[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1206 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

113th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1206

  To encourage benchmarking and disclosure of energy information for 
                         commercial buildings.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 20, 2013

  Mr. Franken introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
       referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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) Department of Energy Study.--
            (1) In general.--Not later than 2 years after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall complete a study, 
        with opportunity for public comment--
                    (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 Congress a report on the 
        results of the study.
    (c) Creation and Maintenance of Databases.--
            (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, in coordination with other 
        relevant agencies shall, to carry out the purpose described in 
        paragraph (2)--
                    (A) assess existing databases; and
                    (B) as necessary--
                            (i) modify and maintain existing databases; 
                        or
                            (ii) create and maintain a new database 
                        platform.
            (2) Purpose.--The maintenance of existing databases or 
        creation of a new database platform under paragraph (1) shall 
        be 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) buildings that have received energy ratings and 
                certifications; and
                    (C) energy-related information on buildings 
                provided voluntarily by the owners of the buildings, in 
                an anonymous form, unless the owner provides otherwise.
    (d) Competitive Awards.--Based on the results of the research for 
the portion of the study described in subsection (b)(1)(A)(ii), and 
with criteria developed following public notice and comment, the 
Secretary may make competitive awards to utilities, utility regulators, 
and utility partners to develop and implement effective and promising 
programs to provide aggregated whole building energy consumption 
information to multitenant building owners.
    (e) Input From Stakeholders.--The Secretary shall seek input from 
stakeholders to maximize the effectiveness of the actions taken under 
this section.
    (f) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to 
Congress a report on the progress made in complying with this section.
    (g) Authorization of Appropriations.--There is authorized to be 
appropriated to carry out subsection (b) $2,500,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2014 through 2018, to remain available until expended.
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