42 USC 17062 - Energy efficiency in Federal and other buildings

Collapse to view only § 17062. Energy efficiency in Federal and other buildings

§ 17061. Definitions
§ 17062. Energy efficiency in Federal and other buildings
§ 17063. Energy information for commercial buildings
§ 17064. Smart building acceleration

§ 17061. DefinitionsIn this title: 1

1 See References in Text note below.

(1) Administrator

(2) Advisory Committee

(3) Commercial Director

(4) Consortium

(5) Cost-effective lighting technology

(A) In generalThe term “cost-effective lighting technology” means a lighting technology that—

(i) will result in substantial operational cost savings by ensuring an installed consumption of not more than 1 watt per square foot; or

(ii) is contained in a list under—(I)section 8259b of this title;(II) Federal acquisition regulation 23–203; and(III) is at least as energy-conserving as required by other provisions of this Act, including the requirements of this title 1 and title III 1 which shall be applicable to the extent that they would achieve greater energy savings than provided under clause (i) or this clause.2

2 So in original. Does not fit with cl. (ii) introductory provision.

(B) InclusionsThe term “cost-effective lighting technology” includes—

(i) lamps;

(ii) ballasts;

(iii) luminaires;

(iv) lighting controls;

(v) daylighting; and

(vi) early use of other highly cost-effective lighting technologies.

(6) Cost-effective technologies and practicesThe term “cost-effective technologies and practices” means a technology or practice that—

(A) will result in substantial operational cost savings by reducing electricity or fossil fuel consumption, water, or other utility costs, including use of geothermal heat pumps;

(B) complies with the provisions of section 8259b of this title and Federal acquisition regulation 23–203; and

(C) is at least as energy and water conserving as required under this title,1 including sections 431 through 435, and title V,1 including sections 511 through 525, which shall be applicable to the extent that they are more stringent or require greater energy or water savings than required by this section.

(7) Federal Director

(8) Federal facility

(9) Operational cost savings

(A) In generalThe term “operational cost savings” means a reduction in end-use operational costs through the application of cost-effective technologies and practices or geothermal heat pumps, including a reduction in electricity consumption relative to consumption by the same customer or at the same facility in a given year, as defined in guidelines promulgated by the Administrator pursuant to section 7628(b) of this title, that achieves cost savings sufficient to pay the incremental additional costs of using cost-effective technologies and practices including geothermal heat pumps by not later than the later of the date established under sections 431 through 434,1 or—

(i) for cost-effective technologies and practices, the date that is 5 years after the date of installation; and

(ii) for geothermal heat pumps, as soon as practical after the date of installation of the applicable geothermal heat pump.

(B) InclusionsThe term “operational cost savings” includes savings achieved at a facility as a result of—

(i) the installation or use of cost-effective technologies and practices; or

(ii) the planting of vegetation that shades the facility and reduces the heating, cooling, or lighting needs of the facility.

(10) Geothermal heat pumpThe term “geothermal heat pump” means any heating or air conditioning technology that—

(A) uses the ground or ground water as a thermal energy source to heat, or as a thermal energy sink to cool, a building; and

(B) meets the requirements of the Energy Star program of the Environmental Protection Agency applicable to geothermal heat pumps on the date of purchase of the technology.

(11) GSA facility

(A) In generalThe term “GSA facility” means any building, structure, or facility, in whole or in part (including the associated support systems of the building, structure, or facility) that—

(i) is constructed (including facilities constructed for lease), renovated, or purchased, in whole or in part, by the Administrator for use by the Federal Government; or

(ii) is leased, in whole or in part, by the Administrator for use by the Federal Government—(I) except as provided in subclause (II), for a term of not less than 5 years; or(II) for a term of less than 5 years, if the Administrator determines that use of cost-effective technologies and practices would result in the payback of expenses.

(B) Inclusion

(12) High-performance building

(13) High-performance green buildingThe term “high-performance green building” means a high-performance building that, during its life-cycle, as compared with similar buildings (as measured by Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey or Residential Energy Consumption Survey data from the Energy Information Agency)—

(A) reduces energy, water, and material resource use;

(B) improves indoor environmental quality, including reducing indoor pollution, improving thermal comfort, and improving lighting and acoustic environments that affect occupant health and productivity;

(C) reduces negative impacts on the environment throughout the life-cycle of the building, including air and water pollution and waste generation;

(D) increases the use of environmentally preferable products, including biobased, recycled span, and nontoxic products with lower life-cycle impacts;

(E) increases reuse and recycling opportunities;

(F) integrates systems in the building;

(G) reduces the environmental and energy impacts of transportation through building location and site design that support a full range of transportation choices for users of the building; and

(H) considers indoor and outdoor effects of the building on human health and the environment, including—

(i) improvements in worker productivity;

(ii) the life-cycle impacts of building materials and operations; and

(iii) other factors that the Federal Director or the Commercial Director consider to be appropriate.

(14) Life-cycle

(15) Life-cycle assessment

(16) Life-cycle costingThe term “life-cycle costing”, with respect to a high-performance green building, means a technique of economic evaluation that—

(A) sums, over a given study period, the costs of initial investment (less resale value), replacements, operations (including energy use), and maintenance and repair of an investment decision; and

(B) is expressed—

(i) in present value terms, in the case of a study period equivalent to the longest useful life of the building, determined by taking into consideration the typical life of such a building in the area in which the building is to be located; or

(ii) in annual value terms, in the case of any other study period.

(17) Office of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings

(18) Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings

(19) Practices

(20) Zero-net-energy commercial buildingThe term “zero-net-energy commercial building” means a commercial building that is designed, constructed, and operated to—

(A) require a greatly reduced quantity of energy to operate;

(B) meet the balance of energy needs from sources of energy that do not produce greenhouse gases;

(D) be economically viable.

(Pub. L. 110–140, title IV, § 401, Dec. 19, 2007, 121 Stat. 1596.)

§ 17062. Energy efficiency in Federal and other buildings

(a) Definitions

In this section:

(1) Administrator

(2) Cost-effective energy efficiency measure

(3) Cost-effective water efficiency measure

(b) Model provisions, policies, and best practices

(1) In general

(2) Commercial leasing

(A) In general

(B) Use of model provisions

(3) Realty services

(4) State and local assistance

(Pub. L. 114–11, title I, § 102, Apr. 30, 2015, 129 Stat. 182.)

§ 17063. Energy information for commercial buildings

(a) Omitted

(b) Study

(1) In generalNot later than 2 years after April 30, 2015, the Secretary of Energy, in collaboration with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall complete a study—

(A) on the impact of—

(i) State and local performance benchmarking and disclosure policies, and any associated building efficiency policies, for commercial and multifamily buildings; and

(ii) programs and systems in which utilities provide aggregated information regarding whole building energy consumption and usage information to owners of multitenant commercial, residential, and mixed-use buildings;

(B) that identifies best practice policy approaches studied under subparagraph (A) that have resulted in the greatest improvements in building energy efficiency; and

(i) compliance rates and the benefits and costs of the policies and programs on building owners, utilities, tenants, and other parties;

(ii) utility practices, programs, and systems that provide aggregated energy consumption information to multitenant building owners, and the impact of public utility commissions and State privacy laws on those practices, programs, and systems;

(iii) exceptions to compliance in existing laws where building owners are not able to gather or access whole building energy information from tenants or utilities;

(iv) the treatment of buildings with—(I) multiple uses;(II) uses for which baseline information is not available; and(III) uses that require high levels of energy intensities, such as data centers, trading floors, and televisions 1

1 So in original. Probably should be “television”.

studios;

(v) implementation practices, including disclosure methods and phase-in of compliance;

(vi) the safety and security of benchmarking tools offered by government agencies, and the resiliency of those tools against cyber attacks; and

(vii) international experiences with regard to building benchmarking and disclosure laws and data aggregation for multitenant buildings.

(2) Submission to Congress

(1) In generalNot later than 18 months after April 30, 2015, and following opportunity for public notice and comment, the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with other relevant agencies, shall maintain, and if necessary create, a database for the purpose of storing and making available public energy-related information on commercial and multifamily buildings, including—

(A) data provided under Federal, State, local, and other laws or programs regarding building benchmarking and energy information disclosure;

(B) information on buildings that have disclosed energy ratings and certifications; and

(C) energy-related information on buildings provided voluntarily by the owners of the buildings, only in an anonymous form unless the owner provides otherwise.

(2) Complementary programs

(d) Input from stakeholders

(e) Report

(Pub. L. 114–11, title III, § 301, Apr. 30, 2015, 129 Stat. 189.)

§ 17064. Smart building acceleration

(a) DefinitionsIn this section:

(1) Department

(2) Program

(3) Secretary

(4) Smart buildingThe term “smart building” means a building, or collection of buildings, with an energy system that—

(A) is flexible and automated;

(B) has extensive operational monitoring and communication connectivity, allowing remote monitoring and analysis of all building functions;

(C) takes a systems-based approach in integrating the overall building operations for control of energy generation, consumption, and storage;

(D) communicates with utilities and other third-party commercial entities, if appropriate;

(E) protects the health and safety of occupants and workers; and

(F) incorporates cybersecurity best practices.

(5) Smart building acceleratorThe term “smart building accelerator” means an initiative that is designed to demonstrate specific innovative policies and approaches—

(A) with clear goals and a clear timeline; and

(B) that, on successful demonstration, would accelerate investment in energy efficiency.

(b) Federal Smart Building Program

(1) EstablishmentNot later than 1 year after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall, in consultation with the Administrator of General Services, establish a program to be known as the “Federal Smart Building Program”—

(A) to implement smart building technology; and

(B) to demonstrate the costs and benefits of smart buildings.

(2) Selection

(A) In general

(B) Inclusion of commercially operated buildings

(3) Targets

(4) Federal agency describedThe key Federal agencies referred to paragraph (2)(A) shall include buildings operated by—

(A) the Department of the Army;

(B) the Department of the Navy;

(D) the Department;

(E) the Department of the Interior;

(F) the Department of Veterans Affairs; and

(G) the General Services Administration.

(5) Requirement

(6) EvaluationUsing the guidelines of the Federal Energy Management Program relating to whole-building evaluation, measurement, and verification, the Secretary shall evaluate the costs and benefits of the buildings selected under paragraph (2), including an identification of—

(A) which advanced building technologies—

(i) are most cost-effective; and

(ii) show the most promise for—(I) increasing building energy savings;(II) increasing service performance to building occupants;(III) reducing environmental impacts; and(IV) establishing cybersecurity; and

(B) any other information the Secretary determines to be appropriate.

(7) Awards

(1) Survey

(2) Selection

(3) EvaluationUsing the guidelines of the Federal Energy Management Program relating to whole-building evaluation, measurement, and verification, the Secretary shall evaluate the costs and benefits of the buildings selected under paragraph (2), including an identification of—

(A) which advanced building technologies and systems—

(i) are most cost-effective; and

(B) any other information the Secretary determines to be appropriate.

(d) Better building challenge

(e) Omitted

(f) ReportNot later than 2 years after December 27, 2020, and every 2 years thereafter until a total of 3 reports have been made, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the House of Representatives a report on—

(1) the establishment of the Federal Smart Building Program and the evaluation of Federal smart buildings under subsection (b);

(2) the survey and evaluation of private sector smart buildings under subsection (c); and

(3) any recommendations of the Secretary to further accelerate the transition to smart buildings.

(Pub. L. 116–260, div. Z, title I, § 1007, Dec. 27, 2020, 134 Stat. 2433.)