I 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 2564 

To accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies in the private 

sector and key Federal agencies. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 21, 2015 

Mr. WELCH (for himself and Mr. KINZINGER of Illinois) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure and Science, Space, and Technology, 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 accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies 

in the private sector and key Federal agencies. 

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. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Smart Building Accel5 eration Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 


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1 (1) the building sector uses more than 40 per2 cent of the energy of the Nation; 

3 (2) emerging building energy monitoring and 

4 control technologies are enabling a transition of the 

5 building sector to ‘‘smart’’ buildings that have dra6 matically reduced energy use and improved quality 

7 of service to occupants; 

8 (3) an analysis of select private-sector smart 

9 buildings by the Department of Energy would docu10 ment the costs and benefits of those emerging tech11 nologies, promote their adoption, and accelerate that 

12 transition; 

13 (4) with over 400,000 buildings, the Federal 

14 Government is the largest building owner in the 

15 United States; and 

16 (5) the Federal Government can also accelerate 

17 the transition to smart building technologies by dem18 onstrating and evaluating emerging smart building 

19 technologies using existing programs and funding to 

20 showcase selected Federal smart buildings. 

21 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

22 In this Act: 

23 (1) PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘program’’ means 

24 the smart building program established under sec25 tion 5(a). 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Energy. 

3 (3) SMART BUILDING.—The term ‘‘smart build4 ing’’ means a building with an energy system that— 

5 (A) is flexible and automated; 

6 (B) has extensive operational monitoring 

7 and communication connectivity, allowing re8 mote monitoring and analysis of all building 

9 functions; 

10 (C) is integrated with the overall building 

11 operations for control of energy generation, con12 sumption, and storage; and 

13 (D) communicates with utilities and other 

14 third-party commercial entities where appro15 priate. 

16 SEC. 4. SURVEY OF PRIVATE SECTOR SMART BUILDINGS. 

17 (a) SURVEY.—The Secretary shall conduct a survey 

18 of privately owned smart buildings throughout the Nation, 

19 including commercial buildings and buildings owned by 

20 nonprofit organizations and institutions of higher edu21 cation. 

22 (b) SELECTION.—From among the smart buildings 

23 surveyed under subsection (a), the Secretary shall select 

24 at least 1 building each from an appropriate range of 

25 building sizes and types. 


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1 (c) EVALUATION.—Using the guidelines of the Fed2 eral Energy Management Program relating to whole-build3 ing evaluation, measurement, and verification, the Sec4 retary shall evaluate the costs and benefits of the buildings 

5 selected under subsection (b), including an identification 

6 of— 

7 (1) which advanced building technologies— 

8 (A) are most cost-effective; and 

9 (B) show the most promise for— 

10 (i) increasing building energy savings; 

11 (ii) increasing service performance to 

12 building occupants; and 

13 (iii) reducing environmental impacts; 

14 and 

15 (2) any other information the Secretary deter16 mines to be appropriate. 

17 SEC. 5. FEDERAL SMART BUILDING PROGRAM. 

18 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall establish 

19 a program to establish 1 or more smart buildings under 

20 the jurisdiction of several key Federal agencies, including 

21 buildings that are owned by the Federal Government but 

22 are commercially operated, to demonstrate the costs and 

23 benefits of smart buildings. 

24 (b) FEDERAL AGENCY DESCRIBED.—The key Fed25 eral agencies referred to in subsection (a) shall include— 


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1 (1) the Department of Defense; 

2 (2) the Department of Energy; 

3 (3) the Department of Veterans Affairs; and 

4 (4) the General Services Administration. 

5 (c) REQUIREMENT.—In carrying out the program, 

6 the Secretary shall leverage existing procurement mecha7 nisms. 

8 (d) EVALUATION.—Using the guidelines of the Fed9 eral Energy Management Program relating to whole-build10 ing evaluation, measurement, and verification, the Sec11 retary shall evaluate the costs and benefits of the buildings 

12 selected under this section including an identification of— 

13 (1) which advanced building technologies— 

14 (A) are most cost-effective; and 

15 (B) show the most promise for— 

16 (i) increasing building energy savings; 

17 (ii) increasing service performance to 

18 building occupants; and 

19 (iii) reducing environmental impacts; 

20 and 

21 (2) any other information the Secretary deter22 mines to be appropriate. 

23 SEC. 6. LEVERAGING EXISTING PROGRAMS. 

24 (a) BETTER BUILDING CHALLENGE.—As part of the 

25 Better Building Challenge of the Department of Energy, 


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1 the Secretary shall develop a smart building accelerator 

2 in consultation with major private sector property owners 

3 to demonstrate innovative policies and approaches that 

4 will accelerate the transition to smart buildings. 

5 (b) RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.— 

6 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall conduct 

7 research and development to address key barriers to 

8 the integration of advanced building technologies 

9 and to accelerate the transition to smart buildings. 

10 (2) INCLUSION.—The research and development 

11 conducted under paragraph (1) shall include re12 search and development on— 

13 (A) physical components, such as sensors 

14 and controls; 

15 (B) reducing the cost of key components to 

16 accelerate the adoption of smart building tech17 nologies; 

18 (C) data management, including the cap19 ture and analysis of data and the interoper20 ability of the energy systems; 

21 (D) business models, including how busi22 ness models may limit the adoption of smart 

23 building technologies and how to support 

24 transactive energy; 


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1 (E) characterization of buildings and com2 ponents; 

3 (F) consumer and utility protections; 

4 (G) continuous management, including the 

5 challenges of managing multiple energy systems 

6 and optimizing systems for disparate stake7 holders; and 

8 (H) other areas of research and develop9 ment, as determined appropriate by the Sec10 retary. 

11 SEC. 7. REPORT. 

12 Not later than 18 months after the date of enactment 

13 of this Act, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee 

14 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate and the 

15 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of 

16 Representatives a report on— 

17 (1) the survey and evaluation of private sector 

18 smart buildings carried out under section 4; 

19 (2) the evaluation of Federal smart buildings 

20 carried out under section 5; and 

21 (3) any recommendations of the Secretary to 

22 further accelerate the transition to smart buildings. 

Æ 


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