74050 Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 230 / Wednesday, November 30, 2011 / Notices 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy 

[Docket Number EERE–2011–BT–NOA– 

0064] 

Measured Building Energy 

Performance Data Taxonomy 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of request for 

information (RFI). 

SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of 

Energy (DOE) seeks comments and 

information related to a measured 

building energy performance data 

taxonomy. DOE has created this 

measured building energy performance 

data taxonomy as part of its DOE 

Buildings Performance Database project. 

This information is focused on data 

related to the energy performance of 

buildings and is not intended to be a 

general taxonomy for other building 

information and applications (i.e., nonenergy applications such as structural 

analysis, space planning, et cetera). 

DATES: Written comments and 

information are requested on or before 

December 30, 2011. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

submit comments, identified by docket 

number EERE–2011–BT–NOA–0064, by 

any of the following methods. Your 

response should be in the form of either 

a word document, or a compatible 

format. Questions relative to responding 

to this RFI may be sent to the same 

mailbox in advance of your response, 

and will be answered via email. 

• Email: to TaxonomyRFI123– 

0064@ee.doe.gov. Include EERE–2011– 

BT–NOA–0064 in the subject line of the 

message. 

• Mail: Ms. Brenda Edwards, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Building 

Technologies Program, Mailstop EE–2J, 

Revisions to Energy Efficiency 

Enforcement Regulations, EERE–2011– 

BT–NOA–0064, 1000 Independence 

Avenue SW., Washington, DC 20585– 

0121. Phone: (202) 586–2945. Please 

submit one signed paper original. 

• Hand Delivery/Courier: Ms. Brenda 

Edwards, U.S. Department of Energy, 

Building Technologies Program, 6th 

Floor, 950 L’Enfant Plaza SW., 

Washington, DC 20024. Phone: (202) 

586–2945. Please submit one signed 

paper original. 

Instructions: All submissions received 

must include the agency name and 

docket number. 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Direct requests for additional 

information may be sent to Cody Taylor, 

U.S. Department of Energy, Office of 

Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy, Building Technologies Program, 

EE–2J, 1000 Independence Avenue SW., 

Washington, DC 20585–0121. 

Telephone: (202) 287–5842. Email: 

TaxonomyRFI123–0064@ee.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

Overview 

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) 

seeks comments and information related 

to a measured building energy 

performance data taxonomy. DOE has 

created this measured building energy 

performance data taxonomy as part of 

its DOE Buildings Performance Database 

project. This information is focused on 

data related to the energy performance 

of buildings and is not intended to be 

a general taxonomy for other building 

information and applications (i.e., nonenergy applications such as structural 

analysis, space planning, et cetera). A 

copy of the information on which DOE 

seeks comment can be downloaded from 

this web address: http:// 

buildingsperformance.net/taxonomyrfi. 

Stakeholders should download the 

taxonomy file from the provided Web 

site, as the information is not duplicated 

in this RFI. 

Detailed Description 

The data taxonomy described in this 

RFI provides guidance on how 

measured building energy performance 

data and building characteristics are 

defined, organized and classified in the 

DOE Buildings Performance Database. 

The full taxonomy description can be 

downloaded at this site: http:// 

buildingsperformance.net/taxonomyrfi. 

Please use this web address to access 

and download the information on which 

DOE is seeking comment. 

The taxonomy was developed with 

several goals in mind. The taxonomy is 

intended to be general and flexible 

enough to accommodate a wide set of 

current and anticipated use cases to 

analyze the measured energy 

performance of both commercial and 

residential buildings. The taxonomy 

should be general enough to support use 

cases for multiple stakeholders 

including financiers, utilities, service 

providers, and policy makers, and 

flexible enough to accommodate use 

cases that have not yet been fully 

specified. The taxonomy should support 

a wide range of existing data sources 

while also anticipating future data 

collection efforts that may provide more 

detailed datasets. The taxonomy focuses 

on measured building energy 

performance data and related building 

characteristics, and does not include 

modeled or derived data. Finally, it does 

not include any fields for personally 

identifiable information or the identity 

of the data source. 

The taxonomy presented was 

developed after reviewing and 

considering related efforts, such as the 

Industry Foundation Classes, OmniClass 

systems, ASTM Building Energy 

Performance Assessment checklist, and 

ASHRAE Audit Procedures Checklist. 

To date, the taxonomy has mapped five 

data sources, including the Commercial 

Building Energy Consumption Survey, 

the Residential Energy Consumption 

Survey, University of Dayton, ENERGY 

STAR, and the General Services 

Administration data. The taxonomy will 

continue to evolve as new data sources 

are mapped. 

Overview of the Taxonomy 

The taxonomy consists of entities and 

data fields. Each entity is a logical 

grouping of data fields. The entities and 

their inter-relationships generally reflect 

the hierarchical nature of building 

characteristics (site, facility, activity 

area, building systems). This scheme 

was developed using a ‘‘top-down’’ 

approach, based on a logical 

understanding of building performance 

information, and is intended to be 

flexible and stable enough to 

accommodate a broad array of use cases. 

For example, the entity ‘‘Facility’’ is 

used to describe the major 

characteristics of a building and has 

data fields for gross floor area, net floor 

area, number of stories, etc. There are 

currently sixteen entities within the 

taxonomy scheme. 

The data field descriptions in the 

taxonomy contain a list of the data 

fields under each entity, along with the 

units of measurement and a description 

of each field. The data fields were 

developed using a ‘‘bottom-up’’ 

approach, by compiling and editing lists 

of fields from existing data sources and 

taxonomies. Certain data fields have 

enumerated types that provide a 

discrete set of named responses specific 

to the data field. An example of an 

enumerated type would be for the data 

field ‘‘Fuel.’’ Responses include 

Electricity, Renewable Electricity, 

Natural Gas, Fuel Oil, Fuel Oil No. 4, 

Solar Hot Water, Kerosene, and Coal, 

among several other choices. Note that 

most constrained lists include items at 

different levels of specificity (e.g. Fuel 

Oil versus Fuel Oil No. 1), in order to 

accommodate a range of data sources 

and use cases. Therefore, the items in a 

constrained list are not mutually 

exclusive. 

The data fields have been organized 

into three priority levels. The 


emcdonald on DSK5VPTVN1PROD with NOTICES
Federal Register / Vol. 76, No. 230 / Wednesday, November 30, 2011 / Notices 74051 

prioritization is based on the relative 

importance for analysis use cases, as 

well as relative ease of obtaining data. 

Priority 3 data fields connote unusual 

fields or those that are unique to a 

particular data source. For example, 

within the ‘‘Energy Use’’ entity, the 

Priority 1 data fields include elements 

such as Fuel (type), End Use Type, and 

Units. The Priority 2 data fields include 

elements such as Electric Utility, 

Electric Rate Structure, and Electricity 

Summer Peak Power. The Priority 3 data 

fields include elements such as Bottled 

Gas Amount, Amount Wood Burned, 

and Natural Gas Peak Power. 

Issues on Which DOE Seeks Comment 

and Information. 

DOE invites comments from 

respondents on all the specific elements 

discussed above, as well as any 

additional issues the respondent deems 

important. Specifically, DOE is 

requesting comment as to (a) The overall 

taxonomy schema i.e. the entities and 

their relationships; (b) definitions of the 

data fields contained within this 

taxonomy; (c) new data fields needed to 

accommodate existing or anticipated 

future data sources. The full taxonomy 

can be accessed at http:// 

buildingsperformance.net/taxonomyrfi. 

Disclaimer and Important Notes 

This is an RFI issued solely for 

information and program planning 

purposes; this RFI does not constitute a 

formal solicitation for proposals or 

abstracts. Your response to this notice 

will be treated as information only. DOE 

will not provide reimbursement for 

costs incurred in responding to this RFI. 

Respondents are advised that DOE is 

under no obligation to acknowledge 

receipt of the information received or 

provide feedback to respondents with 

respect to any information submitted 

under this RFI. Responses to this RFI do 

not bind DOE to any further actions 

related to this topic. 

Confidential Business Information 

According to 10 CFR 1004.11, any 

person submitting information he or she 

believes to be confidential and exempt 

by law from public disclosure should 

submit via email, postal mail, or hand 

delivery/courier two well-marked 

copies: One copy of the document 

marked confidential including all the 

information believed to be confidential, 

and one copy of the document marked 

non-confidential with the information 

believed to be confidential deleted. 

Submit these documents via email or on 

a CD, if feasible. DOE will make its own 

determination about the confidential 

status of the information and treat it 

according to its determination. 

Factors of interest to DOE when 

evaluating requests to treat submitted 

information as confidential include: (1) 

A description of the items; (2) whether 

and why such items are customarily 

treated as confidential within the 

industry; (3) whether the information is 

generally known by or available from 

other sources; (4) whether the 

information has previously been made 

available to others without obligation 

concerning its confidentiality; (5) an 

explanation of the competitive injury to 

the submitting person which would 

result from public disclosure; (6) when 

such information might lose its 

confidential character due to the 

passage of time; and (7) why disclosure 

of the information would be contrary to 

the public interest. 

It is DOE’s policy that all comments 

may be included in the public docket, 

without change and as received, 

including any personal information 

provided in the comments (except 

information deemed to be exempt from 

public disclosure). 

Issued in Washington, DC, on November 

22, 2011. 

Kathleen B. Hogan, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy 

Efficiency, Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2011–30837 Filed 11–29–11; 8:45 a.m.] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OPP–2011–0766; FRL–8890–3] 

Agency Information Collection 

Activities; Proposed Collection; 

Comment Request 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: In compliance with the 

Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) (44 

U.S.C. 3501 et seq.), this document 

announces that EPA is planning to 

submit a request to renew an existing 

approved Information Collection 

Request (ICR) to the Office of 

Management and Budget (OMB). This 

ICR, entitled: ‘‘Foreign Purchaser 

Acknowledgement Statement of 

Unregistered Pesticides’’ and identified 

by EPA ICR No. 0161.12 and OMB 

Control No. 2070–0027, is scheduled to 

expire on July 31, 2012. Before 

submitting the ICR to OMB for review 

and approval, EPA is soliciting 

comments on specific aspects of the 

proposed information collection. 

DATES: Comments must be received on 

or before January 30, 2012. 

ADDRESSES: Submit your comments, 

identified by docket identification (ID) 

number EPA–HQ–OPP–2011–0766, by 

one of the following methods: 

• Federal eRulemaking Portal: http:// 

www.regulations.gov. Follow the on-line 

instructions for submitting comments. 

• Mail: Office of Pesticide Programs 

(OPP) Regulatory Public Docket (7502P), 

Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 

Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, 

DC 20460–0001. 

• Delivery: OPP Regulatory Public 

Docket (7502P), Environmental 

Protection Agency, Rm. S–4400, One 

Potomac Yard (South Bldg.), 2777 S. 

Crystal Dr., Arlington, VA. Deliveries 

are only accepted during the Docket 

Facility’s normal hours of operation 

(8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through 

Friday, excluding legal holidays). 

Special arrangements should be made 

for deliveries of boxed information. The 

Docket Facility telephone number is 

(703) 305–5805. 

Instructions: Direct your comments to 

docket ID number EPA–HQ–OPP–2011– 

0766. EPA’s policy is that all comments 

received will be included in the docket 

without change and may be made 

available on-line at http:// 

www.regulations.gov, including any 

personal information provided, unless 

the comment includes information 

claimed to be Confidential Business 

Information (CBI) or other information 

whose disclosure is restricted by statute. 

Do not submit information that you 

consider to be CBI or otherwise 

protected through regulations.gov or 

email. The regulations.gov Web site is 

an ‘‘anonymous access’’ system, which 

means EPA will not know your identity 

or contact information unless you 

provide it in the body of your comment. 

If you send an email comment directly 

to EPA without going through 

regulations.gov, your email address will 

be automatically captured and included 

as part of the comment that is placed in 

the docket and made available on the 

Internet. If you submit an electronic 

comment, EPA recommends that you 

include your name and other contact 

information in the body of your 

comment and with any disk or CD–ROM 

you submit. If EPA cannot read your 

comment due to technical difficulties 

and cannot contact you for clarification, 

EPA may not be able to consider your 

comment. Electronic files should avoid 

the use of special characters, any form 

of encryption, and be free of any defects 

or viruses. 


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