[Senate Report 110-224]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                                       Calendar No. 475
110th Congress                                                   Report
                                 SENATE
 1st Session                                                    110-224

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     TO DIRECT THE ADMINISTRATOR OF GENERAL SERVICES TO INSTALL A 
  PHOTOVOLTAIC SYSTEM FOR HEADQUARTERS BUILDINGS OF THE DEPARTMENT OF 
                                 ENERGY

                                _______
                                

                November 7, 2007.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

    Mrs. Boxer, from the Committee on Environment and Public Works, 
                        submitted the following

                              R E P O R T

                        [To accompany H.R. 798]

      [Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]

    The Committee on Environment and Public Works, to which was 
referred the bill (H.R. 798) to direct the Administrator of 
General Services to install a photovoltaic system for the 
headquarters building of the Department of Energy, having 
considered the same, reports favorably thereon without 
amendment, and recommends that the bill do pass.

                               BACKGROUND

    The photovoltaic system called for in this legislation is 
known as the Solar Net. It was the winning design produced by a 
competition sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy (DoE), 
National Renewable Energy Laboratory, in cooperation with The 
American Institute of Architects, and the Architectural 
Engineering Institute. The DoE competition included submissions 
from 151 teams.
    The competition required that a minimum of 100 kilowatts be 
generated by the design. The winning design will produce 
460,000 kWh.
    The winning design is 300 feet long and 130 feet high. It 
incorporates 24,750 square feet of power generating panels. 
This innovative design uses solar skin to create both exterior 
planes and interior spaces. The clean energy produced by the 
wall is channeled back into the building in the form of 
electricity, hot water, and convected heat.
    The steel structure itself is a series of curved primary 
cable trusses spanning between the vertical concrete wall and 
the reconfigured ground plane. Steel brackets will serve as 
mastheads for the trusses.
    The sun wall will be the largest solar installation in a 
Federal building.

                       SUMMARY OF THE LEGISLATION

    H.R. 798 directs the Administrator of General Services to 
install a photovoltaic system for the headquarters building of 
the Department of Energy, as set forth in the Sun Wall Design 
Project. The Department of Energy Building is located at 1000 
Independence Avenue, Southwest, Washington D.C., which is 
commonly known as the Forrestal Building. Funding for the 
photovoltaic system would be authorized from the Federal 
Buildings Fund.

                   CONGRESSIONALLY DIRECTED SPENDING

    For purposes of rule XLIV of the Standing Rules of the 
Senate, H.R. 798 does not contain any congressionally directed 
spending.

                                HEARINGS

    There have been no hearings on H.R. 798 by the Committee.

                             ROLLCALL VOTES

    There were no rollcall votes during the consideration of 
H.R. 798 by the Committee.

                          MANDATES ASSESSMENT

    In compliance with the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act of 1995 
(Public Law 104-4), the committee finds that this bill would 
impose no Federal intergovernmental unfunded mandates on State, 
local or tribal governments. All of its governmental directives 
are imposed on Federal agencies. The bill does not directly 
impose any private sector mandates.

                    EVALUATION OF REGULATORY IMPACT

    Section 11(b) of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the 
Senate requires publication in the report the committee's 
estimate of the regulatory impact made by the bill as reported. 
No regulatory impact is expected by the passage of the bill. 
The bill will not affect the personal privacy of individuals.

                          COST OF LEGISLATION

    The Congressional Budget Office estimates that implementing 
this project would cost $6 million in 2008 and $30 million over 
the 2008-2012 period. The Congressional Budget office also 
estimates that this project would not affect net Federal 
outlays over the 2008-2012 period because spending on this 
project would be offset by decreased spending later in that 
period. The estimate of the Congressional Budget Office is 
attached.

H.R. 798--An act to direct the Administrator of General Services to 
        install a photovoltaic system for the headquarters building of 
        the Department of Energy

    H.R. 798 would require the General Services Administration 
to install a solar energy (photovoltaic) system on the side of 
the headquarters building of the Department of Energy (DOE) 
located in Washington, DC. Photovoltaic systems use solar-power 
technology to convert energy from the sun into electricity. The 
project would consist of a ``sun wall'' of almost 25,000 solar 
panels that would provide some electricity and hot water to the 
building. The legislation would direct the use of $30 million 
in unobligated balances in the Federal Buildings Fund beginning 
in fiscal year 2008 to install the system.
    Currently, the Federal Buildings Fund has unobligated 
balances of over $2 billion available for construction, repair, 
and alteration of federal buildings. Legislation that modifies 
the expected spending pattern of those balances would be 
considered a change in direct spending but would not increase 
budget authority. Based on information from DOE, CBO estimates 
that implementing this project would cost $6 million in 2008 
and $30 million over the 2008-2012 period. However, we also 
estimate that this project would not affect net federal outlays 
over the 2008-2012 period because spending on this project 
would be offset by decreased spending later in that period.
    H.R. 798 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector 
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act and 
would not affect the budgets of state, local, or tribal 
governments.
    On February 12, 2007, CBO transmitted a cost estimate for 
H.R. 798 as ordered reported by the House Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure on February 7, 2007. The 
versions of the legislation are identical, as are the CBO cost 
estimates.
    The CBO staff contact for this estimate is Matthew 
Pickford. The estimate was approved by Peter H. Fontaine, 
Deputy Assistant Director for Budget Analysis.

                        CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

    Section 12 of rule XXVI of the Standing Rules of the Senate 
requires the committee to publish changes in existing law made 
by the bill as reported. Passage of this bill will make no 
changes to existing law.

                                  
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