I 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 3586 

To promote energy savings in residential and commercial buildings and 

industry, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 27, 2019 

Mr. SCHRADER (for himself, Mr. FLORES, Mr. CORREA, Mr. PETERSON, and 

Mr. O’HALLERAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To promote energy savings in residential and commercial 

buildings and industry, 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. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

5 ‘‘Energy Savings and Building Efficiency Act of 2019’’. 

6 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents of 

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

Sec. 2. Definition of Secretary. 

TITLE I—BUILDINGS 

Subtitle A—Building Energy Codes 


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Sec. 101. Greater energy efficiency in building codes. 

Subtitle B—Worker Training and Capacity Building 

Sec. 111. Building training and assessment centers. 

TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS 

Sec. 201. Voluntary nature of building asset rating program. 

1 SEC. 2. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

2 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec3 retary of Energy. 

4 TITLE I—BUILDINGS 

5 Subtitle A—Building Energy Codes 

6 SEC. 101. GREATER ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN BUILDING 

7 CODES. 

8 (a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 303 of the Energy Con9 servation and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6832) is amend10 ed— 

11 (1) by striking paragraph (14) and inserting 

12 the following: 

13 ‘‘(14) MODEL BUILDING ENERGY CODE.—The 

14 term ‘model building energy code’ means a voluntary 

15 building energy code or standard developed and up16 dated through a consensus process among interested 

17 persons, such as the IECC or ASHRAE Standard 

18 90.1 or a code used by other appropriate organiza19 tions.’’; and 

20 (2) by adding at the end the following: 


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1 ‘‘(17) IECC.—The term ‘IECC’ means the 

2 International Energy Conservation Code as pub3 lished by the International Code Council. 

4 ‘‘(18) ASHRAE STANDARD 90.1.—The term 

5 ‘ASHRAE Standard 90.1’ means the American So6 ciety of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning 

7 Engineers ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1 

8 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise 

9 Residential Buildings. 

10 ‘‘(19) COST-EFFECTIVE.—The term ‘cost-effec11 tive’ means having a simple payback of 10 years or 

12 less. 

13 ‘‘(20) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

14 has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the 

15 Native American Housing Assistance and Self-De16 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103). 

17 ‘‘(21) SIMPLE PAYBACK.—The term ‘simple 

18 payback’ means the time in years that is required 

19 for energy savings to exceed the incremental first 

20 cost of a new requirement or code. 

21 ‘‘(22) TECHNICALLY FEASIBLE.—The term 

22 ‘technically feasible’ means capable of being 

23 achieved, based on widely available appliances, 

24 equipment, technologies, materials, and construction 

25 practices.’’. 


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1 (b) STATE BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

2 CODES.—Section 304 of the Energy Conservation and 

3 Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6833) is amended to read as 

4 follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 304. UPDATING STATE BUILDING ENERGY EFFI6 CIENCY CODES. 

7 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide tech8 nical assistance, as described in subsection (e), for the 

9 purposes of— 

10 ‘‘(1) implementation of building energy codes 

11 by States, Indian tribes, and, as appropriate, by 

12 local governments, that are technically feasible and 

13 cost-effective; and 

14 ‘‘(2) supporting full compliance with the State 

15 and local codes. 

16 ‘‘(b) STATE AND INDIAN TRIBE CERTIFICATION OF

17 BUILDING ENERGY CODE UPDATES.— 

18 ‘‘(1) REVIEW AND UPDATING OF CODES BY

19 EACH STATE AND INDIAN TRIBE.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 

21 after the date on which a model building energy 

22 code is published, each State or Indian tribe 

23 shall certify whether or not the State or Indian 

24 tribe, respectively, has reviewed and updated 


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1 the energy provisions of the building code of the 

2 State or Indian tribe, respectively. 

3 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATION.—The certification 

4 shall include a statement of whether or not the 

5 energy savings for the code provisions that are 

6 in effect throughout the State or Indian tribal 

7 territory meet or exceed— 

8 ‘‘(i) the energy savings of the most re9 cently published model building energy 

10 code; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) the energy savings of the existing 

12 Energy code previously in effect. 

13 ‘‘(C) NO MODEL BUILDING ENERGY CODE

14 UPDATE.—If a model building energy code is 

15 not updated, each State or Indian tribe shall 

16 not be subject to any certification requirements. 

17 ‘‘(2) VALIDATION BY SECRETARY.—Not later 

18 than 90 days after a State or Indian tribe certifi19 cation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) determine whether the code provi21 sions of the State or Indian tribe, respectively, 

22 meet the criteria specified in paragraph (1); 

23 ‘‘(B) determine whether the certification 

24 submitted by the State or Indian tribe, respec25 tively is complete; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) if the requirements of subparagraph 

2 (B) are satisfied, validate the certification. 

3 ‘‘(3) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section 

4 shall be interpreted to require a State or Indian 

5 tribe to adopt any building code or provision within 

6 a code. 

7 ‘‘(c) IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPLIANCE WITH BUILD8 ING ENERGY CODES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.— 

10 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 3 years 

11 after the date of a certification under sub12 section (b), each State and Indian tribe shall 

13 certify whether or not the State and Indian 

14 tribe, respectively, has— 

15 ‘‘(i) achieved full compliance under 

16 paragraph (3) with the applicable certified 

17 State and Indian tribe building energy 

18 code or with the associated model building 

19 energy code; or 

20 ‘‘(ii) made significant progress under 

21 paragraph (4) toward achieving compliance 

22 with the applicable certified State and In23 dian tribe building energy code or with the 

24 associated model building energy code. 


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1 ‘‘(B) REPEAT CERTIFICATIONS.—If the 

2 State or Indian tribe certifies progress toward 

3 achieving compliance, the State or Indian tribe 

4 shall repeat the certification until the State or 

5 Indian tribe certifies that the State or Indian 

6 tribe has achieved full compliance, respectively. 

7 ‘‘(2) MEASUREMENT OF COMPLIANCE.—A cer8 tification under paragraph (1) shall include docu9 mentation of the rate of compliance based on— 

10 ‘‘(A) inspections of a random sample of the 

11 buildings covered by the code in the preceding 

12 year; or 

13 ‘‘(B) an alternative method that yields an 

14 accurate measure of compliance. 

15 ‘‘(3) ACHIEVEMENT OF COMPLIANCE.—A State 

16 or Indian tribe shall be considered to achieve full 

17 compliance under paragraph (1) if— 

18 ‘‘(A) at least 90 percent of building space 

19 covered by the code in the preceding year sub20 stantially meets all the requirements of the ap21 plicable code specified in paragraph (1), or 

22 achieves equivalent or greater energy savings 

23 level; or 

24 ‘‘(B) the estimated excess energy use of 

25 buildings that did not meet the applicable code 


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1 specified in paragraph (1) in the preceding 

2 year, compared to a baseline of comparable 

3 buildings that meet this code, is not more than 

4 5 percent of the estimated energy use of all 

5 buildings covered by this code during the pre6 ceding year. 

7 ‘‘(4) SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARD

8 ACHIEVEMENT OF COMPLIANCE.—A State or Indian 

9 tribe shall be considered to have made significant 

10 progress toward achieving compliance for purposes 

11 of paragraph (1) if the State or Indian tribe has de12 veloped and is implementing a plan for achieving 

13 compliance during the 8-year period beginning on 

14 the date of enactment of this paragraph, including 

15 annual targets for compliance and active training 

16 and enforcement programs. 

17 ‘‘(5) VALIDATION BY SECRETARY.—Not later 

18 than 90 days after a State or Indian tribe certifi19 cation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

20 ‘‘(A) determine whether the State or In21 dian tribe has demonstrated meeting the cri22 teria of this subsection, including accurate 

23 measurement of compliance; 


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1 ‘‘(B) determine whether the certification 

2 submitted by the State or Indian tribe is com3 plete; and 

4 ‘‘(C) if the requirements of subparagraph 

5 (B) are satisfied, validate the certification. 

6 ‘‘(6) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section 

7 shall be interpreted to require a State or Indian 

8 tribe to adopt any building code or provision within 

9 a code. 

10 ‘‘(d) STATES OR INDIAN TRIBES THAT DO NOT

11 ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE.— 

12 ‘‘(1) REPORTING.—A State or Indian tribe that 

13 has not made a certification required under sub14 section (b) or (c) by the applicable deadline shall 

15 submit to the Secretary a report on the status of the 

16 State or Indian tribe with respect to meeting the re17 quirements and submitting the certification. 

18 ‘‘(2) STATE SOVEREIGNTY.—Nothing in this 

19 section shall be interpreted to require a State or In20 dian tribe to adopt any building code or provision 

21 within a code. 

22 ‘‘(3) LOCAL GOVERNMENT.—In any State or 

23 Indian tribe for which the Secretary has not vali24 dated a certification under subsection (b) or (c), a 

25 local government may be eligible for Federal support 


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1 by meeting the certification requirements of sub2 sections (b) and (c). 

3 ‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTS BY SECRETARY.— 

4 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

5 annually submit to Congress, and publish in the 

6 Federal Register, a report on— 

7 ‘‘(i) the status of model building en8 ergy codes; 

9 ‘‘(ii) the status of code adoption and 

10 compliance in the States and Indian tribes; 

11 ‘‘(iii) implementation of this section; 

12 and 

13 ‘‘(iv) improvements in energy savings 

14 over time. 

15 ‘‘(B) IMPACTS.—The report shall include 

16 estimates of impacts of past action under this 

17 section, and potential impacts of further action, 

18 on— 

19 ‘‘(i) upfront financial and construction 

20 costs, cost benefits and returns (using a 

21 simple payback analysis); 

22 ‘‘(ii) resulting energy costs to individ23 uals and businesses; and 

24 ‘‘(iii) resulting overall annual building 

25 ownership and operating costs. 


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1 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES AND IN2 DIAN TRIBES.— 

3 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, upon 

4 request, provide technical assistance to States and 

5 Indian tribes to implement the goals and require6 ments of this section, including procedures and tech7 nical analysis for States and Indian tribes— 

8 ‘‘(A) to implement State residential and 

9 commercial building energy codes, including in10 creasing and verifying compliance with the 

11 codes and training of State, tribal, and local 

12 building code officials to implement and enforce 

13 the codes; and 

14 ‘‘(B) to document the rate of compliance 

15 with a building energy code. 

16 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The assistance 

17 shall include, as requested by the State or Indian 

18 tribe, technical assistance in— 

19 ‘‘(A) evaluating the energy savings of 

20 building energy codes; 

21 ‘‘(B) assessing the economic consider22 ations, referenced in section 307(c)(5), of im23 plementing building energy codes; 

24 ‘‘(C) building energy analysis and design 

25 tools; 


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1 ‘‘(D) energy simulation models; 

2 ‘‘(E) building demonstrations; 

3 ‘‘(F) developing the definitions of energy 

4 use intensity and building types for use in 

5 model building energy codes to evaluate the effi6 ciency impacts of the model building energy 

7 codes; and 

8 ‘‘(G) complying with a performance-based 

9 pathway referenced in the model code. 

10 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION.—Technical assistance under 

11 this section— 

12 ‘‘(A) shall not include actions that promote 

13 or discourage the adoption of a particular build14 ing energy code or code provision to a State or 

15 Indian tribe; and 

16 ‘‘(B) shall not be provided for adoption 

17 and implementation of model building energy 

18 codes for which the Secretary has made a deter19 mination under section 307(f)(2)(C) that the 

20 code is not cost-effective. 

21 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION QUALITY AND TRANS22 PARENCY.—For purposes of this section, information 

23 provided by the Secretary, attendant to any tech24 nical assistance provided to a State or Indian tribe, 

25 is ‘influential information’ and shall satisfy the 


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1 guidelines established by the Office of Management 

2 and Budget and published in the Federal Register 

3 on February 22, 2002 (67 Fed. Reg. 8452). 

4 ‘‘(5) TRAINING.—Support shall be offered to 

5 States to train State and local building code officials 

6 to implement and enforce model building energy 

7 codes. 

8 ‘‘(6) LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—States may work 

9 under this subsection with local governments that 

10 implement and enforce the codes. 

11 ‘‘(7) STATES ADOPTING OTHER CODES.—Upon 

12 a State’s written request, technical assistance may 

13 be provided to States adopting an energy code other 

14 than a model building energy code. 

15 ‘‘(f) VOLUNTARY PROGRAMS TO EXCEED MODEL

16 BUILDING ENERGY CODE.— 

17 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 

18 technical assistance, as described in subsection (e), 

19 for the development of voluntary programs that ex20 ceed the model building energy codes for residential 

21 and commercial buildings for use as— 

22 ‘‘(A) voluntary incentive programs adopted 

23 by local, tribal, or State governments; and 

24 ‘‘(B) non-binding guidelines for energy-ef25 ficient building design. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TARGETS.—The voluntary programs de2 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be designed— 

3 ‘‘(A) to achieve substantial energy savings 

4 compared to the model building energy codes; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(B) to achieve these savings up to 3 to 6 

7 years in advance. 

8 ‘‘(g) STUDIES.— 

9 ‘‘(1) GAO STUDY.— 

10 ‘‘(A) The Comptroller General of the 

11 United States shall conduct a study of the im12 pacts of updating the national model building 

13 energy codes for residential and commercial 

14 buildings. In conducting the study, the Comp15 troller General shall consider and report, at a 

16 minimum— 

17 ‘‘(i) the actual energy consumption 

18 savings stemming from updated energy 

19 codes compared to the energy consumption 

20 savings predicted during code development; 

21 ‘‘(ii) the actual consumer cost savings 

22 stemming from updated energy codes com23 pared to predicted consumer cost savings; 

24 and 


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1 ‘‘(iii) an accounting of expenditures of 

2 the Federal funds under each program au3 thorized by the title or by amendments 

4 made by this title. 

5 ‘‘(B) REPORT TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

6 than 3 years after the date of enactment of the 

7 Energy Savings and Building Efficiency Act of 

8 2019, the Comptroller General of the United 

9 States shall submit a report to the Committee 

10 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

11 and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

12 of the House of Representatives including the 

13 study findings and conclusions. 

14 ‘‘(2) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The Secretary, in 

15 consultation with building science experts from the 

16 National Laboratories and institutions of higher 

17 education, designers and builders of energy-efficient 

18 residential and commercial buildings, code officials, 

19 and other stakeholders, shall undertake a study of 

20 the feasibility, impact, economics, and merit of— 

21 ‘‘(A) code improvements that would require 

22 that buildings be designed, sited, and con23 structed in a manner that makes the buildings 

24 more adaptable in the future to become zero25 net-energy after initial construction, as adVerDate Sep 11 2014 02:16 Jul 10, 2019 Jkt 034408 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H3586.IH H3586

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1 vances are achieved in energy-saving tech2 nologies; 

3 ‘‘(B) code procedures to incorporate a ten4 year payback, not just first-year energy use, in 

5 trade-offs and performance calculations; and 

6 ‘‘(C) legislative options for increasing en7 ergy savings from building energy codes, includ8 ing additional incentives for effective State and 

9 local verification of compliance with and en10 forcement of a code. 

11 ‘‘(3) ENERGY DATA IN MULTI-TENANT BUILD12 INGS.—The Secretary, in consultation with appro13 priate representatives of the utility, utility regu14 latory, building ownership, and other stakeholders, 

15 shall— 

16 ‘‘(A) undertake a study of best practices 

17 regarding delivery of aggregated energy con18 sumption information to owners and managers 

19 of residential and commercial buildings with 

20 multiple tenants and uses; and 

21 ‘‘(B) consider the development of a memo22 randum of understanding between and among 

23 affected stakeholders to reduce barriers to the 

24 delivery of aggregated energy consumption in25 formation to such owners and managers. 


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1 ‘‘(h) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec2 tion or section 307 supersedes or modifies the application 

3 of sections 321 through 346 of the Energy Policy and 

4 Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6291 et seq.). 

5 ‘‘(i) FUNDING LIMITATIONS.—No Federal funds 

6 shall be used to support actions by the Secretary, or 

7 States, to promote or discourage the adoption of a par8 ticular building energy code or code provision to a State 

9 or Indian tribe; or be provided to private third parties or 

10 non-governmental organizations to engage in this type of 

11 advocacy.’’. 

12 (c) MODEL BUILDING ENERGY CODES.—Section 307 

13 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 

14 U.S.C. 6836) is amended to read as follows: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 307. SUPPORT FOR MODEL BUILDING ENERGY 

16 CODES. 

17 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide tech18 nical assistance, as described in subsection (b), for updat19 ing of model building energy codes. 

20 ‘‘(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO MODEL BUILDING

21 ENERGY CODE-SETTING AND STANDARD DEVELOPMENT

22 ORGANIZATIONS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, on a 

24 timely basis, provide technical assistance to model 

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1 ment organizations consistent with the goals of this 

2 section. 

3 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The technical 

4 assistance shall include, as requested by the organi5 zations, technical assistance in— 

6 ‘‘(A) evaluating the energy savings of 

7 building energy codes; 

8 ‘‘(B) assessing the economic consider9 ations, under subsection (c)(5), of code or 

10 standards proposals or revisions; 

11 ‘‘(C) building energy analysis and design 

12 tools; 

13 ‘‘(D) energy simulation models; 

14 ‘‘(E) building demonstrations; 

15 ‘‘(F) developing definitions of energy use 

16 intensity and building types for use in model 

17 building energy codes to evaluate the efficiency 

18 impacts of the model building energy codes; 

19 ‘‘(G) developing a performance-based path20 way for compliance; 

21 ‘‘(H) developing model building energy 

22 codes by Indian tribes in accordance with tribal 

23 law; and 

24 ‘‘(I) code development meetings, including 

25 through direct Federal employee participation 


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1 in committee meetings, hearings and online 

2 communication, voting, and presenting research 

3 and technical or economic analyses during such 

4 meetings. 

5 ‘‘(3) EXCLUSION.—For purposes of this section, 

6 ‘technical assistance’ shall not include actions that 

7 promote or discourage the adoption of a particular 

8 building energy code or code provision. Notwith9 standing this exclusion, the Secretary shall be per10 mitted to participate fully in code development ac11 tivities consistent with the paragraph (2)(I). 

12 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION QUALITY AND TRANS13 PARENCY.—For purposes of this section, information 

14 provided by the Secretary is ‘influential information’ 

15 and shall satisfy the guidelines established by the 

16 Office of Management and Budget and published in 

17 the Federal Register on February 22, 2002 (67 Fed. 

18 Reg. 8452). 

19 ‘‘(c) AMENDMENT PROPOSALS.— 

20 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may submit 

21 to the model building energy code-setting and stand22 ard development organizations timely model building 

23 energy code amendment proposals, with supporting 

24 evidence, that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) are at the maximum level of energy 

2 efficiency that is technically feasible, tech3 nology-neutral, and cost effective, while ac4 counting for the economic considerations under 

5 paragraph (5); 

6 ‘‘(B) promote the achievement of commer7 cial and residential high-performance buildings 

8 through high-performance energy efficiency 

9 (within the meaning of section 401 of the En10 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

11 (42 U.S.C. 17061)); and 

12 ‘‘(C) increase adoptability and compliance 

13 according to section 304 and paragraph (3). 

14 ‘‘(2) PROCESS AND FACTORS.—All amendment 

15 proposals submitted by the Secretary, along with the 

16 entire calculation methodology (including input as17 sumptions and data), shall be published in the Fed18 eral Register and made available on the Department 

19 of Energy website 90 days prior to any submittal to 

20 a code development body. Additionally, the Secretary 

21 shall accept public comments for a period of not less 

22 than 60 days. Information provided by the Sec23 retary, attendant to submission of any amendment 

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1 agement and Budget and published in the Federal 

2 Register on February 22, 2002 (67 Fed. Reg. 

3 8452). When calculating the costs and benefits of an 

4 amendment, the Secretary shall use climate zone 

5 weighted averages for equipment efficiency for heat6 ing, cooling, ventilation systems and water heating 

7 systems, using equipment that is actually installed. 

8 ‘‘(3) SMALL BUSINESS.—When establishing 

9 amendments under paragraph (1), the Secretary 

10 shall ensure compliance with the Small Business 

11 Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 

12 U.S.C. 601 note; Public Law 104–121) for any indi13 rect economic effect on small entities that is reason14 ably foreseeable and a result of such amendment 

15 rule. 

16 ‘‘(4) APPLIANCE STANDARDS AND OTHER FAC17 TORS AFFECTING BUILDING ENERGY USE.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In establishing 

19 amendments under paragraph (1), the Sec20 retary shall develop and adjust the amendments 

21 in recognition of potential savings and costs re22 lating to— 

23 ‘‘(i) efficiency gains made in appli24 ances, lighting, windows, insulation, and 

25 building envelope sealing; 


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1 ‘‘(ii) advancement of distributed gen2 eration and on-site renewable power gen3 eration technologies; 

4 ‘‘(iii) equipment improvements for 

5 heating, cooling, ventilation systems and 

6 water heating systems; 

7 ‘‘(iv) building management systems 

8 and SmartGrid technologies to reduce en9 ergy use; and 

10 ‘‘(v) other technologies, practices, and 

11 building systems regarding building plug 

12 load and other energy uses. 

13 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—In developing and 

14 adjusting the amendments, the Secretary shall 

15 use climate zone weighted averages for equip16 ment efficiency for heating, cooling, ventilation 

17 systems and water heating systems, using 

18 equipment that is actually installed. 

19 ‘‘(5) ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS.—In estab20 lishing and revising amendments under paragraph 

21 (1), the Secretary shall consider the economic feasi22 bility of achieving the proposed amendments estab23 lished under this section and the potential costs and 

24 savings for consumers and building owners, by con25 ducting a return on investment analysis, using a 


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1 simple payback methodology over a 3-, 5-, and 7- 

2 year period. The Secretary shall not propose, or pro3 vide technical or financial assistance for, any provi4 sion in the code or amendment that has a simple 

5 payback greater than 10 years. 

6 ‘‘(d) ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY.—The Secretary shall 

7 make publicly available the entire calculation methodology 

8 (including input assumptions and data) used by the Sec9 retary to estimate the energy savings of code or standard 

10 proposals and revisions. 

11 ‘‘(e) METHODOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary 

12 shall establish a methodology for evaluating cost-effective13 ness of energy code changes in multifamily buildings that 

14 incorporates economic parameters representative of typical 

15 multifamily buildings. 

16 ‘‘(f) DETERMINATION.— 

17 ‘‘(1) ANALYSIS.—If the provisions of the IECC 

18 or ASHRAE Standard 90.1 regarding building en19 ergy use are revised, not later than 90 days after the 

20 date of the publication of the revised code, the Sec21 retary shall conduct a return on investment analysis 

22 of the entire code, by climate zone, using a simple 

23 payback methodology over a 3-, 5-, and 7-year pe24 riod. 


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1 ‘‘(2) DETERMINATION.—If the provisions of the 

2 IECC or ASHRAE Standard 90.1 regarding build3 ing energy use are revised, the Secretary shall make 

4 a determination not later than 15 months after the 

5 date of the publication of the revised code, on wheth6 er or not the revised code— 

7 ‘‘(A) improves energy efficiency in build8 ings compared to the previously existing model 

9 building energy code; 

10 ‘‘(B) is technically feasible; and 

11 ‘‘(C) is cost-effective. 

12 ‘‘(g) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this section, 

13 the Secretary shall— 

14 ‘‘(1) publish notice of amendment proposals and 

15 supporting analysis and determinations under this 

16 section in the Federal Register to provide an expla17 nation of and the basis for such actions, including 

18 any supporting modeling, data, assumptions, proto19 cols, and cost benefit analysis, including return on 

20 investment; and 

21 ‘‘(2) provide an opportunity for public comment 

22 on amendment proposals and supporting analysis 

23 and determinations under this section. 

24 ‘‘(h) VOLUNTARY CODES AND STANDARDS.—Not 

25 withstanding any other provision of this section, any 


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1 model building code or standard established under this 

2 section shall not be binding on a State, local government, 

3 or Indian tribe as a matter of Federal law.’’. 

4 Subtitle B—Worker Training and 

5 Capacity Building 

6 SEC. 111. BUILDING TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTERS. 

7 The Secretary shall provide grants to institutions of 

8 higher education (as defined in section 101 of the Higher 

9 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) and Tribal Col10 leges or Universities (as defined in section 316(b) of that 

11 Act (20 U.S.C. 1059c(b))) to establish building training 

12 and assessment centers— 

13 (1) to identify opportunities for optimizing en14 ergy efficiency and environmental performance in 

15 buildings; 

16 (2) to promote the application of emerging con17 cepts and technologies in commercial and institu18 tional buildings; and 

19 (3) to train engineers, architects, building sci20 entists, building energy permitting and enforcement 

21 officials, and building technicians in energy-efficient 

22 design and operation. 


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26 

•HR 3586 IH

1 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS 

2 SEC. 201. VOLUNTARY NATURE OF BUILDING ASSET RAT3 ING PROGRAM. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—Any program of the Secretary 

5 that may enable the owner of a commercial building or 

6 a residential building to obtain a rating, score, or label 

7 regarding the actual or anticipated energy usage or per8 formance of a building shall be made available on a vol9 untary, optional, and market-driven basis. 

10 (b) DISCLAIMER AS TO REGULATORY INTENT.—In11 formation disseminated by the Secretary regarding the 

12 program described in subsection (a), including any infor13 mation made available by the Secretary on a website, shall 

14 include language plainly stating that such program is not 

15 developed or intended to be the basis for a regulatory pro16 gram by a Federal, State, local, or municipal government 

17 body. 

Æ 


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