[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2126 Introduced in House (IH)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 2126

To facilitate better alignment, cooperation, and best practices between 
     commercial real estate landlords and tenants regarding energy 
            efficiency in buildings, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 23, 2013

Mr. McKinley (for himself and Mr. Welch) introduced the following bill; 
       which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
To facilitate better alignment, cooperation, and best practices between 
     commercial real estate landlords and tenants regarding energy 
            efficiency in buildings, 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 ``Better Buildings Act of 2013''.

SEC. 2. ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN FEDERAL AND OTHER BUILDINGS.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Administrator.--The term ``Administrator'' means the 
        Administrator of General Services.
            (2) Cost-effective energy efficiency measure.--The terms 
        ``cost-effective energy efficiency measure'' and ``measure'' 
        mean any building product, material, equipment, or service and 
        the installing, implementing, or operating thereof, that 
        provides energy savings in an amount that is not less than the 
        cost of such installing, implementing, or operating.
    (b) Model Provisions, Policies, and Best Practices.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 180 days after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation with 
        the Secretary of Energy and after providing the public with an 
        opportunity for notice and comment, shall develop model leasing 
        provisions and best practices in accordance with this 
        subsection.
            (2) Commercial leasing.--
                    (A) In general.--The model commercial leasing 
                provisions developed under this subsection shall, at a 
                minimum, align the interests of building owners and 
                tenants with regard to investments in cost-effective 
                energy efficiency measures to encourage building owners 
                and tenants to collaborate to invest in such measures.
                    (B) Use of model provisions.--The Administrator may 
                use the model provisions developed under this 
                subsection in any standard leasing document that 
                designates a Federal agency (or other client of the 
                Administrator) as a landlord or tenant.
                    (C) Publication.--The Administrator shall 
                periodically publish the model leasing provisions 
                developed under this subsection, along with explanatory 
                materials, to encourage building owners and tenants in 
                the private sector to use such provisions and 
                materials.
            (3) Realty services.--The Administrator shall develop 
        policies and practices to implement cost-effective energy 
        efficiency measures for the realty services provided by the 
        Administrator to Federal agencies (or other clients of the 
        Administrator), including periodic training of appropriate 
        Federal employees and contractors on how to identify and 
        evaluate those measures.
            (4) State and local assistance.--The Administrator, in 
        consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall make available 
        model leasing provisions and best practices developed under 
        this subsection to State, county, and municipal governments to 
        manage owned and leased building space in accordance with the 
        goal of encouraging investment in all cost-effective energy 
        efficiency measures.

SEC. 3. SEPARATE SPACES WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY 
              MEASURES.

    Subtitle B of title IV of the Energy Independence and Security Act 
of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17081 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the 
following:

``SEC. 424. SEPARATE SPACES WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY 
              MEASURES.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) High-performance energy efficiency measure.--The term 
        `high-performance energy efficiency measure' means a 
        technology, product, or practice that will result in 
        substantial operational cost savings by reducing energy 
        consumption and utility costs.
            ``(2) Separate spaces.--The term `separate spaces' means 
        areas within a commercial building that are leased or otherwise 
        occupied by a tenant or other occupant for a period of time 
        pursuant to the terms of a written agreement.
    ``(b) Study.--
            ``(1) In general.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting through the 
        Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, 
        shall complete a study on the feasibility of--
                    ``(A) significantly improving energy efficiency in 
                commercial buildings through the design and 
                construction, by owners and tenants, of separate spaces 
                with high-performance energy efficiency measures; and
                    ``(B) encouraging owners and tenants to implement 
                high-performance energy efficiency measures in separate 
                spaces.
            ``(2) Scope.--The study shall, at a minimum, include--
                    ``(A) descriptions of--
                            ``(i) high-performance energy efficiency 
                        measures that should be considered as part of 
                        the initial design and construction of separate 
                        spaces;
                            ``(ii) processes that owners, tenants, 
                        architects, and engineers may replicate when 
                        designing and constructing separate spaces with 
                        high-performance energy efficiency measures;
                            ``(iii) standards and best practices to 
                        achieve appropriate energy intensities for 
                        lighting, plug loads, pipe loads, heating, 
                        cooling, cooking, laundry, and other systems to 
                        satisfy the needs of the commercial building 
                        tenant;
                            ``(iv) return on investment and payback 
                        analyses of the incremental cost and projected 
                        energy savings of the proposed set of high-
                        performance energy efficiency measures, 
                        including consideration of tax and other 
                        available incentives;
                            ``(v) models and simulation methods that 
                        predict the quantity of energy used by separate 
                        spaces with high-performance energy efficiency 
                        measures and that compare that predicted 
                        quantity to the quantity of energy used by 
                        separate spaces without high-performance energy 
                        efficiency measures but that otherwise comply 
                        with applicable building code requirements;
                            ``(vi) measurement and verification 
                        platforms demonstrating actual energy use of 
                        high-performance energy efficiency measures 
                        installed in separate spaces, and whether such 
                        measures generate the savings intended in the 
                        initial design and construction of the separate 
                        spaces;
                            ``(vii) best practices that encourage an 
                        integrated approach to designing and 
                        constructing separate spaces to perform at 
                        optimum energy efficiency in conjunction with 
                        the central systems of a commercial building; 
                        and
                            ``(viii) any impact on employment resulting 
                        from the design and construction of separate 
                        spaces with high-performance energy efficiency 
                        measures; and
                    ``(B) case studies reporting economic and energy 
                saving returns in the design and construction of 
                separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency 
                measures.
            ``(3) Public participation.--Not later than 90 days after 
        the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
        publish a notice in the Federal Register requesting public 
        comments regarding effective methods, measures, and practices 
        for the design and construction of separate spaces with high-
        performance energy efficiency measures.
            ``(4) Publication.--The Secretary shall publish the study 
        on the website of the Department of Energy.''.

SEC. 4. TENANT STAR PROGRAM.

    Subtitle B of title IV of the Energy Independence and Security Act 
of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17081 et seq.) (as amended by section 3) is amended 
by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 425. TENANT STAR PROGRAM.

    ``(a) Definitions.--In this section:
            ``(1) High-performance energy efficiency measure.--The term 
        `high-performance energy efficiency measure' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 424.
            ``(2) Separate spaces.--The term `separate spaces' has the 
        meaning given the term in section 424.
    ``(b) Tenant Star.--The Administrator of the Environmental 
Protection Agency, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall 
develop a voluntary program within the Energy Star program established 
by section 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 
6294a), which may be known as Tenant Star, to promote energy efficiency 
in separate spaces leased by tenants or otherwise occupied within 
commercial buildings.
    ``(c) Expanding Survey Data.--The Secretary of Energy, acting 
through the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, 
shall--
            ``(1) collect, through each Commercial Buildings Energy 
        Consumption Survey of the Energy Information Administration 
        that is conducted after the date of enactment of this section, 
        data on--
                    ``(A) categories of building occupancy that are 
                known to consume significant quantities of energy, such 
                as occupancy by law firms, data centers, trading 
                floors, restaurants, retail outlets, and financial 
                services firms; and
                    ``(B) other aspects of the property, building 
                operation, or building occupancy determined by the 
                Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, 
                in consultation with the Administrator of the 
                Environmental Protection Agency, to be relevant in 
                lowering energy consumption; and
            ``(2) make data collected under paragraph (1) available to 
        the public in aggregated form and provide such data, and any 
        associated results, to the Administrator of the Environmental 
        Protection Agency for use in accordance with subsection (d).
    ``(d)  Recognition of Owners and Tenants.--
            ``(1) Occupancy-based recognition.--Not later than 1 year 
        after the date on which the data described in subsection (c) is 
        received, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 
        Agency shall, following an opportunity for public notice and 
        comment--
                    ``(A) in a manner similar to the Energy Star rating 
                system, develop policies and procedures to recognize 
                tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily 
                achieve high levels of energy efficiency in separate 
                spaces;
                    ``(B) establish building occupancy categories 
                eligible for Tenant Star recognition based on the data 
                collected under subsection (c)(1) and any associated 
                results; and
                    ``(C) consider other forms of recognition for 
                commercial building tenants or other occupants that 
                lower energy consumption in separate spaces.
            ``(2) Design- and construction-based recognition.--After 
        the study required by section 424(b) is completed, the 
        Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in 
        consultation with the Secretary and following an opportunity 
        for public notice and comment, may develop a voluntary program 
        to recognize commercial building owners and tenants that use 
        high-performance energy efficiency measures in the design and 
        construction of separate spaces.
    ``(e) Effect on Climate Change.--For purposes of this section, the 
impact on climate change shall not be a factor in determining energy 
efficiency of commercial building tenants.''.
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