[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4609 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4609

    To increase the use and research of sustainable building design 
                  technology, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           December 16, 2005

    Mr. Smith of Washington (for himself, Mr. Lewis of Georgia, Mr. 
  Blumenauer, Mr. Serrano, Mr. Markey, Mr. Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. 
 Pallone, Mr. Israel, Mr. Brown of Ohio, Mr. Kucinich, Mr. McDermott, 
   Mr. Payne, Mr. Grijalva, Mr. Carnahan, Mr. Holt, Mr. Inslee, Mr. 
  Nadler, Mr. Wexler, Mr. Baird, Mr. George Miller of California, and 
 Mrs. Capps) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
 Committee on Financial Services, and in addition to the Committee on 
Science, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
   each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
                jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
    To increase the use and research of sustainable building design 
                  technology, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``High-Performance Buildings Act of 
2005''.

SEC. 2. INCLUDING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT IN HOUSING STRATEGY.

    Section 105(b) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing 
Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12705(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``and'' at the end of paragraph (19);
            (2) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (20) and 
        inserting ``; and'';
            (3) and by inserting after paragraph (20) the following:
            ``(21) describe the jurisdiction's strategies to encourage 
        sustainable development for affordable housing, as measured 
        by--
                    ``(A) greater energy efficiency;
                    ``(B) increased conservation and reuse of 
                resources;
                    ``(C) more effective use of existing 
                infrastructure; and
                    ``(D) such other criteria as the Secretary 
                determines are in accordance with the purposes of this 
                paragraph.''.

SEC. 3. GRANT PROGRAM TO INCREASE SUSTAINABLE LOW-INCOME COMMUNITY 
              DEVELOPMENT CAPACITY.

    (a) In General.--The Secretary of Housing and Urban Development may 
make grants to nonprofit organizations to use for any of the following 
purposes:
            (1) Training, educating, supporting, or advising an 
        eligible community development organization in improving energy 
        efficiency, resource conservation and reuse, and effective use 
        of existing infrastructure in affordable housing and economic 
        development activities in low-income communities.
            (2) Providing loans, grants, or predevelopment assistance 
        to eligible community development organizations to carry out 
        energy efficiency improvements, resource conservation and 
        reuse, and effective use of existing infrastructure in 
        affordable housing and economic development activities in low-
        income communities.
            (3) Such other purposes as the Secretary determines are in 
        accordance with the purposes of this subsection.
    (b) Application Requirement.--To be eligible for a grant under this 
section, a nonprofit organization shall prepare and submit to the 
Secretary an application at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require.
    (c) Matching Requirement.--A grant made under this section may not 
exceed the amount that the nonprofit organization receiving the grant 
certifies, to the Secretary, will be provided (in cash or in kind) from 
non-governmental sources to carry out the purposes for which the grant 
is made.
    (d) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) The term ``nonprofit organization'' has the meaning 
        given such term in section 104 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
        National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12704).
            (2) The term ``eligible community development 
        organization'' means--
                    (A) a unit of general local government (as defined 
                in section 104 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National 
                Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12704);
                    (B) a community housing development organization 
                (as defined in section 104 of the Cranston-Gonzalez 
                National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 12704); or
                    (C) a tribal government (as defined in section 421 
                of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 658).
            (3) The term ``low-income community'' means a census tract 
        in which 50 percent or more of the households have an income 
        which is less than 80 percent of the greater of--
                    (A) the area median gross income for such year for 
                the area in which such census tract is located; or
                    (B) the median gross income for such year for the 
                State in which such census tract is located.
    (e) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be 
appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this section $10,000,000 for 
each of fiscal years 2007 through 2011.

SEC. 4. SUSTAINABLE BUILDING INSTITUTE.

    The National Science Foundation Act of 1950 (42 U.S.C. 1861 et 
seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 17. SUSTAINABLE BUILDING INSTITUTE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--There is established within the Foundation a 
Sustainable Building Institute (hereinafter in this section referred to 
as the `Institute').
    ``(b) Duties and Functions.--
            ``(1) Undertaking and supporting research and other 
        activities.--The Institute shall undertake, or support through 
        providing grants, loans, or other forms of assistance--
                    ``(A) research regarding the relationships among 
                indoor environmental quality, human health, and human 
                productivity; and
                    ``(B) research, development, and commercial 
                application of energy efficiency and renewable energy 
                technologies for buildings, including--
                            ``(i) water heating systems and lighting 
                        systems;
                            ``(ii) building insulation technology;
                            ``(iii) technology and methods for 
                        improving the cost effectiveness of fuel cells; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) technology and methods for reducing 
                        the installation costs of solar photovoltaic 
                        energy systems.
            ``(2) Consultation to avoid duplication.--The Institute 
        shall consult with other Federal agencies to avoid duplication 
        of activities authorized under this subsection.''.
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