[Congressional Bills 114th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1867 Introduced in House (IH)]
114th CONGRESS
1st Session
H. R. 1867
To encourage benchmarking and disclosure of energy information for
commercial buildings.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
April 16, 2015
Ms. Castor of Florida (for herself and Mr. Kinzinger of Illinois)
introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on
Energy and Commerce
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To encourage benchmarking and disclosure of energy information for
commercial buildings.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. ENERGY INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS.
(a) Requirement of Benchmarking and Disclosure for Leasing
Buildings Without Energy Star Labels.--Section 435(b)(2) of the Energy
Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17091(b)(2)) is
amended--
(1) by striking ``paragraph (2)'' and inserting ``paragraph
(1)''; and
(2) by striking ``signing the contract,'' and all that
follows through the period at the end and inserting the
following: ``signing the contract, the following requirements
are met:
``(A) The space is renovated for all energy
efficiency and conservation improvements that would be
cost effective over the life of the lease, including
improvements in lighting, windows, and heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
``(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the space is
benchmarked under a nationally recognized, online, free
benchmarking program, with public disclosure, unless
the space is a space for which owners cannot access
whole building utility consumption data, including
spaces--
``(I) that are located in States with
privacy laws that provide that utilities shall
not provide such aggregated information to
multitenant building owners; and
``(II) for which tenants do not provide
energy consumption information to the
commercial building owner in response to a
request from the building owner.
``(ii) A Federal agency that is a tenant of the
space shall provide to the building owner, or authorize
the owner to obtain from the utility, the energy
consumption information of the space for the
benchmarking and disclosure required by this
subparagraph.''.
(b) Study.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of
enactment of this Act, 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
(C) that considers--
(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 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.--At the conclusion of the
study, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy
and Commerce of the House of Representatives and Committee on
Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the
results of the study.
(c) Creation and Maintenance of Database.--
(1) In general.--Not later than 18 months after the date of
enactment of this Act 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.--The database maintained
pursuant to paragraph (1) shall complement and not duplicate
the functions of the Environmental Protection Agency's Energy
Star Portfolio Manager tool.
(d) Input From Stakeholders.--The Secretary of Energy shall seek
input from stakeholders to maximize the effectiveness of the actions
taken under this section.
(e) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of
this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary of Energy shall
submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of
Representatives and Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the
Senate a report on the progress made in complying with this section.
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