NEW YORK CITY-The majority of GlobeSt.com readers don’t look favorably on President Barack Obama’s Better Buildings Initiative. Announced in February 2011, the plan aims to make commercial buildings 20% more energy efficient by 2020 by offering tax incentives for building efficiency and financing for retrofits.

But when asked to weigh in on the plan, a whopping 60% of respondents pegged the plan “another Obama boondoggle,” while 27% said it “is the kind of incentive the industry needs” and 13% said that “it sounds good, but I’m waiting to see.”

Andrew Goldberg, managing director, Government Relations and Outreach at the American Institute of Architecture, tells GlobeSt.com that when read in full, most complaints about the initiative abate. Those that remain, he thinks, tend to revolve around Congressional deadlock.

“When people read the details of it and find out what is in it, I haven’t heard any complaints,” Goldberg says. “Some parts of it do require Congressional action. And getting Congress to act these days is not easy. But the folks I’ve talked to have generally been positive.”

The AIA as a whole has expressed support for the plan, with AIA president Clark Manus in December calling the White House announcement “an important step in helping to make buildings more efficient and create jobs at the same time.”

Goldberg reiterates the jobs point. “By getting people to work and retrofit public buildings, you’re not only going to put people to work, you’re going to increase energy efficiency,” he says. “A lot of it has been about unleashing private sector financing to retrofit buildings.”

Goldberg adds that the AIA supports increasing the current allowed deduction for new buildings in order to make the incentive more attractive.