[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5069 Introduced in House (IH)]

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115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 5069

  To establish the Federal Smart Building Program to implement smart 
  building technology and demonstrate the costs and benefits of smart 
                   buildings, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                           February 16, 2018

  Mr. Welch (for himself and Mr. Kinzinger) introduced the following 
 bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 
in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, and 
    Science, Space, and Technology, 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 establish the Federal Smart Building Program to implement smart 
  building technology and demonstrate the costs and benefits of smart 
                   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 ``Smart Building Acceleration Act of 
2018''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) the building sector uses more than 40 percent of the 
        energy of the United States;
            (2) emerging building energy monitoring and control 
        technologies are enabling a transition of the building sector 
        to ``smart'' buildings that have dramatically reduced energy 
        use and improved quality of service to occupants;
            (3) an analysis of select private-sector smart buildings by 
        the Department of Energy would document the costs and benefits 
        of the emerging technologies, promote the adoption of the 
        technologies, and accelerate the transition to the 
        technologies;
            (4) with over 400,000 buildings, the Federal Government is 
        the largest building owner in the United States; and
            (5) the Federal Government can also accelerate the 
        transition to smart building technologies by demonstrating and 
        evaluating emerging smart building technologies using existing 
        programs and funding to showcase selected Federal smart 
        buildings.

SEC. 3. SMART BUILDING ACCELERATION.

    (a) Definitions.--In this section:
            (1) Internet of things technology solution.--The term 
        ``internet of things technology solution'' means a solution 
        that improves energy efficiency and predictive maintenance 
        through cutting-edge technologies that utilize internet 
        connected technologies including sensors, intelligent gateways, 
        and security embedded hardware.
            (2) Program.--The term ``program'' means the Federal Smart 
        Building Program established under subsection (b)(1).
            (3) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Energy.
            (4) Smart building.--The term ``smart building'' means a 
        building, or collection of buildings, with an energy system 
        that--
                    (A) is flexible and automated;
                    (B) has extensive operational monitoring and 
                communication connectivity, allowing remote monitoring 
                and analysis of all building functions;
                    (C) takes a systems-based approach in integrating 
                the overall building operations for control of energy 
                generation, consumption, and storage;
                    (D) communicates with utilities and other third-
                party commercial entities, if appropriate;
                    (E) protects the health and safety of occupants and 
                workers; and
                    (F) is cybersecure.
            (5) Smart building accelerator.--The term ``smart building 
        accelerator'' means an initiative that is designed to 
        demonstrate specific innovative policies and approaches--
                    (A) with clear goals and a clear timeline; and
                    (B) that, on successful demonstration, would 
                accelerate investment in energy efficiency.
    (b) Federal Smart Building Program.--
            (1) Establishment.--Not later than 1 year after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall, in consultation 
        with the Administrator of General Services, establish a program 
        to be known as the Federal Smart Building Program--
                    (A) to implement smart building technology; and
                    (B) to demonstrate the costs and benefits of smart 
                buildings.
            (2) Selection.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall coordinate the 
                selection of not fewer than 1 building from among each 
                of several key Federal agencies, as described in 
                paragraph (4), to compose an appropriately diverse set 
                of smart buildings based on size, type, and geographic 
                location.
                    (B) Inclusion of commercially operated buildings.--
                In making selections under subparagraph (A), the 
                Secretary may include buildings that are owned by the 
                Federal Government but are commercially operated.
            (3) Targets.--Not later than 18 months after the date of 
        enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall establish targets 
        for the number of smart buildings to be commissioned and 
        evaluated by key Federal agencies by 3 years and 6 years after 
        the date of enactment of this Act.
            (4) Federal agency described.--The key Federal agencies 
        referred to in this subsection shall include buildings operated 
        by--
                    (A) the Department of the Army;
                    (B) the Department of the Navy;
                    (C) the Department of the Air Force;
                    (D) the Department;
                    (E) the Department of the Interior;
                    (F) the Department of Veterans Affairs; and
                    (G) the General Services Administration.
            (5) Requirement.--In implementing the program, the 
        Secretary shall leverage existing financing mechanisms 
        including energy savings performance contracts, utility energy 
        service contracts, and annual appropriations.
            (6) Evaluation.--Using the guidelines of the Federal Energy 
        Management Program relating to whole-building evaluation, 
        measurement, and verification, the Secretary shall evaluate the 
        costs and benefits of the buildings selected under paragraph 
        (2), including an identification of--
                    (A) which advanced building technologies--
                            (i) are most cost-effective; and
                            (ii) show the most promise for--
                                    (I) increasing building energy 
                                savings;
                                    (II) increasing service performance 
                                to building occupants;
                                    (III) reducing environmental 
                                impacts; and
                                    (IV) establishing cybersecurity; 
                                and
                    (B) any other information the Secretary determines 
                to be appropriate.
            (7) Awards.--The Secretary may expand awards made under the 
        Federal Energy Management Program and the Better Building 
        Challenge to recognize specific agency achievements in 
        accelerating the adoption of smart building technologies.
    (c) Survey of Private Sector Smart Buildings.--
            (1) Survey.--The Secretary shall conduct a survey of 
        privately owned smart buildings throughout the United States, 
        including commercial buildings, laboratory facilities, 
        hospitals, multifamily residential buildings, and buildings 
        owned by nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher 
        education.
            (2) Selection.--From among the smart buildings surveyed 
        under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall select not fewer than 
        1 building each from an appropriate range of building sizes, 
        types, and geographic locations.
            (3) Evaluation.--Using the guidelines of the Federal Energy 
        Management Program relating to whole-building evaluation, 
        measurement, and verification, the Secretary shall evaluate the 
        costs and benefits of the buildings selected under paragraph 
        (2), including an identification of--
                    (A) which advanced building technologies and 
                systems--
                            (i) are most cost-effective; and
                            (ii) show the most promise for--
                                    (I) increasing building energy 
                                savings;
                                    (II) increasing service performance 
                                to building occupants;
                                    (III) reducing environmental 
                                impacts; and
                                    (IV) establishing cybersecurity; 
                                and
                    (B) any other information the Secretary determines 
                to be appropriate.
    (d) Leveraging Existing Programs.--
            (1) Better building challenge.--As part of the Better 
        Building Challenge of the Department, the Secretary, in 
        consultation with major private sector property owners, shall 
        develop smart building accelerators to demonstrate innovative 
        policies and approaches that will accelerate the transition to 
        smart buildings in the public, institutional, and commercial 
        buildings sectors.
            (2) Research and development.--
                    (A) In general.--The Secretary shall conduct 
                research and development to address key barriers to the 
                integration of advanced building technologies and to 
                accelerate the transition to smart buildings.
                    (B) Inclusion.--The research and development 
                conducted under subparagraph (A) shall include research 
                and development on--
                            (i) achieving whole-building, systems-level 
                        efficiency through smart system and component 
                        integration;
                            (ii) improving physical components, such as 
                        sensors and controls, to be adaptive, 
                        anticipatory, and networked;
                            (iii) integration of internet of things 
                        technology solutions, including measure to 
                        increase water and energy efficiency, improve 
                        water quality, support real-time utility 
                        management, and enable actionable analytics and 
                        predictive maintenance to improve building 
                        systems long-term viability;
                            (iv) reducing the cost of key components to 
                        accelerate the adoption of smart building 
                        technologies;
                            (v) data management, including the capture 
                        and analysis of data and the interoperability 
                        of the energy systems;
                            (vi) protecting against cybersecurity 
                        threats and addressing security vulnerabilities 
                        of building systems or equipment;
                            (vii) business models, including how 
                        business models may limit the adoption of smart 
                        building technologies and how to support 
                        transactive energy;
                            (viii) integration and application of 
                        combined heat and power systems and energy 
                        storage for resiliency;
                            (ix) characterization of buildings and 
                        components;
                            (x) consumer and utility protections;
                            (xi) continuous management, including the 
                        challenges of managing multiple energy systems 
                        and optimizing systems for disparate 
                        stakeholders; and
                            (xii) other areas of research and 
                        development, as determined appropriate by the 
                        Secretary.
    (e) Report.--Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment of 
this Act, and every 2 years thereafter until a total of 3 reports have 
been made, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and 
Natural Resources of the Senate and the Committee on Energy and 
Commerce and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology of the 
House of Representatives a report on--
            (1) the establishment of the Federal Smart Building Program 
        and the evaluation of Federal smart buildings under subsection 
        (b);
            (2) the survey and evaluation of private sector smart 
        buildings under subsection (c); and
            (3) any recommendations of the Secretary to further 
        accelerate the transition to smart buildings.
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