I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3322 

To establish a Residence Star program, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 29, 2015 

Mr. BUTTERFIELD introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To establish a Residence Star program, 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, 

3 SECTION 1. RESIDENCE STAR PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle A of title IV of the En5 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is amended 

6 by adding at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘SEC. 414. RESIDENCE STAR PROGRAM. 

8 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

9 ‘‘(1) HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

10 MEASURE.—The term ‘high-performance energy effiVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Aug 04, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3322.IH H3322

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1 ciency measure’ has the meaning given that term in 

2 section 424. 

3 ‘‘(2) RESIDENCE STAR PROGRAM.—The term 

4 ‘Residence Star program’ means the voluntary pro5 gram established under subsection (b). 

6 ‘‘(3) SEPARATE RESIDENTIAL SPACES.—The 

7 term ‘separate residential spaces’ means areas with8 in a residential building that are leased or otherwise 

9 occupied by a tenant or other occupant for a period 

10 of time pursuant to the terms of a written agree11 ment. 

12 ‘‘(b) RESIDENCE STAR.—Not later than 6 months 

13 after the date of enactment of this section, the Adminis14 trator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in con15 sultation with the Secretary, shall establish a voluntary 

16 program within the Energy Star program established by 

17 section 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 

18 (42 U.S.C. 6294a), which may be known as Residence 

19 Star, to promote energy efficiency in separate residential 

20 spaces. 

21 ‘‘(c) RECOGNITION OF SEPARATE RESIDENTIAL

22 SPACES.— 

23 ‘‘(1) OCCUPANCY-BASED RECOGNITION.—In es24 tablishing the Residence Star program, the AdminisVerDate Sep 11 2014 05:07 Aug 04, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3322.IH H3322

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1 trator shall, following public notice and an oppor2 tunity for comment— 

3 ‘‘(A) in a manner similar to the Energy 

4 Star rating system for commercial buildings, 

5 develop policies and procedures to recognize 

6 separate residential spaces with respect to 

7 which the owner of the separate residential 

8 space voluntarily achieves high levels of energy 

9 efficiency; 

10 ‘‘(B) establish building occupancy cat11 egories eligible for Residence Star recognition; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(C) consider other forms of recognition 

14 for separate residential spaces with respect to 

15 which the owner of the separate residential 

16 space lowers energy consumption. 

17 ‘‘(2) DESIGN- AND CONSTRUCTION-BASED REC18 OGNITION.—In establishing the Residence Star pro19 gram, the Administrator, following public notice and 

20 an opportunity for comment, shall develop policies 

21 and procedures to recognize separate residential 

22 spaces with respect to which the owner of the sepa23 rate residential space uses high-performance energy 

24 efficiency measures in design and construction. 

25 ‘‘(3) AUDITS REQUIRED.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) INITIAL AUDIT.—In establishing the 

2 Residence Star program, the Administrator 

3 shall require that in order for a separate resi4 dential space to be eligible to receive recognition 

5 under this subsection, the owner of the separate 

6 residential space shall submit the separate resi7 dential space to an audit by a third party to 

8 certify that the requirements of the program 

9 are met with respect to the separate residential 

10 space. 

11 ‘‘(B) MAINTENANCE AUDITS.—In estab12 lishing the Residence Star program, the Admin13 istrator shall require that in order for a sepa14 rate residential space to be eligible to maintain 

15 recognition under this subsection, the owner of 

16 the separate residential space shall, not later 

17 than 7 years after the date on which the initial 

18 audit is conducted under subparagraph (A), 

19 and every 7 years thereafter, submit the sepa20 rate residential space to an audit by a third 

21 party to certify that the requirements of the 

22 program continue to be met with respect to the 

23 separate residential space. 


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1 ‘‘(C) CONTENTS.—The Administrator shall 

2 require that an audit conducted under this 

3 paragraph shall include— 

4 ‘‘(i) an assessment of the energy effi5 ciency of the separate residential space; 

6 ‘‘(ii) an estimate of the monetary and 

7 energy savings the tenant or other occu8 pant of the separate residential space can 

9 expect annually as a result of such energy 

10 efficiency, as determined based on stand11 ards of measurement established by the 

12 Administrator, in consultation with the 

13 Secretary; and 

14 ‘‘(iii) any other requirements deter15 mined appropriate by the Administrator, in 

16 consultation with the Secretary, following 

17 public notice and an opportunity for com18 ment. 

19 ‘‘(D) USE OF ESTIMATES.— 

20 ‘‘(i) USE BY OWNERS.—The owner of 

21 a separate residential space that is recog22 nized under the Residence Star program 

23 may, with respect to such separate residen24 tial space, display, publish, or otherwise 

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1 mate of the monetary and energy savings 

2 included in the most recent audit of the 

3 separate residential space conducted under 

4 this paragraph. 

5 ‘‘(ii) USE BY THIRD PARTIES.—Third 

6 parties, including realtors and property 

7 managers, may display, publish, or other8 wise use for purposes of advertising the es9 timate of the monetary and energy savings 

10 included in the most recent audit of a sep11 arate residential space conducted under 

12 this paragraph on behalf of an owner per13 mitted to do so under clause (i). 

14 ‘‘(E) CRITERIA FOR THIRD PARTY AUDI15 TORS.—In establishing the Residence Star pro16 gram, the Administrator, following public notice 

17 and an opportunity for comment, shall develop 

18 criteria for third parties to be eligible to con19 duct audits under this paragraph. 

20 ‘‘(d) BRANDING.— 

21 ‘‘(1) CREATION.—The Administrator, in con22 sultation with the Secretary, shall create a logo and 

23 branding for the Residence Star program. 

24 ‘‘(2) PERMITTED USE.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) USE BY OWNERS.—The owner of a 

2 separate residential space that is recognized 

3 under the Residence Star program may, with 

4 respect to such separate residential space, dis5 play, publish, or otherwise use for purposes of 

6 advertising the logo and branding created under 

7 paragraph (1). 

8 ‘‘(B) USE BY THIRD PARTIES.—Third par9 ties, including realtors and property managers, 

10 may display, publish, or otherwise use for pur11 poses of advertising the logo and branding cre12 ated under paragraph (1) on behalf of an owner 

13 permitted to do so under subparagraph (A). 

14 ‘‘(3) PROHIBITED USE.—An owner of a sepa15 rate residential space that is not recognized under 

16 the Residence Star program may not, with respect 

17 to such separate residential space, display, publish, 

18 or otherwise use for purposes of advertising the logo 

19 and branding created under paragraph (1). 

20 ‘‘(e) PUBLICATION OF LIST.—The Administrator, in 

21 consultation with the Secretary, shall publish and main22 tain, on an Internet website, a list of separate residential 

23 spaces that are recognized under the Residence Star pro24 gram. 


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1 ‘‘(f) PRESERVATION OF INTEGRITY.—The Adminis2 trator and the Secretary shall preserve the integrity of the 

3 Residence Star brand. 

4 ‘‘(g) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

5 on which the Residence Star program is established, the 

6 Administrator, in consultation with the Secretary, shall 

7 submit to Congress a report on the results of the pro8 gram.’’. 

9 (b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents 

10 in section 1(b) of the Energy Independence and Security 

11 Act of 2007 is amended by inserting after the item relat12 ing to section 413 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 414. Residence Star program.’’. 

Æ 


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