S. 535 

One Hundred Fourteenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE FIRST SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Tuesday, 

the sixth day of January, two thousand and fifteen 

An Act 

To promote energy efficiency. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of 

the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015’’. 

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

is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

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. 

TITLE I—BETTER BUILDINGS 

SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

This title may be cited as the ‘‘Better Buildings Act of 2015’’. 

SEC. 102. ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN FEDERAL AND OTHER BUILDINGS. 

(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

(1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Administrator’’ means the 

Administrator of General Services. 

(2) COST-EFFECTIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURE.—The 

term ‘‘cost-effective energy efficiency measure’’ means any 

building product, material, equipment, or service, and the 

installing, implementing, or operating thereof, that provides 

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

of such installing, implementing, or operating. 

(3) COST-EFFECTIVE WATER EFFICIENCY MEASURE.—The 

term ‘‘cost-effective water efficiency measure’’ means any 

building product, material, equipment, or service, and the 

installing, implementing, or operating thereof, that provides 

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

of such installing, implementing, or operating. 

(b) MODEL PROVISIONS, POLICIES, AND BEST PRACTICES.— 
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(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 180 days after the date 

of enactment of this Act, the Administrator, in consultation 

with the Secretary of Energy and after providing the public 

with an opportunity for notice and comment, shall develop 

model commercial leasing provisions and best practices in 

accordance with this subsection. 

(2) COMMERCIAL LEASING.— (A) IN GENERAL.—The model commercial leasing provisions developed under this subsection shall, at a minimum, 

align the interests of building owners and tenants with 

regard to investments in cost-effective energy efficiency 

measures and cost-effective water efficiency measures to 

encourage building owners and tenants to collaborate to 

invest in such measures. 

(B) USE OF MODEL PROVISIONS.—The Administrator 

may use the model commercial leasing provisions developed 

under this subsection in any standard leasing document 

that designates a Federal agency (or other client of the 

Administrator) as a landlord or tenant. 

(C) PUBLICATION.—The Administrator shall periodically publish the model commercial leasing provisions 

developed under this subsection, along with explanatory 

materials, to encourage building owners and tenants in 

the private sector to use such provisions and materials. 

(3) REALTY SERVICES.—The Administrator shall develop 

policies and practices to implement cost-effective energy efficiency measures and cost-effective water efficiency measures 

for the realty services provided by the Administrator to Federal 

agencies (or other clients of the Administrator), including periodic training of appropriate Federal employees and contractors 

on how to identify and evaluate those measures. 

(4) STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE.—The Administrator, in 

consultation with the Secretary of Energy, shall make available 

model commercial leasing provisions and best practices developed under this subsection to State, county, and municipal 

governments for use in managing owned and leased building 

space in accordance with the goal of encouraging investment 

in all cost-effective energy efficiency measures and cost-effective 

water efficiency measures. 

SEC. 103. SEPARATE SPACES WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title IV of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17081 et seq.) is amended 

by adding at the end the following: 

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

EFFICIENCY MEASURES. 

‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

‘‘(1) HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURE.— 

The term ‘high-performance energy efficiency measure’ means 

a technology, product, or practice that will result in substantial 

operational cost savings by reducing energy consumption and 

utility costs. 

‘‘(2) SEPARATE SPACES.—The term ‘separate spaces’ means 

areas within a commercial building that are leased or otherwise 

occupied by a tenant or other occupant for a period of time 

pursuant to the terms of a written agreement. 
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‘‘(b) STUDY.— 

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

of enactment of this section, the Secretary, acting through 

the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable 

Energy, shall complete a study on the feasibility of— 

‘‘(A) significantly improving energy efficiency in 

commercial buildings through the design and construction, 

by owners and tenants, of separate spaces with highperformance energy efficiency measures; and 

‘‘(B) encouraging owners and tenants to implement 

high-performance energy efficiency measures in separate 

spaces. 

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

‘‘(A) descriptions of— 

‘‘(i) high-performance energy efficiency measures 

that should be considered as part of the initial design 

and construction of separate spaces; 

‘‘(ii) processes that owners, tenants, architects, and 

engineers may replicate when designing and constructing separate spaces with high-performance 

energy efficiency measures; 

‘‘(iii) policies and best practices to achieve reductions in energy intensities for lighting, plug loads, 

heating, cooling, cooking, laundry, and other systems 

to satisfy the needs of the commercial building tenant; 

‘‘(iv) return on investment and payback analyses 

of the incremental cost and projected energy savings 

of the proposed set of high-performance energy efficiency measures, including consideration of available 

incentives; 

‘‘(v) models and simulation methods that predict 

the quantity of energy used by separate spaces with 

high-performance energy efficiency measures and that 

compare that predicted quantity to the quantity of 

energy used by separate spaces without high-performance energy efficiency measures but that otherwise 

comply with applicable building code requirements; 

‘‘(vi) measurement and verification platforms demonstrating actual energy use of high-performance 

energy efficiency measures installed in separate spaces, 

and whether such measures generate the savings 

intended in the initial design and construction of the 

separate spaces; 

‘‘(vii) best practices that encourage an integrated 

approach to designing and constructing separate spaces 

to perform at optimum energy efficiency in conjunction 

with the central systems of a commercial building; 

and 

‘‘(viii) any impact on employment resulting from 

the design and construction of separate spaces with 

high-performance energy efficiency measures; and 

‘‘(B) case studies reporting economic and energy 

savings returns in the design and construction of separate 

spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures. 

‘‘(3) PUBLIC PARTICIPATION.—Not later than 90 days after 

the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall 
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publish a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments regarding effective methods, measures, and practices 

for the design and construction of separate spaces with highperformance energy efficiency measures. 

‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall publish the study 

on the website of the Department of Energy.’’. 

(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in section 

1(b) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is 

amended by inserting after the item relating to section 423 the 

following new item: 

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

SEC. 104. TENANT STAR PROGRAM. 

(a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title IV of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17081 et seq.) (as amended 

by section 103) is amended by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘SEC. 425. TENANT STAR PROGRAM. 

‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

‘‘(1) HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURE.— 

The term ‘high-performance energy efficiency measure’ has the 

meaning given the term in section 424. 

‘‘(2) SEPARATE SPACES.—The term ‘separate spaces’ has the 

meaning given the term in section 424. 

‘‘(b) TENANT STAR.—The Administrator of the Environmental 

Protection Agency, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, 

shall develop a voluntary program within the Energy Star program 

established by section 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation 

Act (42 U.S.C. 6294a), which may be known as ‘Tenant Star’, 

to promote energy efficiency in separate spaces leased by tenants 

or otherwise occupied within commercial buildings. 

‘‘(c) EXPANDING SURVEY DATA.—The Secretary of Energy, acting 

through the Administrator of the Energy Information Administration, shall— 

‘‘(1) collect, through each Commercial Buildings Energy 

Consumption Survey of the Energy Information Administration 

that is conducted after the date of enactment of this section, 

data on— 

‘‘(A) categories of building occupancy that are known 

to consume significant quantities of energy, such as occupancy by data centers, trading floors, and restaurants; 

and 

‘‘(B) other aspects of the property, building operation, 

or building occupancy determined by the Administrator 

of the Energy Information Administration, in consultation 

with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency, to be relevant in lowering energy consumption; 

‘‘(2) with respect to the first Commercial Buildings Energy 

Consumption Survey conducted after the date of enactment 

of this section, to the extent full compliance with the requirements of paragraph (1) is not feasible, conduct activities to 

develop the capability to collect such data and begin to collect 

such data; and 

‘‘(3) make data collected under paragraphs (1) and (2) available to the public in aggregated form and provide such data, 
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and any associated results, to the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for use in accordance with subsection 

(d). 

‘‘(d) RECOGNITION OF OWNERS AND TENANTS.— ‘‘(1) OCCUPANCY-BASED RECOGNITION.—Not later than 1 

year after the date on which sufficient data is received pursuant 

to subsection (c), the Administrator of the Environmental 

Protection Agency shall, following an opportunity for public 

notice and comment— 

‘‘(A) in a manner similar to the Energy Star rating 

system for commercial buildings, develop policies and procedures to recognize tenants in commercial buildings that 

voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency in separate spaces; 

‘‘(B) establish building occupancy categories eligible 

for Tenant Star recognition based on the data collected 

under subsection (c) and any other appropriate data 

sources; and 

‘‘(C) consider other forms of recognition for commercial 

building tenants or other occupants that lower energy 

consumption in separate spaces. 

‘‘(2) DESIGN- AND CONSTRUCTION-BASED RECOGNITION.— After the study required by section 424(b) is completed, the 

Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the Secretary and following an opportunity for 

public notice and comment, may develop a voluntary program 

to recognize commercial building owners and tenants that use 

high-performance energy efficiency measures in the design and 

construction of separate spaces.’’. 

(b) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of contents in section 

1(b) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 is 

amended by inserting after the item relating to section 424 (as 

added by section 103(b)) the following new item: 

‘‘Sec. 425. Tenant Star program.’’. 

TITLE II—GRID-ENABLED WATER 

HEATERS 

SEC. 201. GRID-ENABLED WATER HEATERS. 

Part B of title III of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act 

is amended— 

(1) in section 325(e) (42 U.S.C. 6295(e)), by adding at the 

end the following: 

‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL STANDARDS FOR GRID-ENABLED WATER

HEATERS.— 

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

‘‘(i) ACTIVATION LOCK.—The term ‘activation lock’ 

means a control mechanism (either a physical device 

directly on the water heater or a control system 

integrated into the water heater) that is locked by 

default and contains a physical, software, or digital 

communication that must be activated with an activation key to enable the product to operate at its designed 

specifications and capabilities and without which 

activation the product will provide not greater than 
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50 percent of the rated first hour delivery of hot water 

certified by the manufacturer. 

‘‘(ii) GRID-ENABLED WATER HEATER.—The term 

‘grid-enabled water heater’ means an electric resistance 

water heater that— 

‘‘(I) has a rated storage tank volume of more 

than 75 gallons; 

‘‘(II) is manufactured on or after April 16, 

2015; 

‘‘(III) has— 

‘‘(aa) an energy factor of not less than 

1.061 minus the product obtained by multiplying— 

‘‘(AA) the rated storage volume of the 

tank, expressed in gallons; and 

‘‘(BB) 0.00168; or 

‘‘(bb) an equivalent alternative standard 

prescribed by the Secretary and developed 

pursuant to paragraph (5)(E); 

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

with an activation lock; and 

‘‘(V) bears a permanent label applied by the 

manufacturer that— 

‘‘(aa) is made of material not adversely 

affected by water; 

‘‘(bb) is attached by means of non-watersoluble adhesive; and 

‘‘(cc) advises purchasers and end-users of 

the intended and appropriate use of the 

product with the following notice printed in 

16.5 point Arial Narrow Bold font: 

‘‘ ‘IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This water heater is intended only 

for use as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response 

program. It will not provide adequate hot water unless enrolled 

in such a program and activated by your utility company or another 

program operator. Confirm the availability of a program in your 

local area before purchasing or installing this product.’. 

‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The manufacturer or private 

labeler shall provide the activation key for a grid-enabled 

water heater only to a utility or other company that operates an electric thermal storage or demand response program that uses such a grid-enabled water heater. 

‘‘(C) REPORTS.— 

‘‘(i) MANUFACTURERS.—The Secretary shall require 

each manufacturer of grid-enabled water heaters to 

report to the Secretary annually the quantity of gridenabled water heaters that the manufacturer ships 

each year. 

‘‘(ii) OPERATORS.—The Secretary shall require utilities and other demand response and thermal storage 

program operators to report annually the quantity of 

grid-enabled water heaters activated for their programs 

using forms of the Energy Information Agency or using 

such other mechanism that the Secretary determines 

appropriate after an opportunity for notice and comment. 
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‘‘(iii) CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIREMENTS.—The Secretary shall treat shipment data reported by manufacturers as confidential business information. 

‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In 2017 and 2019, the Secretary 

shall publish an analysis of the data collected under 

subparagraph (C) to assess the extent to which shipped 

products are put into use in demand response and 

thermal storage programs. 

‘‘(ii) PREVENTION OF PRODUCT DIVERSION.—If the 

Secretary determines that sales of grid-enabled water 

heaters exceed by 15 percent or greater the quantity 

of such products activated for use in demand response 

and thermal storage programs annually, the Secretary 

shall, after opportunity for notice and comment, establish procedures to prevent product diversion for nonprogram purposes. 

‘‘(E) COMPLIANCE.— 

‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraphs (A) through (D) 

shall remain in effect until the Secretary determines 

under this section that— 

‘‘(I) grid-enabled water heaters do not require 

a separate efficiency requirement; or 

‘‘(II) sales of grid-enabled water heaters exceed 

by 15 percent or greater the quantity of such products activated for use in demand response and 

thermal storage programs annually and procedures 

to prevent product diversion for non-program purposes would not be adequate to prevent such 

product diversion. 

‘‘(ii) EFFECTIVE DATE.—If the Secretary exercises 

the authority described in clause (i) or amends the 

efficiency requirement for grid-enabled water heaters, 

that action will take effect on the date described in 

subsection (m)(4)(A)(ii). 

‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATION.—In carrying out this section 

with respect to electric water heaters, the Secretary 

shall consider the impact on thermal storage and 

demand response programs, including any impact on 

energy savings, electric bills, peak load reduction, electric reliability, integration of renewable resources, and 

the environment. 

‘‘(iv) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying out this paragraph, the Secretary shall require that grid-enabled 

water heaters be equipped with communication capability to enable the grid-enabled water heaters to 

participate in ancillary services programs if the Secretary determines that the technology is available, 

practical, and cost-effective.’’; 

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

(A) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘or’’ at the end; 

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

at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

(C) by redesignating the second paragraph (6) as paragraph (7); 
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(D) in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (7) (as so redesignated), by striking the period at the end and inserting 

‘‘; or’’; and 

(E) by adding at the end the following: 

‘‘(8) for any person— 

‘‘(A) to activate an activation lock for a grid-enabled 

water heater with knowledge that such water heater is 

not used as part of an electric thermal storage or demand 

response program; 

‘‘(B) to distribute an activation key for a grid-enabled 

water heater with knowledge that such activation key will 

be used to activate a grid-enabled water heater that is 

not used as part of an electric thermal storage or demand 

response program; 

‘‘(C) to otherwise enable a grid-enabled water heater 

to operate at its designed specification and capabilities 

with knowledge that such water heater is not used as 

part of an electric thermal storage or demand response 

program; or 

‘‘(D) to knowingly remove or render illegible the label 

of a grid-enabled water heater described in section 

325(e)(6)(A)(ii)(V).’’; 

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

(A) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (5), (6), (7), or (8) of section 332(a)’’; and 

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

332(a)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (1), (2), (5), (6), (7), or 

(8) of section 332(a)’’; and 

(4) in section 334 (42 U.S.C. 6304)— 

(A) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(5)’’ and inserting ‘‘paragraph (5), (6), (7), or (8) of section 332(a)’’; and 

(B) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(6)’’ and inserting ‘‘section 

332(a)(7)’’. 

TITLE III—ENERGY INFORMATION FOR 

COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS 

SEC. 301. ENERGY INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS. 

(a) REQUIREMENT OF BENCHMARKING AND DISCLOSURE FOR

LEASING BUILDINGS WITHOUT ENERGY STAR LABELS.—Section 

435(b)(2) of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 

(42 U.S.C. 17091(b)(2)) is amended— 

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

(1)’’; and 

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

through the period at the end and inserting the following: 

‘‘signing the contract, the following requirements are met: 

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

and conservation improvements that would be cost effective 

over the life of the lease, including improvements in 

lighting, windows, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. 

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

under a nationally recognized, online, free benchmarking 

program, with public disclosure, unless the space is a space 
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for which owners cannot access whole building utility 

consumption data, including spaces— 

‘‘(I) that are located in States with privacy laws 

that provide that utilities shall not provide such aggregated information to multitenant building owners; and 

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

consumption information to the commercial building 

owner in response to a request from the building owner. 

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

shall provide to the building owner, or authorize the owner 

to obtain from the utility, the energy consumption information of the space for the benchmarking and disclosure 

required by this subparagraph.’’. 

(b) STUDY.— 

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

of enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Energy, in collaboration with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

Agency, shall complete a study— 

(A) on the impact of— 

(i) State and local performance benchmarking and 

disclosure policies, and any associated building efficiency policies, for commercial and multifamily 

buildings; and 

(ii) programs and systems in which utilities provide aggregated information regarding whole building 

energy consumption and usage information to owners 

of multitenant commercial, residential, and mixed-use 

buildings; 

(B) that identifies best practice policy approaches 

studied under subparagraph (A) that have resulted in the 

greatest improvements in building energy efficiency; and 

(C) that considers— 

(i) compliance rates and the benefits and costs 

of the policies and programs on building owners, utilities, tenants, and other parties; 

(ii) utility practices, programs, and systems that 

provide aggregated energy consumption information to 

multitenant building owners, and the impact of public 

utility commissions and State privacy laws on those 

practices, programs, and systems; 

(iii) exceptions to compliance in existing laws 

where building owners are not able to gather or access 

whole building energy information from tenants or 

utilities; 

(iv) the treatment of buildings with— 

(I) multiple uses; 

(II) uses for which baseline information is not 

available; and 

(III) uses that require high levels of energy 

intensities, such as data centers, trading floors, 

and televisions studios; 

(v) implementation practices, including disclosure 

methods and phase-in of compliance; 

(vi) the safety and security of benchmarking tools 

offered by government agencies, and the resiliency of 

those tools against cyber attacks; and 
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(vii) international experiences with regard to 

building benchmarking and disclosure laws and data 

aggregation for multitenant buildings. 

(2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—At the conclusion of the 

study, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce of the House of Representatives and Committee 

on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on 

the results of the study. 

(c) CREATION AND MAINTENANCE OF DATABASE.— 

(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after the date 

of enactment of this Act and following opportunity for public 

notice and comment, the Secretary of Energy, in coordination 

with other relevant agencies, shall maintain, and if necessary 

create, a database for the purpose of storing and making available public energy-related information on commercial and 

multifamily buildings, including— 

(A) data provided under Federal, State, local, and other 

laws or programs regarding building benchmarking and 

energy information disclosure; 

(B) information on buildings that have disclosed energy 

ratings and certifications; and 

(C) energy-related information on buildings provided 

voluntarily by the owners of the buildings, only in an 

anonymous form unless the owner provides otherwise. 

(2) COMPLEMENTARY PROGRAMS.—The database maintained 

pursuant to paragraph (1) shall complement and not duplicate 

the functions of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy 

Star Portfolio Manager tool. 

(d) INPUT FROM STAKEHOLDERS.—The Secretary of Energy shall 

seek input from stakeholders to maximize the effectiveness of the 

actions taken under this section. 

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

of this Act, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary of Energy 

shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the 

House of Representatives and Committee on Energy and Natural 

Resources of the Senate a report on the progress made in complying 

with this section. 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.