocated on evidence.
  • Potential timing benefits evaluated in the context of your actual tax and investment position. We never present a deduction as a guaranteed cash return.

Why Green Summit

Most tax incentive studies are written by accountants. Ours are written by engineers and reviewed by CPAs. Green Summit's founders bring individual cost segregation experience dating to 2001 and 2007, respectively — professional experience that predates the firm's founding in 2014 — and that background shapes how we connect construction knowledge, engineering analysis, cost development and a reconciled record on every industrial study.

As a consulting partner that combines a licensed engineering firm with in-house tax professionals, we read an electrical riser or a process layout the way the people who built it do, and we build every study to be audit-ready from day one.

Frequently asked questions

What is a cost segregation study for an industrial or warehouse property?

An engineering-based analysis that separates the cost of the facility into its components and assigns each to the depreciation class the tax rules allow, so qualifying items recover over 5, 7 or 15 years rather than the building's 39-year life. In an industrial setting the work centers on distinguishing general building systems from the equipment and infrastructure that serve a particular operation: loading areas, specialized electrical distribution, process-related systems and site improvements. Your tax advisor determines how the result is used.

Is every reinforced slab or loading dock short-life property?

No. These are items for careful review, not automatic reclassification. We evaluate the structure, the function and the governing tax treatment for the specific asset before we assign anything a recovery period.

How do you distinguish process power from building power?

We review what the electrical distribution actually serves and the evidence that supports any allocation between the building and the operation. A standard percentage is not a substitute for understanding the installation, so we document the basis for every split.

Does triple-net leasing change the study?

It can. Lease terms and asset ownership affect who bears costs and who holds depreciable basis. We coordinate those facts with your tax advisor before we draw any conclusion about what belongs in the study.

What information should we provide?

A review of process and building systems, a reconciliation of tenant and owner assets, an analysis of mixed-use systems and credible cost reconstruction where the records are incomplete. Purchase or construction costs, prior depreciation records, plans and improvement history help us establish the scope.

Will the study permanently eliminate tax or increase property NOI?

No. Cost segregation generally changes the timing of depreciation deductions, not the total. Tax utilization, basis and disposition effects require your advisor's review, and depreciation itself does not reduce the property's operating expenses or automatically improve operating NOI or lender-defined debt coverage.

Let's talk about what a study could uncover in your facility.

Tell us the facility and where it is, what operation it serves, whether it was acquired, built or renovated, and roughly when.

Related solutions

Program and technical references

IRS: Cost Segregation Audit Technique Guide

Program information reviewed September 22, 2026. Current applicability, qualifications and program terms are confirmed for each engagement.

Or call 321-273-2200 · inquiry@greensummit.com

Please do not include tax returns, household income records, payroll or other sensitive documents in this initial inquiry.