[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6897]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                     HIGH-PERFORMANCE BUILDING WEEK

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Illinois (Mr. Manzullo) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. MANZULLO. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to speak on energy-efficient 
buildings--we're talking about schools, factories, department stores, 
shopping centers, any type of a large building or even a small 
building--and the money they can save and the manufacturing jobs that 
energy-efficient initiatives can create.
  This week, architects, code officials, designers, and others involved 
in making buildings more energy efficient celebrate High-Performance 
Building Week. This annual event features briefings, meetings, and 
other educational outlets designed to showcase and promote the good 
work being done to provide better buildings and mitigate the impact on 
the environment.
  Building owners and operators continue to find creative ways to 
minimize the effect that rising energy costs have on their operations 
and productivity. These owners and operators are beginning to find that 
better designs of new buildings and smart retrofits of existing 
buildings free up capital and allow managers to commit more resources 
to the core operations rather than to utility bills.
  The State of Montana decided to make its buildings more energy 
efficient. They brought in engineers to do the study, and they found 
that over 7,500 pipes needed to have mechanical insulation. These are 
pipes that needed to be wrapped.

                              {time}  1040

  And so they undertook that project. And what's interesting is that 
the payback was less than 4 years. But each year the State of Montana 
saves 5 to 8 percent in energy costs on those buildings. That's a 
massive savings of energy in this country.
  One of the easiest, most cost-effective ways to improve building 
performance is to ensure the mechanical insulation systems are properly 
installed. While most of us think that insulation is only for walls and 
attics, mechanical insulation is a vital component for commercial and 
industrial and educational applications.
  Working with my colleagues, I introduced H.R. 2866, the Mechanical 
Insulation Incentive Act of 2011, last year to help commercial and 
industrial facility owners make their facilities more energy efficient 
and put people back to work.
  Improved insulation for piping and mechanical components in 
commercial and industrial settings will help save businesses more than 
$4.8 billion a year, according to the National Insulation Association. 
These improvements will also save resources to the tune of 82 million 
barrels of oil or 19 million tons of coal each year. And it's probably 
more than that.
  I ask my colleagues to consider supporting H.R. 2866. It's a 
commonsense bill that will save money, improve facility operations, put 
people back to work, and help our buildings perform to a higher 
standard.
  Mr. Speaker, I want to close by saluting the hard work that our 
Nation's architects, engineers, and building professionals do to 
improve the condition of our homes, schools, and businesses.
  I also want to ask my colleagues to participate in some of the events 
being held this week in honor of High-Performance Building Week.

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