I 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5027 

To promote energy savings in residential and commercial buildings and 

industry, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 8, 2014 

Mrs. BLACKBURN (for herself and Mr. SCHRADER) 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 2014’’. 

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 

Sec. 101. Greater energy efficiency in building codes. 


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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 the 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) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘Indian tribe’ 

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

12 Native American Housing Assistance and Self-De13 termination Act of 1996 (25 U.S.C. 4103). 

14 ‘‘(20) SIMPLE PAYBACK.—The term ‘simple 

15 payback’ means the time in years that is required 

16 for energy savings to exceed the incremental first 

17 cost of a new requirement or code. 

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

19 ‘technically feasible’ means capable of being 

20 achieved, based on widely available appliances/equip21 ment, technologies, materials, and construction prac22 tices.’’. 

23 (b) STATE BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

24 CODES.—Section 304 of the Energy Conservation and 


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

2 follows: 

3 ‘‘SEC. 304. UPDATING STATE BUILDING ENERGY EFFI4 CIENCY CODES. 

5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide tech6 nical assistance, as described in subsection (f), for the pur7 poses of— 

8 ‘‘(1) implementation of building energy codes 

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

10 local governments that are technically feasible and 

11 cost-effective; and 

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

13 and local codes. 

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

15 BUILDING ENERGY CODE UPDATES.— 

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

17 EACH STATE AND INDIAN TRIBE.— 

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

19 after the date on which a model building energy 

20 code is published, each State or Indian tribe 

21 shall certify whether or not the State or Indian 

22 tribe, respectively, has reviewed and updated 

23 the energy provisions of the building code of the 

24 State or Indian tribe, respectively. 


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1 ‘‘(B) DEMONSTRATION.—The certification 

2 shall include a statement of whether or not the 

3 energy savings for the code provisions that are 

4 in effect throughout the State or Indian tribal 

5 territory meet or exceed— 

6 ‘‘(i) the energy savings of the most re7 cently published model building energy 

8 code; or 

9 ‘‘(ii) the targets established under sec10 tion 307(b)(2). 

11 ‘‘(C) NO MODEL BUILDING ENERGY CODE

12 UPDATE.—If a model building energy code is 

13 not updated by a target date established under 

14 section 307(b)(2)(D), each State or Indian tribe 

15 shall, not later than 3 years after the specified 

16 date, certify whether or not the State or Indian 

17 tribe, respectively, has reviewed and updated 

18 the energy provisions of the building code of the 

19 State or Indian tribe, respectively, to meet or 

20 exceed the target in section 307(b)(2). 

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

22 than 90 days after a State or Indian tribe certifi23 cation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 


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1 ‘‘(A) determine whether the code provi2 sions of the State or Indian tribe, respectively, 

3 meet the criteria specified in paragraph (1); 

4 ‘‘(B) determine whether the certification 

5 submitted by the State or Indian tribe, respec6 tively is complete; and 

7 ‘‘(C) if the requirements of subparagraph 

8 (B) are satisfied, validate the certification. 

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

10 shall be interpreted to require a State or Indian 

11 tribe to adopt any building code or provision within 

12 a code. 

13 ‘‘(c) IMPROVEMENTS IN COMPLIANCE WITH BUILD14 ING ENERGY CODES.— 

15 ‘‘(1) REQUIREMENT.— 

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

17 after the date of a certification under sub18 section (b), each State and Indian tribe shall 

19 certify whether or not the State and Indian 

20 tribe, respectively, has— 

21 ‘‘(i) achieved full compliance under 

22 paragraph (3) with the applicable certified 

23 State and Indian tribe building energy 

24 code or with the associated model building 

25 energy code; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) made significant progress under 

2 paragraph (4) toward achieving compliance 

3 with the applicable certified State and In4 dian tribe building energy code or with the 

5 associated model building energy code. 

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

7 State or Indian tribe certifies progress toward 

8 achieving compliance, the State or Indian tribe 

9 shall repeat the certification until the State or 

10 Indian tribe certifies that the State or Indian 

11 tribe has achieved full compliance, respectively. 

12 ‘‘(2) MEASUREMENT OF COMPLIANCE.—A cer13 tification under paragraph (1) shall include docu14 mentation of the rate of compliance based on— 

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

16 buildings covered by the code in the preceding 

17 year; or 

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

19 accurate measure of compliance. 

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

21 or Indian tribe shall be considered to achieve full 

22 compliance under paragraph (1) if— 

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

24 covered by the code in the preceding year sub25 stantially meets all the requirements of the apVerDate Mar 15 2010 04:21 Jul 09, 2014 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5027.IH H5027

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1 plicable code specified in paragraph (1), or 

2 achieves equivalent or greater energy savings 

3 level; or 

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

5 buildings that did not meet the applicable code 

6 specified in paragraph (1) in the preceding 

7 year, compared to a baseline of comparable 

8 buildings that meet this code, is not more than 

9 5 percent of the estimated energy use of all 

10 buildings covered by this code during the pre11 ceding year. 

12 ‘‘(4) SIGNIFICANT PROGRESS TOWARD

13 ACHIEVEMENT OF COMPLIANCE.—A State or Indian 

14 tribe shall be considered to have made significant 

15 progress toward achieving compliance for purposes 

16 of paragraph (1) if the State or Indian tribe— 

17 ‘‘(A) has developed and is implementing a 

18 plan for achieving compliance during the 8-year 

19 period beginning on the date of enactment of 

20 this paragraph, including annual targets for 

21 compliance and active training and enforcement 

22 programs; and 

23 ‘‘(B) has met the most recent target under 

24 subparagraph (A). 


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

2 than 90 days after a State or Indian tribe certifi3 cation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 

4 ‘‘(A) determine whether the State or In5 dian tribe has demonstrated meeting the cri6 teria of this subsection, including accurate 

7 measurement of compliance; 

8 ‘‘(B) determine whether the certification 

9 submitted by the State or Indian tribe is com10 plete; and 

11 ‘‘(C) if the requirements of subparagraph 

12 (B) are satisfied, validate the certification. 

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

14 shall be interpreted to require a State or Indian 

15 tribe to adopt any building code or provision within 

16 a code. 

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

18 ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE.— 

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

20 has not made a certification required under sub21 section (b) or (c) by the applicable deadline shall 

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

23 State or Indian tribe with respect to meeting the re24 quirements and submitting the certification. 


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

2 section shall be interpreted to require a State or In3 dian tribe to adopt any building code or provision 

4 within a code. 

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

6 Indian tribe for which the Secretary has not vali7 dated a certification under subsection (b) or (c), a 

8 local government may be eligible for Federal support 

9 by meeting the certification requirements of sub10 sections (b) and (c). 

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

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

13 annually submit to Congress, and publish in the 

14 Federal Register, a report on— 

15 ‘‘(i) the status of model building en16 ergy codes; 

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

18 compliance in the States and Indian tribes; 

19 ‘‘(iii) implementation of this section; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iv) improvements in energy savings 

22 over time as a result of the targets estab23 lished under section 307(b)(2). 

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

25 estimates of impacts of past action under this 


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1 section, and potential impacts of further action, 

2 on— 

3 ‘‘(i) upfront financial and construction 

4 costs, cost benefits and returns (using a 

5 return on investment analysis), and life6 time energy use for buildings; 

7 ‘‘(ii) resulting energy costs to individ8 uals and businesses; and 

9 ‘‘(iii) resulting overall annual building 

10 ownership and operating costs. 

11 ‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES AND IN12 DIAN TRIBES.—The Secretary shall provide technical as13 sistance to States and Indian tribes to implement the goals 

14 and requirements of this section, including procedures and 

15 technical analysis for States and Indian tribes— 

16 ‘‘(1) to implement State residential and com17 mercial building energy codes; and 

18 ‘‘(2) to document the rate of compliance with a 

19 building energy code. 

20 ‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES AND IN21 DIAN TRIBES.— 

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

23 request, provide technical assistance to States and 

24 Indian tribes to implement the goals and require25 ments of this section— 


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1 ‘‘(A) to implement State residential and 

2 commercial building energy codes; and 

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

4 with a building energy code. 

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

6 shall include, as requested by the State or Indian 

7 tribe, technical assistance in— 

8 ‘‘(A) evaluating the energy savings of 

9 building energy codes; 

10 ‘‘(B) assessing the economic consider11 ations, referenced in section 307(b)(4), of im12 plementing building energy codes; 

13 ‘‘(C) building energy analysis and design 

14 tools; 

15 ‘‘(D) energy simulation models; 

16 ‘‘(E) building demonstrations; 

17 ‘‘(F) developing the definitions of energy 

18 use intensity and building types for use in 

19 model building energy codes to evaluate the effi20 ciency impacts of the model building energy 

21 codes; and 

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

23 pathway referenced in the model code. 

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

25 ‘technical assistance’ shall not include actions that 


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1 advocate, promote, or discourage the adoption of a 

2 particular building energy code, code provision, or 

3 energy savings target to a State or Indian tribe. 

4 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION QUALITY AND TRANS5 PARENCY.—For purposes of this section, information 

6 provided by the Secretary, attendant to any tech7 nical assistance provided to a State or Indian tribe, 

8 is ‘influential information’ and shall satisfy the 

9 guidelines established by the Office of Management 

10 and Budget and published at 67 Federal Register 

11 8,452 (Feb. 22, 2002). 

12 ‘‘(g) FEDERAL SUPPORT.— 

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

14 support to States and Indian tribes— 

15 ‘‘(A) to implement the reporting require16 ments of this section; and 

17 ‘‘(B) to implement residential and commer18 cial building energy codes, including increasing 

19 and verifying compliance with the codes and 

20 training of State, tribal, and local building code 

21 officials to implement and enforce the codes. 

22 ‘‘(2) EXCLUSION.—Support shall not be given 

23 to support adoption and implementation of model 

24 building energy codes for which the Secretary has 


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1 made a determination under section 307(d)(1)(C), 

2 that the code is not cost-effective. 

3 ‘‘(3) TRAINING.—Support shall be offered to 

4 States, to train State and local building code offi5 cials to implement and enforce codes described in 

6 paragraph (2). 

7 ‘‘(4) LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—States may work 

8 under this subsection with local governments that 

9 implement and enforce the codes. 

10 ‘‘(h) VOLUNTARY PROGRAMS TO EXCEED MODEL

11 BUILDING ENERGY CODE.— 

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

13 technical assistance, as described in subsection (f), 

14 for the development of voluntary programs that ex15 ceed the model building energy codes for residential 

16 and commercial buildings for use as— 

17 ‘‘(A) voluntary incentive programs adopted 

18 by local, tribal, or State governments; and 

19 ‘‘(B) non-binding guidelines for energy-ef20 ficient building design. 

21 ‘‘(2) TARGETS.—The voluntary programs de22 scribed in paragraph (1) shall be designed— 

23 ‘‘(A) to achieve substantial energy savings 

24 compared to the model building energy codes; 

25 and 


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1 ‘‘(B) to meet targets under section 307(b), 

2 if available, up to 3 to 6 years in advance of the 

3 target years. 

4 ‘‘(i) STUDIES.— 

5 ‘‘(1) GAO STUDY.— 

6 ‘‘(A) The Comptroller General of the 

7 United States shall conduct a study of the im8 pacts of updating the national model building 

9 energy codes for residential and commercial 

10 buildings. In conducting the study, the Comp11 troller General shall consider and report, at a 

12 minimum— 

13 ‘‘(i) the actual energy consumption 

14 savings stemming from updated energy 

15 codes compared to the energy consumption 

16 savings predicted during code development; 

17 ‘‘(ii) the actual consumer cost savings 

18 stemming from updated energy codes com19 pared to predicted consumer cost savings; 

20 and 

21 ‘‘(iii) an accounting of expenditures of 

22 the Federal funds under each program au23 thorized by the title or by amendments 

24 made by this title. 


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

2 than 3 years after the date of enactment of this 

3 Act, the Comptroller General of the United 

4 States shall submit a report to the Committee 

5 on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 

6 and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

7 of the House of Representatives including the 

8 study findings and conclusions. 

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

10 consultation with building science experts from the 

11 National Laboratories and institutions of higher 

12 education, designers and builders of energy-efficient 

13 residential and commercial buildings, code officials, 

14 and other stakeholders, shall undertake a study of 

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

16 ‘‘(A) code improvements that would require 

17 that buildings be designed, sited, and con18 structed in a manner that makes the buildings 

19 more adaptable in the future to become zero20 net-energy after initial construction, as ad21 vances are achieved in energy-saving tech22 nologies; 

23 ‘‘(B) code procedures to incorporate a ten24 year payback, not just first-year energy use, in 

25 trade-offs and performance calculations; and 


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1 ‘‘(C) legislative options for increasing en2 ergy savings from building energy codes, includ3 ing additional incentives for effective State and 

4 local verification of compliance with and en5 forcement of a code. 

6 ‘‘(3) ENERGY DATA IN MULTI-TENANT BUILD7 INGS.—The Secretary, in consultation with appro8 priate representatives of the utility, utility regu9 latory, building ownership, and other stakeholders, 

10 shall— 

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

12 regarding delivery of aggregated energy con13 sumption information to owners and managers 

14 of residential and commercial buildings with 

15 multiple tenants and uses; and 

16 ‘‘(B) consider the development of a memo17 randum of understanding between and among 

18 affected stakeholders to reduce barriers to the 

19 delivery of aggregated energy consumption in20 formation to such owners and managers. 

21 ‘‘(j) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec22 tion or section 307 supersedes or modifies the application 

23 of sections 321 through 346 of the Energy Policy and 

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


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1 ‘‘(k) FUNDING LIMITATIONS.—No Federal funds 

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

3 States, to advocate, promote, or discourage the adoption 

4 of a particular building energy code, code provision, or en5 ergy saving target to a State or Indian tribe; or be pro6 vided to private third parties or non-governmental organi7 zations that engage in this type of advocacy.’’. 

8 (c) FEDERAL BUILDING ENERGY EFFICIENCY

9 STANDARDS.—Section 305 of the Energy Conservation 

10 and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6834) is amended by strik11 ing ‘‘voluntary building energy code’’ each place it appears 

12 in subsections (a)(2)(B) and (b) and inserting ‘‘model 

13 building energy code’’. 

14 (d) MODEL BUILDING ENERGY CODES.—Section 307 

15 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 

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

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

18 CODES. 

19 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide tech20 nical assistance, as described in subsection (c), for updat21 ing of model building energy codes. 

22 ‘‘(b) TARGETS.— 

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

24 technical assistance, for updating the model building 

25 energy codes. 


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1 ‘‘(2) TARGETS.— 

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

3 provide technical assistance, to States, Indian 

4 tribes, local governments, nationally recognized 

5 code and standards developers, and other inter6 ested parties for updating of model building en7 ergy codes by establishing one or more aggre8 gate energy savings targets through rulemaking 

9 in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

10 United States Code, to achieve the purposes of 

11 this section. 

12 ‘‘(B) SEPARATE TARGETS.—Separate tar13 gets may be established for commercial and res14 idential buildings. 

15 ‘‘(C) BASELINES.—The baseline for updat16 ing model building energy codes shall be the 

17 2009 IECC for residential buildings and 

18 ASHRAE Standard 90.1–2010 for commercial 

19 buildings. 

20 ‘‘(D) SPECIFIC YEARS.— 

21 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Targets for spe22 cific years shall be established and revised 

23 by the Secretary through rulemaking in ac24 cordance with section 553 of title 5, 

25 United States Code, and coordinated with 


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1 nationally recognized code and standards 

2 developers at a level that— 

3 ‘‘(I) is at the maximum level of 

4 energy efficiency that is technically 

5 feasible and cost effective, while ac6 counting for the economic consider7 ations under paragraph (4); and 

8 ‘‘(II) promotes the achievement 

9 of commercial and residential high 

10 performance buildings through high 

11 performance energy efficiency (within 

12 the meaning of section 401 of the En13 ergy Independence and Security Act 

14 of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17061)). 

15 ‘‘(ii) INITIAL TARGETS.—Not later 

16 than 1 year after the date of enactment of 

17 this clause, the Secretary shall establish 

18 initial targets under this subparagraph. 

19 ‘‘(iii) DIFFERENT TARGET YEARS.— 

20 Subject to clause (i), prior to the applica21 ble year, the Secretary may set a later tar22 get year for any of the model building en23 ergy codes described in subparagraph (A) 

24 if the Secretary determines that a target 

25 cannot be met. 


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1 ‘‘(E) SMALL BUSINESS.—When estab2 lishing targets under this paragraph through 

3 rulemaking, the Secretary shall ensure compli4 ance with the Small Business Regulatory En5 forcement Fairness Act of 1996 (5 U.S.C. 601 

6 note; Public Law 104–121) for any indirect eco7 nomic effect on small entities that is reasonably 

8 foreseeable and a result of such rule. 

9 ‘‘(3) APPLIANCE STANDARDS AND OTHER FAC10 TORS AFFECTING BUILDING ENERGY USE.—In es11 tablishing energy savings targets under paragraph 

12 (2), the Secretary shall develop and adjust the tar13 gets in recognition of potential savings and costs re14 lating to— 

15 ‘‘(A) efficiency gains made in appliances, 

16 lighting, windows, insulation, and building enve17 lope sealing; 

18 ‘‘(B) advancement of distributed genera19 tion and on-site renewable power generation 

20 technologies; 

21 ‘‘(C) equipment improvements for heating, 

22 cooling, ventilation systems and water heating 

23 systems; 


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1 ‘‘(D) building management systems and 

2 SmartGrid technologies to reduce energy use; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(E) other technologies, practices, and 

5 building systems regarding building plug load 

6 and other energy uses. 

7 In developing and adjusting the targets, the Sec8 retary shall use climate zone weighted averages for 

9 equipment efficiency for heating, cooling, ventilation 

10 systems and water heating systems, using equipment 

11 that is actually installed. 

12 ‘‘(4) ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS.—In estab13 lishing and revising energy savings targets under 

14 paragraph (2), the Secretary shall consider the eco15 nomic feasibility of achieving the proposed targets 

16 established under this section and the potential costs 

17 and savings for consumers and building owners, by 

18 conducting a return on investment analysis, using a 

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

20 year period. The Secretary shall not propose or pro21 vide technical or financial assistance for any code, 

22 provision in the code, or energy target, or amend23 ment thereto that has a payback greater than 10 

24 years. 


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1 ‘‘(c) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO MODEL BUILDING

2 ENERGY CODE-SETTING AND STANDARD DEVELOPMENT

3 ORGANIZATIONS.— 

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

5 timely basis, provide technical assistance to model6 ment organizations consistent to implement the 

7 goals of this section. 

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

9 shall include, as requested by the organizations, 

10 technical assistance in— 

11 ‘‘(A) evaluating the energy savings of 

12 building energy codes; 

13 ‘‘(B) assessing the economic consider14 ations, under subsection (b)(4), of code or 

15 standards proposals or revisions; 

16 ‘‘(C) building energy analysis and design 

17 tools; 

18 ‘‘(D) energy simulation models; 

19 ‘‘(E) building demonstrations; 

20 ‘‘(F) developing definitions of energy use 

21 intensity and building types for use in model 

22 building energy codes to evaluate the efficiency 

23 impacts of the model building energy codes; 

24 ‘‘(G) developing a performance-based path25 way for compliance; and 


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1 ‘‘(H) developing model building energy 

2 codes by Indian tribes in accordance with tribal 

3 law. 

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

5 ‘technical assistance’ shall not include actions that 

6 advocate, promote, or discourage the adoption of a 

7 particular building energy code, code provision, or 

8 energy savings target. 

9 ‘‘(4) INFORMATION QUALITY AND TRANS10 PARENCY.—For purposes of this section, information 

11 provided by the Secretary, attendant to development 

12 of any energy savings targets, is ‘influential informa13 tion’ and shall satisfy the guidelines established by 

14 the Office of Management and Budget and published 

15 at 67 Federal Register 8,452 (Feb. 22, 2002). 

16 ‘‘(d) AMENDMENT PROPOSALS.— 

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

18 timely model building energy code amendment pro19 posals to the model building energy code-setting and 

20 standard development organizations, with supporting 

21 evidence, sufficient to enable the model building en22 ergy codes to meet the targets established under 

23 subsection (b)(2). 

24 ‘‘(2) PROCESS AND FACTORS.—Amendment 

25 proposals submitted by the Secretary shall follow 


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1 rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

2 United States Code, and the factors and standards 

3 set forth in subsections (b)(2)(E), (b)(3), and (b)(4). 

4 Information provided by the Secretary, attendant to 

5 submission of any amendment proposals, is ‘influen6 tial information’, and shall satisfy the guidelines es7 tablished by the Office of Management and Budget 

8 and published at 67 Federal Register 8,452 (Feb. 

9 22, 2002). When calculating the costs and benefits 

10 of an amendment, the Secretary shall use climate 

11 zone weighted averages for equipment efficiency for 

12 heating, cooling, ventilation systems and water heat13 ing systems, using equipment that is actually in14 stalled. 

15 ‘‘(e) ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY.—The Secretary shall 

16 make publicly available the entire calculation methodology 

17 (including input assumptions and data) used by the Sec18 retary to estimate the energy savings of code or standard 

19 proposals and revisions. 

20 ‘‘(f) METHODOLOGY DEVELOPMENT.—The Secretary 

21 shall establish a methodology for evaluating cost-effective22 ness of energy code changes in multifamily buildings that 

23 incorporates economic parameters representative of typical 

24 multifamily buildings. 

25 ‘‘(g) DETERMINATION.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) REVISION OF MODEL BUILDING ENERGY

2 CODES.—If the provisions of the IECC or ASHRAE 

3 Standard 90.1 regarding building energy use are re4 vised, the Secretary shall make a preliminary deter5 mination not later than 90 days after the date of the 

6 revision, and a final determination not later than 15 

7 months after the date of the revision, on whether or 

8 not the revision— 

9 ‘‘(A) improves energy efficiency in build10 ings compared to the existing model building 

11 energy code; 

12 ‘‘(B) meets the applicable targets under 

13 subsection (b)(2); and 

14 ‘‘(C) is technically feasible and cost-effec15 tive. 

16 ‘‘(2) CODES OR STANDARDS NOT MEETING CRI17 TERIA.— 

18 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—If the Secretary 

19 makes a preliminary determination under para20 graph (1)(B) that a code or standard does not 

21 meet the targets established under subsection 

22 (b)(2), is not technically feasible, or is not cost23 effective, the Secretary may at the same time 

24 provide technical assistance, as described in 

25 subsection (c), to the model building energy 


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•HR 5027 IH

1 code or standard developer, with proposed 

2 changes that would result in a model building 

3 energy code that meets the criteria and with 

4 supporting evidence. Proposed changes sub5 mitted by the Secretary shall follow rulemaking 

6 in accordance with section 553 of title 5, 

7 United States Code, and the factors and stand8 ards set forth in subsections (b)(2)(E), (b)(3), 

9 and (b)(4). Information provided by the Sec10 retary, attendant to submission of any amend11 ment proposals, is ‘influential information’, and 

12 shall satisfy the guidelines established by the 

13 Office of Management and Budget and pub14 lished at 67 Federal Register 8,452 (Feb. 22, 

15 2002). 

16 ‘‘(B) INCORPORATION OF CHANGES.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—On receipt of the 

18 technical assistance, as described in sub19 section (c), the model building energy code 

20 or standard developer shall have an addi21 tional 270 days to accept or reject the pro22 posed changes of the Secretary the model 

23 building energy code or standard for the 

24 Secretary to make a final determination. 


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•HR 5027 IH

1 ‘‘(ii) FINAL DETERMINATION.—A 

2 final determination under paragraph (1) 

3 shall be on the modified model building en4 ergy code or standard. 

5 ‘‘(h) ADMINISTRATION.—In carrying out this section, 

6 the Secretary shall— 

7 ‘‘(1) publish notice of targets, amendment pro8 posals and supporting analysis and determinations 

9 under this section in the Federal Register to provide 

10 an explanation of and the basis for such actions, in11 cluding any supporting modeling, data, assumptions, 

12 protocols, and cost benefit analysis, including return 

13 on investment; and 

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

15 on targets, amendment proposals and supporting 

16 analysis and determinations under this section, in 

17 accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States 

18 Code. 

19 ‘‘(i) VOLUNTARY CODES AND STANDARDS.—Not 

20 withstanding any other provision of this section, any 

21 model building code or standard established under this 

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

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


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1 Subtitle B—Worker Training and 

2 Capacity Building 

3 SEC. 111. BUILDING TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT CENTERS. 

4 The Secretary shall provide grants to institutions of 

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

6 Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001)) and Tribal Col7 leges or Universities (as defined in section 316(b) of that 

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

9 and assessment centers— 

10 (1) to identify opportunities for optimizing en11 ergy efficiency and environmental performance in 

12 buildings; 

13 (2) to promote the application of emerging con14 cepts and technologies in commercial and institu15 tional buildings; and 

16 (3) to train engineers, architects, building sci17 entists, building energy permitting and enforcement 

18 officials, and building technicians in energy-efficient 

19 design and operation. 

20 TITLE II—MISCELLANEOUS 

21 SEC. 201. VOLUNTARY NATURE OF BUILDING ASSET RAT22 ING PROGRAM. 

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

24 that may enable the owner of a commercial building or 

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


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1 regarding the actual or anticipated energy usage or per2 formance of a building shall be made available on a vol3 untary, optional, and market-driven basis. 

4 (b) DISCLAIMER AS TO REGULATORY INTENT.—In5 formation disseminated by the Secretary regarding the 

6 program described in subsection (a), including any infor7 mation made available by the Secretary on a website, shall 

8 include language plainly stating that such program is not 

9 developed or intended to be the basis for a regulatory pro10 gram by a Federal, State, local, or municipal government 

11 body. 

Æ 


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