[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 2126 Reported in House (RH)]
Union Calendar No. 277
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2126
[Report No. 113-371]
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
February 28, 2014
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
[For text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on May 23,
2013]
_______________________________________________________________________
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 2014''.
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 term
``cost-effective energy efficiency measure'' means 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.
(3) Cost-effective water efficiency measure.--The term
``cost-effective water efficiency measure'' means any building
product, material, equipment, or service, and the installing,
implementing, or operating thereof, that provides water 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 and cost-effective water
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 and cost-effective water 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 and cost-effective water efficiency
measures.
SEC. 3. SEPARATE SPACES WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY
MEASURES.
(a) In General.--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) policies and best practices to
achieve reductions in energy intensities for
lighting, plug 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 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
savings 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.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 423 the following new
item:
``Sec. 424. Separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency
measures.''.
SEC. 4. TENANT STAR PROGRAM.
(a) In General.--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 data centers, trading floors, and
restaurants; 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;
``(2) with respect to the first Commercial Buildings Energy
Consumption Survey conducted after the date of enactment of
this section, to the extent full compliance with the
requirements of paragraph (1) is not feasible, conduct
activities to develop the capability to collect such data and
begin to collect such data; and
``(3) make data collected under paragraphs (1) and (2)
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 sufficient data is received pursuant to
subsection (c), 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 for commercial buildings, 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) and any other
appropriate data sources; 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.''.
(b) Clerical Amendment.--The table of contents in section 1(b) of
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is amended by
inserting after the item relating to section 424 (as added by section
3(b)) the following new item:
``Sec. 425. Tenant Star program.''.
Union Calendar No. 277
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 2126
[Report No. 113-371]
_______________________________________________________________________
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.
_______________________________________________________________________
February 28, 2014
Reported with an amendment, committed to the Committee of the Whole
House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed