I 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1778 

To provide for the establishment of national energy and environmental building retrofit policies for both residential and commercial buildings, and 

for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 30, 2009 

Mr. WELCH (for himself, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. PATRICK J. MURPHY of 

Pennsylvania, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. HONDA, Ms. KILPATRICK of Michigan, Mr. CARSON of Indiana, Mrs. DAHLKEMPER, Mr. PALLONE, Mr. 

ISRAEL, Mr. COHEN, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. LANGEVIN, Mr. ELLISON, Mr. 

HINCHEY, Mr. TONKO, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mrs. 

CHRISTENSEN, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, 

Mr. TEAGUE, Mr. DELAHUNT, Mr. INSLEE, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. 

HEINRICH, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. HIMES, Mr. PERLMUTTER, Mrs. CAPPS, 

Mr. MASSA, and Mr. POLIS of Colorado) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in 

addition to the Committee on Financial Services, 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 provide for the establishment of national energy and 

environmental building retrofit policies for both residential and commercial buildings, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Retrofit for Energy 

3 and Environmental Performance (REEP) Program Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 The Congress finds that— 

6 (1) buildings are responsible for 39 percent of 

7 all energy consumption, 72 percent of all electricity 

8 consumption, and 55 percent of natural gas use in 

9 the United States; 

10 (2) buildings are responsible for 38 percent of 

11 all carbon dioxide emissions in the United States; 

12 (3) energy efficiency in buildings can readily be 

13 improved in most cases using existing technologies 

14 to reduce building energy consumption by 25 percent 

15 or more; 

16 (4) buildings represent 14 percent of potable 

17 water use in the United States, also amenable to sig18 nificant efficiency improvement; 

19 (5) Home Performance with Energy Star in 

20 Vermont and many other States, as well as indi21 vidual retrofits of commercial buildings, show that 

22 such savings are possible and economical; and 

23 (6) expanding the residential and commercial 

24 efficiency industries will create jobs directly in per25 forming retrofits and indirectly through reduced en26 ergy bills to consumers. 

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1 SEC. 3. BUILDING RETROFIT PROGRAM. 

2 (a) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

3 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis4 trator’’ means the Administrator of the Environ5 mental Protection Agency. 

6 (2) PERFORMANCE-BASED BUILDING RETROFIT

7 PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘performance-based building 

8 retrofit program’’ means a program that determines 

9 success in energy efficiency based on actual meas10 ured savings after a retrofit is complete. 

11 (3) PRESCRIPTIVE BUILDING RETROFIT PRO12 GRAM.—The term ‘‘prescriptive building retrofit pro13 gram’’ means a program that projects success in en14 ergy efficiency based on the known effectiveness of 

15 measures prescribed to be included in a retrofit. 

16 (4) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means the sev17 eral States, the District of Columbia, the Common18 wealth of Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Is19 lands, Guam, American Samoa, the Commonwealth 

20 of the Northern Mariana Islands, and any other 

21 commonwealth, territory, or possession of the United 

22 States. 

23 (5) STATE ENERGY PROGRAM.—The term 

24 ‘‘State Energy Program’’ means the program under 

25 part D of title III of the Energy Policy and Con26 servation Act (42 U.S.C. 6321 et seq.) 

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1 (b) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator shall de2 velop and implement, in consultation with the Secretary 

3 of Energy, standards for a national energy and environ4 mental building retrofit policy for single-family and multi5 family residences. The Secretary of Energy shall develop 

6 and implement, in consultation with the Administrator, 

7 standards for a national energy and environmental build8 ing retrofit policy for commercial buildings. The programs 

9 to implement the residential and commercial policies based 

10 on the standards developed under this section shall to11 gether be known as the Retrofit for Energy and Environ12 mental Performance (REEP) program. 

13 (c) PROGRAM DESIGN.— 

14 (1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of the REEP pro15 gram is to facilitate the retrofitting of existing build16 ings across the United States to achieve maximum 

17 cost-effective energy efficiency improvements and 

18 significant improvements in water use and other en19 vironmental attributes. 

20 (2) FEDERAL RESOURCES.—The REEP pro21 gram shall utilize Federal personnel and resources 

22 as needed for development, design, program mate23 rials, administration, seed capital, and other activi24 ties and support. 

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1 (3) ASSISTANCE TO STATES.—The REEP pro2 gram shall provide Federal financial assistance to 

3 States, to be administered through the State Energy 

4 Program, for management and the accomplishment 

5 of the program’s objectives at the individual building 

6 level, through local agencies as appropriate, in ac7 cordance with standards and requirements estab8 lished under this section. 

9 (4) STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE.—State and 

10 local agencies may offer free or low-cost building au11 dits, incentives, technical assistance, training, incen12 tive financing, and other forms of assistance to indi13 vidual building owners under the standards and 

14 guidelines developed for the REEP program in ac15 cordance with this section, as well as promotion and 

16 management of the REEP program. 

17 (5) STRUCTURE OF PROGRAM OPERATIONS.— 

18 State and local agencies shall have broad flexibility 

19 in the structure of REEP program operations and 

20 in the choice of retrofit agencies or contractors. 

21 (d) FEDERAL ADMINISTRATION.— 

22 (1) EXISTING PROGRAMS.—In creating and op23 erating the residential REEP program— 

24 (A) the Administrator shall make appro25 priate use of existing programs, including the 

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1 Energy Star program and in particular the En2 vironmental Protection Agency Energy Star for 

3 Buildings program; and 

4 (B) the Secretary of Energy shall make 

5 appropriate use of existing programs, including 

6 delegating authority to the Director of Commer7 cial High-Performance Green Buildings ap8 pointed under section 421 of the Energy Inde9 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 

10 17081), who shall designate and provide fund11 ing to support a High-Performance Green 

12 Building Partnership Consortium pursuant to 

13 such section to support efforts under this Act. 

14 (2) CONSULTATION AND COORDINATION.—The 

15 Administrator and the Secretary of Energy shall 

16 consult with and coordinate with the Secretary of 

17 Housing and Urban Development in carrying out the 

18 REEP program. 

19 (3) ADMINISTRATION OF FUNDING.—The Sec20 retary of Energy shall administer the financing for 

21 the REEP program, providing funds to and adminis22 tration through State Energy Offices under the 

23 State Energy Program, or through such existing 

24 State offices or entities regulated by the State that 

25 the Governor of the State designates to carry out 

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1 the purposes of this Act. The Secretary shall ensure 

2 accountability for funds dispensed, including meas3 urement and verification of energy, water, and envi4 ronmental savings achieved. 

5 (4) ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator and the 

6 Secretary of Energy shall provide consultation and 

7 assistance to State and local agencies for the estab8 lishment of revolving loan funds or other forms of fi9 nancial assistance under this section. 

10 (e) STATE AND LOCAL ADMINISTRATION.— 

11 (1) DELEGATION.—The State Energy Office or 

12 designated State agency described in subsection 

13 (d)(3) may delegate performance of appropriate ele14 ments of the REEP program, upon their request 

15 and subject to State law, to counties, municipalities, 

16 appropriate public agencies, and other divisions of 

17 local government, as well as to entities regulated by 

18 the State. The State shall ensure accountability for 

19 expended funds provided under this section, and 

20 shall maintain responsibility for meeting the stand21 ards and requirements of the REEP program. 

22 (2) EMPLOYMENT.—States and local govern23 ment entities may employ public or regulated inves24 tor-owned utilities, building auditors and inspectors, 

25 contractors, nonprofit organizations, and other entimstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ties to perform audits and retrofit services under 

2 this section. 

3 (f) ELEMENTS OF REEP PROGRAM.—The elements 

4 of the REEP program shall include the following: 

5 (1) The Administrator and the Secretary of En6 ergy shall establish goals and standards for accom7 plishing the purpose stated in subsection (c)(1), and 

8 shall annually review and, as appropriate, revise 

9 such goals and standards. 

10 (2) Residential Energy Services Network 

11 (RESNET) certification of building energy and envi12 ronment auditors, inspectors, and raters, or an 

13 equivalent certification system as determined by the 

14 Administrator. 

15 (3) Building Performance Institute (BPI) cer16 tification or licensing by States of building energy 

17 and environmental retrofit contractors, or an equiva18 lent certification or licensing system as determined 

19 by the Administrator. 

20 (4) Building Performance Institute, Residential 

21 Energy Services Network, or other appropriate in22 formation on equipment and procedures, as deter23 mined by the Administrator, that contractors can 

24 use to test the energy and environmental efficiency 

25 of buildings effectively (such as infrared photogmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 raphy and pressurized testing, and tests for water 

2 use and indoor air quality). 

3 (5) Provision of clear and effective materials to 

4 describe the testing and retrofit processes for typical 

5 buildings. 

6 (6) Suggested guidelines for offering and man7 aging prescriptive building retrofit programs and 

8 performance-based building retrofit programs for 

9 residential and commercial buildings. 

10 (7) Suggested guidelines for applying 

11 retrocommissioning principles to improve a build12 ing’s operations and maintenance procedures. 

13 (8) Determination of energy savings in a per14 formance-based building retrofit program through— 

15 (A) for residential buildings, comparison of 

16 before and after retrofit scores on the Home 

17 Energy Rating System (HERS) Index, where 

18 the final score is produced by an objective third 

19 party; 

20 (B) for commercial buildings, Environ21 mental Protection Agency Portfolio Manager 

22 benchmarks; or 

23 (C) for either residential or commercial 

24 buildings, use of an Administrator-approved 

25 simulation program, subject to appropriate softmstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 ware standards and verification of at least 15 

2 percent of all work done. 

3 (9) Suggested guidelines for utilizing the En4 ergy Star Portfolio Manager, the Home Energy Rat5 ing System (HERS) rating system, Home Perform6 ance with Energy Star program approvals, and any 

7 other tools associated with the retrofit program. 

8 (10) Requirements and guidelines for post-ret9 rofit inspection and confirmation of work and energy 

10 savings. 

11 (11) Detailed descriptions of funding options 

12 for the benefit of State and local governments, along 

13 with model forms, accounting aids, agreements, and 

14 guides to best practices. 

15 (12) Guidelines for obtaining certification of 

16 buildings after retrofit as Energy Star buildings, as17 signing Home Energy Rating System (HERS) rat18 ing, and completing applicable building performance 

19 labels. 

20 (13) Sample materials for publicizing the pro21 gram to building owners, including public service an22 nouncements and advertisements. 

23 (14) Processes for tracking the numbers and lo24 cations of buildings retrofitted under the REEP promstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 gram, with information on projected and actual sav2 ings of energy and its value over time. 

3 (15) A requirement that building retrofits con4 ducted pursuant to a REEP program, as appro5 priate, especially in all air-conditioned buildings, 

6 shall use roofing materials that demonstrate— 

7 (A) on residential single family homes and 

8 other buildings with slanted roofs— 

9 (i) for fiberglass asphalt-shingle roof10 ing, an initial solar reflectance of 0.3 or 

11 higher; or 

12 (ii) for all other roofing materials, an 

13 initial solar reflectance of 0.4 or higher; 

14 and 

15 (B) on commercial buildings and all build16 ings with flat roofs, roofing materials with— 

17 (i) an initial solar reflectance of 0.7 or 

18 higher; 

19 (ii) a solar reflectance value 3 years 

20 after installation (‘‘h’’ solar reflectance) of 

21 0.55 or higher; and 

22 (iii) a thermal emittance of 0.8 or 

23 higher. 

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1 (g) REQUIREMENTS.—As a condition of receiving 

2 funding for the REEP program appropriated pursuant to 

3 this section, a State shall— 

4 (1) adopt the standards for training, certifi5 cation of contractors, certification of buildings, and 

6 post-retrofit inspection as developed by the Adminis7 trator and the Secretary of Energy for residential 

8 and commercial buildings, respectively, except as 

9 necessary to match local conditions, needs, efficiency 

10 opportunities, or other local factors, or to accord 

11 with State laws or regulations, and then only after 

12 60 days have expired after the State provides notice 

13 to the Administrator or the Secretary of Energy, as 

14 appropriate, of the need for such variance; and 

15 (2) establish fiscal controls and accounting pro16 cedures (which conform to generally accepted gov17 ernment accounting principles) sufficient to ensure 

18 proper accounting during appropriate accounting pe19 riods for payments received and disbursements, and 

20 for fund balances. 

21 The Secretary of Energy shall conduct or require each 

22 State to have such independent financial audits of REEP23 related funding as the Secretary of Energy considers nec24 essary or appropriate to carry out the purposes of this 

25 section. 

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1 (h) FINANCIAL OPTIONS TO SUPPORT REEP PRO2 GRAM.—The Secretary of Energy and the Administrator 

3 shall support the implementation through State REEP 

4 programs of alternate means of creating incentives for, or 

5 reducing financial barriers to, improved energy and envi6 ronmental performance in buildings, consistent with this 

7 section, including— 

8 (1) implementing prescriptive building retrofit 

9 programs and performance-based building retrofit 

10 programs; 

11 (2) providing credit enhancement, interest rate 

12 subsidies, or other credit support; 

13 (3) providing initial capital for public revolving 

14 fund financing of retrofits, with repayments by bene15 ficiary building owners over time through their tax 

16 payments, calibrated to create net positive cash flow 

17 to the building owner; 

18 (4) providing funds to support utility-operated 

19 retrofit programs with repayments over time 

20 through utility rates, calibrated to create net positive 

21 cash flow to the building owner, and transferable 

22 from one building owner to the next with the build23 ing’s utility services; and 

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1 (5) other means proposed by State and local 

2 agencies, subject to the approval of the Secretary of 

3 Energy. 

4 (i) FEDERAL FINANCIAL SUPPORT.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—Financial support shall be 

6 provided to a State Energy Program, for the specific 

7 purpose of supporting the REEP program. 

8 (2) ALLOCATION OF FUNDING.— 

9 (A) INITIAL YEAR.—The Secretary of En10 ergy shall allocate amounts appropriated during 

11 the initial year of the REEP program among 

12 the States in accordance with the State Energy 

13 Program formula under section 363 of the En14 ergy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 

15 6323). 

16 (B) SUBSEQUENT YEARS.—In the second 

17 year of the REEP program and thereafter, the 

18 Secretary of Energy shall allocate amounts 

19 among the States as follows: 

(i) 1 20 ⁄2 of available or appropriated 

21 funds shall be allocated among the States 

22 in accordance with the State Energy Pro23 gram formula described in subparagraph 

24 (A). 

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(ii) 1 1 ⁄2 of available or appropriated 

2 funds shall be allocated among the States 

3 in accordance with the relative building en4 ergy efficiency and environmental perform5 ance of the various States in retrofitting 

6 buildings in accordance with this section 

7 during the preceding year, with higher allo8 cations going to States showing greater 

9 success in improving energy and environ10 mental performance of the buildings retro11 fitted in that State during that preceding 

12 year. 

13 (3) FORMS OF SUPPORT.—State and local 

14 REEP programs may make per-building direct ex15 penditures for retrofit improvements, or their equiv16 alent in indirect financial support, from Federal 

17 funds as follows: 

18 (A) RESIDENTIAL PROGRAM.— 

19 (i) AWARDS.—For residential build20 ings, a program may provide— 

21 (I) $500 to support a free or low22 cost detailed building energy audit 

23 that prescribes energy-reducing meas24 ures, with such amount fully recover25 able from the recipient if the premstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 scribed measures are not performed, 

2 within 1 year after completion of the 

3 audit, sufficiently to enable the build4 ing to achieve at least a 20 percent 

5 reduction in energy use; 

6 (II) a total of $1,000 for meas7 ures, prescribed in an audit conducted 

8 under subclause (I), designed to re9 duce energy consumption by more 

10 than 10 percent, and $2,000 for 

11 measures prescribed in such an audit, 

12 designed to reduce energy consump13 tion by more than 20 percent; 

14 (III) $3,000 for demonstrated 

15 savings of 20 percent, pursuant to a 

16 performance-based building retrofit 

17 program; and 

18 (IV) $150 for each additional 

19 percentage point of energy savings 

20 achieved beyond savings for which 

21 funding is provided under subclause 

22 (II) or (III). 

23 Funding shall not be provided under 

24 clauses (II) and (III) for the same energy 

25 savings. 

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1 (ii) MAXIMUM PERCENTAGE.—Awards 

2 under clause (i) shall not to exceed 50 per3 cent of retrofit costs for each building. 

4 (iii) ADDITIONAL AWARDS.—Addi5 tional awards may be provided, for build6 ings achieving at least 20 percent energy 

7 savings using funding provided under 

8 clause (i), as follows: 

9 (I) WATER.—Grants of $600 

10 may be made for measures projected 

11 or measured (using an appropriate 

12 method approved by the Adminis13 trator) to achieve at least 35 percent 

14 potable water savings through equip15 ment or systems with an estimated 

16 service life of not less than seven 

17 years, and an additional $20 may be 

18 provided for each additional one per19 cent of such savings, up to a max20 imum total grant of $1,200. 

21 (II) RENEWABLE ENERGY USE.— 

22 For cost-effective use of renewable en23 ergy, an award of up to $2,000 may 

24 be provided for uses with respect to 

25 which Federal tax credits are not 

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1 available, and the Administrator shall 

2 develop relevant standards for docu3 menting compliance. 

4 (B) COMMERCIAL PROGRAM.— 

5 (i) AWARDS.—For commercial build6 ings, a program may provide— 

7 (I) $1,000 to support a free or 

8 low-cost building audit of energy-re9 duction potential that prescribes en10 ergy efficiency improvements and im11 provements of other building at12 tributes, with such amount fully re13 coverable from the recipient if the pre14 scribed improvements are not per15 formed, within 1 year after completion 

16 of the audit, sufficiently to enable the 

17 building to achieve at least a 20 per18 cent reduction in energy use; 

19 (II) $0.15 per square foot of ret20 rofit area for demonstrated energy use 

21 reductions from 20 percent to 30 per22 cent; 

23 (III) $0.75 per square foot for 

24 demonstrated energy use reductions 

25 from 30 percent to 40 percent; 

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1 (IV) $1.60 per square foot for 

2 demonstrated energy use reductions 

3 from 40 percent to 50 percent; and 

4 (V) $2.50 per square foot for 

5 demonstrated energy use reductions 

6 exceeding 50 percent. 

7 (ii) LIMITATION.—Amounts provided 

8 under subclauses (II) through (V) of clause 

9 (i) combined shall not exceed 50 percent of 

10 the total retrofit cost of a building. 

11 (iii) ADDITIONAL AWARDS.—Addi12 tional awards may be provided, for build13 ings achieving at least 20 percent energy 

14 savings using funding provided under 

15 clause (i), as follows: 

16 (I) WATER.—Grants may be 

17 made for whole building potable water 

18 use reduction (using an appropriate 

19 method approved by the Secretary of 

20 Energy) for up to 50 percent of the 

21 total retrofit cost, including amounts 

22 up to— 

23 (aa) $24.00 per thousand 

24 gallons per year of potable water 

25 savings of 40 percent or more; 

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1 (bb) $27.00 per thousand 

2 gallons per year of potable water 

3 savings of 50 percent or more; 

4 and 

5 (cc) $30.00 per thousand 

6 gallons per year of potable water 

7 savings of 60 percent or more. 

8 (II) RENEWABLE ENERGY USE.— 

9 For cost-effective use of renewable en10 ergy, an award of up to $10,000 may 

11 be provided for uses with respect to 

12 which Federal tax credits are not 

13 available, and the Secretary of Energy 

14 shall develop relevant standards for 

15 documenting compliance. 

16 (III) ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVE17 MENTS.—For other environmental im18 provements relating to— 

19 (aa) indoor air quality; 

20 (bb) natural lighting; 

21 (cc) use of renewable mate22 rials; and 

23 (dd) any other such im24 provements, as determined by the 

25 Secretary of Energy, that do not 

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1 result in a decrease in energy ef2 ficiency, 

3 an award of up to $1,000 for improve4 ments in each such category. 

5 (C) HISTORIC BUILDINGS.—Notwith6 standing subparagraphs (A) and (B), a building 

7 in or eligible for the National Register of His8 toric Places shall be eligible for awards under 

9 this paragraph in amounts up to 120 percent of 

10 the amounts set forth in subparagraphs (A) and 

11 (B). 

12 (D) SUPPLEMENTAL SUPPORT.—State and 

13 local governments may supplement the per14 building expenditures under this paragraph 

15 with funding from other sources. 

16 (j) SOURCES OF FEDERAL FUNDS.— 

17 (1) ADDITIONAL STATE ENERGY PROGRAM

18 FUNDS.—Any appropriated funding provided to a 

19 State Energy Program that is not specifically re20 quired to be expended for a different federally des21 ignated purpose may be used to support a REEP 

22 program. 

23 (2) PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION.—State Energy 

24 Offices or designated State agencies may expend up 

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1 to 10 percent of funding provided under this section 

2 for program administration. 

3 (3) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

4 There are authorized to be appropriated for the pur5 poses of this section, for each of fiscal years 2010, 

6 2011, 2012, and 2013— 

7 (A) $2,500,000,000 and such additional 

8 sums as may be necessary to the Secretary of 

9 Energy for distribution to State Energy Offices 

10 and other designated State agencies in accord11 ance with this section; 

12 (B) $200,000,000 to the Administrator for 

13 program administration costs; 

14 (C) $200,000,000 to the Secretary of En15 ergy for program administration costs; and 

16 (D) $50,000,000 to the Secretary of Hous17 ing and Urban Development for program ad18 ministration costs. 

Æ 

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