[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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