II 

Calendar No. 23 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 535 

To promote energy efficiency. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 23, 2015 

Mr. PORTMAN (for himself, Mrs. SHAHEEN, Ms. AYOTTE, Ms. COLLINS, Mr. 

MANCHIN, Mr. GARDNER, Mr. FRANKEN, and Mr. BENNET) introduced 

the following bill; which was read the first time 

FEBRUARY 24, 2015 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

A BILL 

To promote energy efficiency. 

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 Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015’’. 

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

7 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

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TITLE I—BETTER BUILDINGS 

Sec. 101. Short title. 

Sec. 102. Energy efficiency in Federal and other buildings. 

Sec. 103. Separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures. 

Sec. 104. Tenant Star program. 

TITLE II—GRID-ENABLED WATER HEATERS 

Sec. 201. Grid-enabled water heaters. 

TITLE III—ENERGY INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS 

Sec. 301. Energy information for commercial buildings. 

1 TITLE I—BETTER BUILDINGS 

2 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

3 This title may be cited as the ‘‘Better Buildings Act 

4 of 2015’’. 

5 SEC. 102. ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN FEDERAL AND OTHER 

6 BUILDINGS. 

7 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

8 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis9 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv10 ices. 

11 (2) COST-EFFECTIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

12 MEASURE.—The term ‘‘cost-effective energy effi13 ciency measure’’ means any building product, mate14 rial, equipment, or service, and the installing, imple15 menting, or operating thereof, that provides energy 

16 savings in an amount that is not less than the cost 

17 of such installing, implementing, or operating. 

18 (3) COST-EFFECTIVE WATER EFFICIENCY

19 MEASURE.—The term ‘‘cost-effective water efficiency 

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1 measure’’ means any building product, material, 

2 equipment, or service, and the installing, imple3 menting, or operating thereof, that provides water 

4 savings in an amount that is not less than the cost 

5 of such installing, implementing, or operating. 

6 (b) MODEL PROVISIONS, POLICIES, AND BEST PRAC7 TICES.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days 

9 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis10 trator, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy 

11 and after providing the public with an opportunity 

12 for notice and comment, shall develop model com13 mercial leasing provisions and best practices in ac14 cordance with this subsection. 

15 (2) COMMERCIAL LEASING.— 

16 (A) IN GENERAL.—The model commercial 

17 leasing provisions developed under this sub18 section shall, at a minimum, align the interests 

19 of building owners and tenants with regard to 

20 investments in cost-effective energy efficiency 

21 measures and cost-effective water efficiency 

22 measures to encourage building owners and ten23 ants to collaborate to invest in such measures. 

24 (B) USE OF MODEL PROVISIONS.—The 

25 Administrator may use the model commercial 

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1 leasing provisions developed under this sub2 section in any standard leasing document that 

3 designates a Federal agency (or other client of 

4 the Administrator) as a landlord or tenant. 

5 (C) PUBLICATION.—The Administrator 

6 shall periodically publish the model commercial 

7 leasing provisions developed under this sub8 section, along with explanatory materials, to en9 courage building owners and tenants in the pri10 vate sector to use such provisions and mate11 rials. 

12 (3) REALTY SERVICES.—The Administrator 

13 shall develop policies and practices to implement 

14 cost-effective energy efficiency measures and cost-ef15 fective water efficiency measures for the realty serv16 ices provided by the Administrator to Federal agen17 cies (or other clients of the Administrator), including 

18 periodic training of appropriate Federal employees 

19 and contractors on how to identify and evaluate 

20 those measures. 

21 (4) STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE.—The Ad22 ministrator, in consultation with the Secretary of 

23 Energy, shall make available model commercial leas24 ing provisions and best practices developed under 

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1 ernments for use in managing owned and leased 

2 building space in accordance with the goal of encour3 aging investment in all cost-effective energy effi4 ciency measures and cost-effective water efficiency 

5 measures. 

6 SEC. 103. SEPARATE SPACES WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE 

7 ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES. 

8 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title IV of the En9 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 

10 17081 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘SEC. 424. SEPARATE SPACES WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE 

13 ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES. 

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

15 ‘‘(1) HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

16 MEASURE.—The term ‘high-performance energy effi17 ciency measure’ means a technology, product, or 

18 practice that will result in substantial operational 

19 cost savings by reducing energy consumption and 

20 utility costs. 

21 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE SPACES.—The term ‘separate 

22 spaces’ means areas within a commercial building 

23 that are leased or otherwise occupied by a tenant or 

24 other occupant for a period of time pursuant to the 

25 terms of a written agreement. 

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1 ‘‘(b) STUDY.— 

2 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after 

3 the date of enactment of this section, the Secretary, 

4 acting through the Assistant Secretary of Energy 

5 Efficiency and Renewable Energy, shall complete a 

6 study on the feasibility of— 

7 ‘‘(A) significantly improving energy effi8 ciency in commercial buildings through the de9 sign and construction, by owners and tenants, 

10 of separate spaces with high-performance en11 ergy efficiency measures; and 

12 ‘‘(B) encouraging owners and tenants to 

13 implement high-performance energy efficiency 

14 measures in separate spaces. 

15 ‘‘(2) SCOPE.—The study shall, at a minimum, 

16 include— 

17 ‘‘(A) descriptions of— 

18 ‘‘(i) high-performance energy effi19 ciency measures that should be considered 

20 as part of the initial design and construc21 tion of separate spaces; 

22 ‘‘(ii) processes that owners, tenants, 

23 architects, and engineers may replicate 

24 when designing and constructing separate 

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1 spaces with high-performance energy effi2 ciency measures; 

3 ‘‘(iii) policies and best practices to 

4 achieve reductions in energy intensities for 

5 lighting, plug loads, heating, cooling, cook6 ing, laundry, and other systems to satisfy 

7 the needs of the commercial building ten8 ant; 

9 ‘‘(iv) return on investment and pay10 back analyses of the incremental cost and 

11 projected energy savings of the proposed 

12 set of high-performance energy efficiency 

13 measures, including consideration of avail14 able incentives; 

15 ‘‘(v) models and simulation methods 

16 that predict the quantity of energy used by 

17 separate spaces with high-performance en18 ergy efficiency measures and that compare 

19 that predicted quantity to the quantity of 

20 energy used by separate spaces without 

21 high-performance energy efficiency meas22 ures but that otherwise comply with appli23 cable building code requirements; 

24 ‘‘(vi) measurement and verification 

25 platforms demonstrating actual energy use 

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1 of high-performance energy efficiency 

2 measures installed in separate spaces, and 

3 whether such measures generate the sav4 ings intended in the initial design and con5 struction of the separate spaces; 

6 ‘‘(vii) best practices that encourage an 

7 integrated approach to designing and con8 structing separate spaces to perform at op9 timum energy efficiency in conjunction 

10 with the central systems of a commercial 

11 building; and 

12 ‘‘(viii) any impact on employment re13 sulting from the design and construction of 

14 separate spaces with high-performance en15 ergy efficiency measures; and 

16 ‘‘(B) case studies reporting economic and 

17 energy savings returns in the design and con18 struction of separate spaces with high-perform19 ance energy efficiency measures. 

20 ‘‘(3) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Not later than 

21 90 days after the date of the enactment of this sec22 tion, the Secretary shall publish a notice in the Fed23 eral Register requesting public comments regarding 

24 effective methods, measures, and practices for the 

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1 design and construction of separate spaces with 

2 high-performance energy efficiency measures. 

3 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall pub4 lish the study on the website of the Department of 

5 Energy.’’. 

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

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

8 Act of 2007 is amended by inserting after the item relat9 ing to section 423 the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 424. Separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures.’’. 

10 SEC. 104. TENANT STAR PROGRAM. 

11 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title IV of the En12 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 

13 17081 et seq.) (as amended by section 103) is amended 

14 by adding at the end the following: 

15 ‘‘SEC. 425. TENANT STAR PROGRAM. 

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

17 ‘‘(1) HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

18 MEASURE.—The term ‘high-performance energy effi19 ciency measure’ has the meaning given the term in 

20 section 424. 

21 ‘‘(2) SEPARATE SPACES.—The term ‘separate 

22 spaces’ has the meaning given the term in section 

23 424. 

24 ‘‘(b) TENANT STAR.—The Administrator of the Envi25 ronmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the 

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1 Secretary of Energy, shall develop a voluntary program 

2 within the Energy Star program established by section 

3 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

4 U.S.C. 6294a), which may be known as ‘Tenant Star’, to 

5 promote energy efficiency in separate spaces leased by ten6 ants or otherwise occupied within commercial buildings. 

7 ‘‘(c) EXPANDING SURVEY DATA.—The Secretary of 

8 Energy, acting through the Administrator of the Energy 

9 Information Administration, shall— 

10 ‘‘(1) collect, through each Commercial Build11 ings Energy Consumption Survey of the Energy In12 formation Administration that is conducted after the 

13 date of enactment of this section, data on— 

14 ‘‘(A) categories of building occupancy that 

15 are known to consume significant quantities of 

16 energy, such as occupancy by data centers, 

17 trading floors, and restaurants; and 

18 ‘‘(B) other aspects of the property, build19 ing operation, or building occupancy determined 

20 by the Administrator of the Energy Information 

21 Administration, in consultation with the Admin22 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agen23 cy, to be relevant in lowering energy consump24 tion; 

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1 ‘‘(2) with respect to the first Commercial Build2 ings Energy Consumption Survey conducted after 

3 the date of enactment of this section, to the extent 

4 full compliance with the requirements of paragraph 

5 (1) is not feasible, conduct activities to develop the 

6 capability to collect such data and begin to collect 

7 such data; and 

8 ‘‘(3) make data collected under paragraphs (1) 

9 and (2) available to the public in aggregated form 

10 and provide such data, and any associated results, to 

11 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

12 Agency for use in accordance with subsection (d). 

13 ‘‘(d) RECOGNITION OF OWNERS AND TENANTS.— 

14 ‘‘(1) OCCUPANCY-BASED RECOGNITION.—Not 

15 later than 1 year after the date on which sufficient 

16 data is received pursuant to subsection (c), the Ad17 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

18 shall, following an opportunity for public notice and 

19 comment— 

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

21 Star rating system for commercial buildings, 

22 develop policies and procedures to recognize 

23 tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily 

24 achieve high levels of energy efficiency in sepa25 rate spaces; 

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1 ‘‘(B) establish building occupancy cat2 egories eligible for Tenant Star recognition 

3 based on the data collected under subsection (c) 

4 and any other appropriate data sources; and 

5 ‘‘(C) consider other forms of recognition 

6 for commercial building tenants or other occu7 pants that lower energy consumption in sepa8 rate spaces. 

9 ‘‘(2) DESIGN- AND CONSTRUCTION-BASED REC10 OGNITION.—After the study required by section 

11 424(b) is completed, the Administrator of the Envi12 ronmental Protection Agency, in consultation with 

13 the Secretary and following an opportunity for pub14 lic notice and comment, may develop a voluntary 

15 program to recognize commercial building owners 

16 and tenants that use high-performance energy effi17 ciency measures in the design and construction of 

18 separate spaces.’’. 

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

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

21 Act of 2007 is amended by inserting after the item relat22 ing to section 424 (as added by section 103(b)) the fol23 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 425. Tenant Star program.’’. 

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1 TITLE II—GRID-ENABLED WATER 

2 HEATERS 

3 SEC. 201. GRID-ENABLED WATER HEATERS. 

4 Part B of title III of the Energy Policy and Conserva5 tion Act is amended— 

6 (1) in section 325(e) (42 U.S.C. 6295(e)), by 

7 adding at the end the following: 

8 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL STANDARDS FOR GRID-EN9 ABLED WATER HEATERS.— 

10 ‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 

11 ‘‘(i) ACTIVATION LOCK.—The term 

12 ‘activation lock’ means a control mecha13 nism (either a physical device directly on 

14 the water heater or a control system inte15 grated into the water heater) that is locked 

16 by default and contains a physical, soft17 ware, or digital communication that must 

18 be activated with an activation key to en19 able the product to operate at its designed 

20 specifications and capabilities and without 

21 which activation the product will provide 

22 not greater than 50 percent of the rated 

23 first hour delivery of hot water certified by 

24 the manufacturer. 

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1 ‘‘(ii) GRID-ENABLED WATER HEAT2 ER.—The term ‘grid-enabled water heater’ 

3 means an electric resistance water heater 

4 that— 

5 ‘‘(I) has a rated storage tank vol6 ume of more than 75 gallons; 

7 ‘‘(II) is manufactured on or after 

8 April 16, 2015; 

9 ‘‘(III) has— 

10 ‘‘(aa) an energy factor of 

11 not less than 1.061 minus the 

12 product obtained by multi13 plying— 

14 ‘‘(AA) the rated storage 

15 volume of the tank, ex16 pressed in gallons; and 

17 ‘‘(BB) 0.00168; or 

18 ‘‘(bb) an equivalent alter19 native standard prescribed by the 

20 Secretary and developed pursu21 ant to paragraph (5)(E); 

22 ‘‘(IV) is equipped at the point of 

23 manufacture with an activation lock; 

24 and 

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1 ‘‘(V) bears a permanent label ap2 plied by the manufacturer that— 

3 ‘‘(aa) is made of material 

4 not adversely affected by water; 

5 ‘‘(bb) is attached by means 

6 of non-water-soluble adhesive; 

7 and 

8 ‘‘(cc) advises purchasers and 

9 end-users of the intended and ap10 propriate use of the product with 

11 the following notice printed in 

12 16.5 point Arial Narrow Bold 

13 font: 

14 ‘‘ ‘IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This water heater is 

15 intended only for use as part of an electric thermal storage 

16 or demand response program. It will not provide adequate 

17 hot water unless enrolled in such a program and activated 

18 by your utility company or another program operator. 

19 Confirm the availability of a program in your local area 

20 before purchasing or installing this product.’. 

21 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The manufacturer 

22 or private labeler shall provide the activation 

23 key for a grid-enabled water heater only to a 

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1 gram that uses such a grid-enabled water heat2 er. 

3 ‘‘(C) REPORTS.— 

4 ‘‘(i) MANUFACTURERS.—The Sec5 retary shall require each manufacturer of 

6 grid-enabled water heaters to report to the 

7 Secretary annually the quantity of grid-en8 abled water heaters that the manufacturer 

9 ships each year. 

10 ‘‘(ii) OPERATORS.—The Secretary 

11 shall require utilities and other demand re12 sponse and thermal storage program oper13 ators to report annually the quantity of 

14 grid-enabled water heaters activated for 

15 their programs using forms of the Energy 

16 Information Agency or using such other 

17 mechanism that the Secretary determines 

18 appropriate after an opportunity for notice 

19 and comment. 

20 ‘‘(iii) CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIRE21 MENTS.—The Secretary shall treat ship22 ment data reported by manufacturers as 

23 confidential business information. 

24 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 

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1 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In 2017 and 

2 2019, the Secretary shall publish an anal3 ysis of the data collected under subpara4 graph (C) to assess the extent to which 

5 shipped products are put into use in de6 mand response and thermal storage pro7 grams. 

8 ‘‘(ii) PREVENTION OF PRODUCT DI9 VERSION.—If the Secretary determines 

10 that sales of grid-enabled water heaters ex11 ceed by 15 percent or greater the quantity 

12 of such products activated for use in de13 mand response and thermal storage pro14 grams annually, the Secretary shall, after 

15 opportunity for notice and comment, estab16 lish procedures to prevent product diver17 sion for non-program purposes. 

18 ‘‘(E) COMPLIANCE.— 

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraphs 

20 (A) through (D) shall remain in effect 

21 until the Secretary determines under this 

22 section that— 

23 ‘‘(I) grid-enabled water heaters 

24 do not require a separate efficiency 

25 requirement; or 

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1 ‘‘(II) sales of grid-enabled water 

2 heaters exceed by 15 percent or great3 er the quantity of such products acti4 vated for use in demand response and 

5 thermal storage programs annually 

6 and procedures to prevent product di7 version for non-program purposes 

8 would not be adequate to prevent such 

9 product diversion. 

10 ‘‘(ii) EFFECTIVE DATE.—If the Sec11 retary exercises the authority described in 

12 clause (i) or amends the efficiency require13 ment for grid-enabled water heaters, that 

14 action will take effect on the date de15 scribed in subsection (m)(4)(A)(ii). 

16 ‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATION.—In carrying 

17 out this section with respect to electric 

18 water heaters, the Secretary shall consider 

19 the impact on thermal storage and demand 

20 response programs, including any impact 

21 on energy savings, electric bills, peak load 

22 reduction, electric reliability, integration of 

23 renewable resources, and the environment. 

24 ‘‘(iv) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying 

25 out this paragraph, the Secretary shall remstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS

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1 quire that grid-enabled water heaters be 

2 equipped with communication capability to 

3 enable the grid-enabled water heaters to 

4 participate in ancillary services programs if 

5 the Secretary determines that the tech6 nology is available, practical, and cost-ef7 fective.’’; 

8 (2) in section 332(a) (42 U.S.C. 6302(a))— 

9 (A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘or’’ at 

10 the end; 

11 (B) in the first paragraph (6), by striking 

12 the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

13 (C) by redesignating the second paragraph 

14 (6) as paragraph (7); 

15 (D) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (7) 

16 (as so redesignated), by striking the period at 

17 the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

18 (E) by adding at the end the following: 

19 ‘‘(8) for any person— 

20 ‘‘(A) to activate an activation lock for a 

21 grid-enabled water heater with knowledge that 

22 such water heater is not used as part of an 

23 electric thermal storage or demand response 

24 program; 

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1 ‘‘(B) to distribute an activation key for a 

2 grid-enabled water heater with knowledge that 

3 such activation key will be used to activate a 

4 grid-enabled water heater that is not used as 

5 part of an electric thermal storage or demand 

6 response program; 

7 ‘‘(C) to otherwise enable a grid-enabled 

8 water heater to operate at its designed speci9 fication and capabilities with knowledge that 

10 such water heater is not used as part of an 

11 electric thermal storage or demand response 

12 program; or 

13 ‘‘(D) to knowingly remove or render illegi14 ble the label of a grid-enabled water heater de15 scribed in section 325(e)(6)(A)(ii)(V).’’; 

16 (3) in section 333(a) (42 U.S.C. 6303(a))— 

17 (A) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(5)’’ and in18 serting ‘‘paragraph (5), (6), (7), or (8) of sec19 tion 332(a)’’; and 

20 (B) by striking ‘‘paragraph (1), (2), or (5) 

21 of section 332(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph 

22 (1), (2), (5), (6), (7), or (8) of section 332(a)’’; 

23 and 

24 (4) in section 334 (42 U.S.C. 6304)— 

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1 (A) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(5)’’ and in2 serting ‘‘paragraph (5), (6), (7), or (8) of sec3 tion 332(a)’’; and 

4 (B) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(6)’’ and in5 serting ‘‘section 332(a)(7)’’. 

6 TITLE III—ENERGY INFORMA7 TION FOR COMMERCIAL 

8 BUILDINGS 

9 SEC. 301. ENERGY INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL BUILD10 INGS. 

11 (a) REQUIREMENT OF BENCHMARKING AND DISCLO12 SURE FOR LEASING BUILDINGS WITHOUT ENERGY STAR

13 LABELS.—Section 435(b)(2) of the Energy Independence 

14 and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17091(b)(2)) is 

15 amended— 

16 (1) by striking ‘‘paragraph (2)’’ and inserting 

17 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; and 

18 (2) by striking ‘‘signing the contract,’’ and all 

19 that follows through the period at the end and in20 serting the following: 

21 ‘‘signing the contract, the following requirements are 

22 met: 

23 ‘‘(A) The space is renovated for all energy 

24 efficiency and conservation improvements that 

25 would be cost effective over the life of the lease, 

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1 including improvements in lighting, windows, 

2 and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning 

3 systems. 

4 ‘‘(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the space is 

5 benchmarked under a nationally recognized, on6 line, free benchmarking program, with public 

7 disclosure, unless the space is a space for which 

8 owners cannot access whole building utility con9 sumption data, including spaces— 

10 ‘‘(I) that are located in States with 

11 privacy laws that provide that utilities shall 

12 not provide such aggregated information to 

13 multitenant building owners; and 

14 ‘‘(II) for which tenants do not provide 

15 energy consumption information to the 

16 commercial building owner in response to a 

17 request from the building owner. 

18 ‘‘(ii) A Federal agency that is a tenant of 

19 the space shall provide to the building owner, or 

20 authorize the owner to obtain from the utility, 

21 the energy consumption information of the 

22 space for the benchmarking and disclosure re23 quired by this subparagraph.’’. 

24 (b) STUDY.— 

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1 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 years after 

2 the date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of 

3 Energy, in collaboration with the Administrator of 

4 the Environmental Protection Agency, shall complete 

5 a study— 

6 (A) on the impact of— 

7 (i) State and local performance 

8 benchmarking and disclosure policies, and 

9 any associated building efficiency policies, 

10 for commercial and multifamily buildings; 

11 and 

12 (ii) programs and systems in which 

13 utilities provide aggregated information re14 garding whole building energy consumption 

15 and usage information to owners of multi16 tenant commercial, residential, and mixed17 use buildings; 

18 (B) that identifies best practice policy ap19 proaches studied under subparagraph (A) that 

20 have resulted in the greatest improvements in 

21 building energy efficiency; and 

22 (C) that considers— 

23 (i) compliance rates and the benefits 

24 and costs of the policies and programs on 

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1 building owners, utilities, tenants, and 

2 other parties; 

3 (ii) utility practices, programs, and 

4 systems that provide aggregated energy 

5 consumption information to multitenant 

6 building owners, and the impact of public 

7 utility commissions and State privacy laws 

8 on those practices, programs, and systems; 

9 (iii) exceptions to compliance in exist10 ing laws where building owners are not 

11 able to gather or access whole building en12 ergy information from tenants or utilities; 

13 (iv) the treatment of buildings with— 

14 (I) multiple uses; 

15 (II) uses for which baseline infor16 mation is not available; and 

17 (III) uses that require high levels 

18 of energy intensities, such as data 

19 centers, trading floors, and televisions 

20 studios; 

21 (v) implementation practices, includ22 ing disclosure methods and phase-in of 

23 compliance; 

24 (vi) the safety and security of 

25 benchmarking tools offered by government 

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1 agencies, and the resiliency of those tools 

2 against cyber attacks; and 

3 (vii) international experiences with re4 gard to building benchmarking and disclo5 sure laws and data aggregation for multi6 tenant buildings. 

7 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—At the conclu8 sion of the study, the Secretary shall submit to the 

9 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

10 of Representatives and Committee on Energy and 

11 Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the re12 sults of the study. 

13 (c) CREATION AND MAINTENANCE OF DATABASE.— 

14 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months 

15 after the date of enactment of this Act and following 

16 opportunity for public notice and comment, the Sec17 retary of Energy, in coordination with other relevant 

18 agencies, shall maintain, and if necessary create, a 

19 database for the purpose of storing and making 

20 available public energy-related information on com21 mercial and multifamily buildings, including— 

22 (A) data provided under Federal, State, 

23 local, and other laws or programs regarding 

24 building benchmarking and energy information 

25 disclosure; 

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1 (B) information on buildings that have dis2 closed energy ratings and certifications; and 

3 (C) energy-related information on buildings 

4 provided voluntarily by the owners of the build5 ings, only in an anonymous form unless the 

6 owner provides otherwise. 

7 (2) COMPLEMENTARY PROGRAMS.—The data8 base maintained pursuant to paragraph (1) shall 

9 complement and not duplicate the functions of the 

10 Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star 

11 Portfolio Manager tool. 

12 (d) INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS.—The Secretary of 

13 Energy shall seek input from stakeholders to maximize the 

14 effectiveness of the actions taken under this section. 

15 (e) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

16 of enactment of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, 

17 the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Committee 

18 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

19 and Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 

20 Senate a report on the progress made in complying with 

21 this section. 

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Calendar No. 23 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 535 

A BILL 

To promote energy efficiency. 

FEBRUARY 24, 2015 

Read the second time and placed on the calendar 

mstockstill on DSK4VPTVN1PROD with BILLS