IC 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 535 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

APRIL 13, 2015 

Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

AN ACT 

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, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

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

3 ‘‘Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015’’. 

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

5 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. 

6 TITLE I—BETTER BUILDINGS 

7 SEC. 101. SHORT TITLE. 

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

9 of 2015’’. 

10 SEC. 102. ENERGY EFFICIENCY IN FEDERAL AND OTHER 

11 BUILDINGS. 

12 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

13 (1) ADMINISTRATOR.—The term ‘‘Adminis14 trator’’ means the Administrator of General Serv15 ices. 

16 (2) COST-EFFECTIVE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

17 MEASURE.—The term ‘‘cost-effective energy effi18 ciency measure’’ means any building product, mate19 rial, equipment, or service, and the installing, impleVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:26 Apr 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.RFH S535

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1 menting, or operating thereof, that provides energy 

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

3 of such installing, implementing, or operating. 

4 (3) COST-EFFECTIVE WATER EFFICIENCY

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

6 measure’’ means any building product, material, 

7 equipment, or service, and the installing, imple8 menting, or operating thereof, that provides water 

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

10 of such installing, implementing, or operating. 

11 (b) MODEL PROVISIONS, POLICIES, AND BEST PRAC12 TICES.— 

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

14 after the date of enactment of this Act, the Adminis15 trator, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy 

16 and after providing the public with an opportunity 

17 for notice and comment, shall develop model com18 mercial leasing provisions and best practices in ac19 cordance with this subsection. 

20 (2) COMMERCIAL LEASING.— 

21 (A) IN GENERAL.—The model commercial 

22 leasing provisions developed under this sub23 section shall, at a minimum, align the interests 

24 of building owners and tenants with regard to 

25 investments in cost-effective energy efficiency 


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1 measures and cost-effective water efficiency 

2 measures to encourage building owners and ten3 ants to collaborate to invest in such measures. 

4 (B) USE OF MODEL PROVISIONS.—The 

5 Administrator may use the model commercial 

6 leasing provisions developed under this sub7 section in any standard leasing document that 

8 designates a Federal agency (or other client of 

9 the Administrator) as a landlord or tenant. 

10 (C) PUBLICATION.—The Administrator 

11 shall periodically publish the model commercial 

12 leasing provisions developed under this sub13 section, along with explanatory materials, to en14 courage building owners and tenants in the pri15 vate sector to use such provisions and mate16 rials. 

17 (3) REALTY SERVICES.—The Administrator 

18 shall develop policies and practices to implement 

19 cost-effective energy efficiency measures and cost-ef20 fective water efficiency measures for the realty serv21 ices provided by the Administrator to Federal agen22 cies (or other clients of the Administrator), including 

23 periodic training of appropriate Federal employees 

24 and contractors on how to identify and evaluate 

25 those measures. 


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1 (4) STATE AND LOCAL ASSISTANCE.—The Ad2 ministrator, in consultation with the Secretary of 

3 Energy, shall make available model commercial leas4 ing provisions and best practices developed under 

5 this subsection to State, county, and municipal gov6 ernments for use in managing owned and leased 

7 building space in accordance with the goal of encour8 aging investment in all cost-effective energy effi9 ciency measures and cost-effective water efficiency 

10 measures. 

11 SEC. 103. SEPARATE SPACES WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE 

12 ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES. 

13 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title IV of the En14 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 

15 17081 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the fol16 lowing: 

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

18 ENERGY EFFICIENCY MEASURES. 

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

20 ‘‘(1) HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

21 MEASURE.—The term ‘high-performance energy effi22 ciency measure’ means a technology, product, or 

23 practice that will result in substantial operational 

24 cost savings by reducing energy consumption and 

25 utility costs. 


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

2 spaces’ means areas within a commercial building 

3 that are leased or otherwise occupied by a tenant or 

4 other occupant for a period of time pursuant to the 

5 terms of a written agreement. 

6 ‘‘(b) STUDY.— 

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

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

9 acting through the Assistant Secretary of Energy 

10 Efficiency and Renewable Energy, shall complete a 

11 study on the feasibility of— 

12 ‘‘(A) significantly improving energy effi13 ciency in commercial buildings through the de14 sign and construction, by owners and tenants, 

15 of separate spaces with high-performance en16 ergy efficiency measures; and 

17 ‘‘(B) encouraging owners and tenants to 

18 implement high-performance energy efficiency 

19 measures in separate spaces. 

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

21 include— 

22 ‘‘(A) descriptions of— 

23 ‘‘(i) high-performance energy effi24 ciency measures that should be considered 


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1 as part of the initial design and construc2 tion of separate spaces; 

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

4 architects, and engineers may replicate 

5 when designing and constructing separate 

6 spaces with high-performance energy effi7 ciency measures; 

8 ‘‘(iii) policies and best practices to 

9 achieve reductions in energy intensities for 

10 lighting, plug loads, heating, cooling, cook11 ing, laundry, and other systems to satisfy 

12 the needs of the commercial building ten13 ant; 

14 ‘‘(iv) return on investment and pay15 back analyses of the incremental cost and 

16 projected energy savings of the proposed 

17 set of high-performance energy efficiency 

18 measures, including consideration of avail19 able incentives; 

20 ‘‘(v) models and simulation methods 

21 that predict the quantity of energy used by 

22 separate spaces with high-performance en23 ergy efficiency measures and that compare 

24 that predicted quantity to the quantity of 

25 energy used by separate spaces without 


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1 high-performance energy efficiency meas2 ures but that otherwise comply with appli3 cable building code requirements; 

4 ‘‘(vi) measurement and verification 

5 platforms demonstrating actual energy use 

6 of high-performance energy efficiency 

7 measures installed in separate spaces, and 

8 whether such measures generate the sav9 ings intended in the initial design and con10 struction of the separate spaces; 

11 ‘‘(vii) best practices that encourage an 

12 integrated approach to designing and con13 structing separate spaces to perform at op14 timum energy efficiency in conjunction 

15 with the central systems of a commercial 

16 building; and 

17 ‘‘(viii) any impact on employment re18 sulting from the design and construction of 

19 separate spaces with high-performance en20 ergy efficiency measures; and 

21 ‘‘(B) case studies reporting economic and 

22 energy savings returns in the design and con23 struction of separate spaces with high-perform24 ance energy efficiency measures. 


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

2 90 days after the date of the enactment of this sec3 tion, the Secretary shall publish a notice in the Fed4 eral Register requesting public comments regarding 

5 effective methods, measures, and practices for the 

6 design and construction of separate spaces with 

7 high-performance energy efficiency measures. 

8 ‘‘(4) PUBLICATION.—The Secretary shall pub9 lish the study on the website of the Department of 

10 Energy.’’. 

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

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

13 Act of 2007 is amended by inserting after the item relat14 ing to section 423 the following new item: 

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

15 SEC. 104. TENANT STAR PROGRAM. 

16 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle B of title IV of the En17 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 

18 17081 et seq.) (as amended by section 103) is amended 

19 by adding at the end the following: 

20 ‘‘SEC. 425. TENANT STAR PROGRAM. 

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

22 ‘‘(1) HIGH-PERFORMANCE ENERGY EFFICIENCY

23 MEASURE.—The term ‘high-performance energy effi24 ciency measure’ has the meaning given the term in 

25 section 424. 


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

2 spaces’ has the meaning given the term in section 

3 424. 

4 ‘‘(b) TENANT STAR.—The Administrator of the Envi5 ronmental Protection Agency, in consultation with the 

6 Secretary of Energy, shall develop a voluntary program 

7 within the Energy Star program established by section 

8 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 

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

10 promote energy efficiency in separate spaces leased by ten11 ants or otherwise occupied within commercial buildings. 

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

13 Energy, acting through the Administrator of the Energy 

14 Information Administration, shall— 

15 ‘‘(1) collect, through each Commercial Build16 ings Energy Consumption Survey of the Energy In17 formation Administration that is conducted after the 

18 date of enactment of this section, data on— 

19 ‘‘(A) categories of building occupancy that 

20 are known to consume significant quantities of 

21 energy, such as occupancy by data centers, 

22 trading floors, and restaurants; and 

23 ‘‘(B) other aspects of the property, build24 ing operation, or building occupancy determined 

25 by the Administrator of the Energy Information 


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1 Administration, in consultation with the Admin2 istrator of the Environmental Protection Agen3 cy, to be relevant in lowering energy consump4 tion; 

5 ‘‘(2) with respect to the first Commercial Build6 ings Energy Consumption Survey conducted after 

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

8 full compliance with the requirements of paragraph 

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

10 capability to collect such data and begin to collect 

11 such data; and 

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

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

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

15 the Administrator of the Environmental Protection 

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

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

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

19 later than 1 year after the date on which sufficient 

20 data is received pursuant to subsection (c), the Ad21 ministrator of the Environmental Protection Agency 

22 shall, following an opportunity for public notice and 

23 comment— 

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

25 Star rating system for commercial buildings, 


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1 develop policies and procedures to recognize 

2 tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily 

3 achieve high levels of energy efficiency in sepa4 rate spaces; 

5 ‘‘(B) establish building occupancy cat6 egories eligible for Tenant Star recognition 

7 based on the data collected under subsection (c) 

8 and any other appropriate data sources; and 

9 ‘‘(C) consider other forms of recognition 

10 for commercial building tenants or other occu11 pants that lower energy consumption in sepa12 rate spaces. 

13 ‘‘(2) DESIGN- AND CONSTRUCTION-BASED REC14 OGNITION.—After the study required by section 

15 424(b) is completed, the Administrator of the Envi16 ronmental Protection Agency, in consultation with 

17 the Secretary and following an opportunity for pub18 lic notice and comment, may develop a voluntary 

19 program to recognize commercial building owners 

20 and tenants that use high-performance energy effi21 ciency measures in the design and construction of 

22 separate spaces.’’. 

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

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

25 Act of 2007 is amended by inserting after the item relatVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:26 Apr 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.RFH S535

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1 ing to section 424 (as added by section 103(b)) the fol2 lowing new item: 

‘‘Sec. 425. Tenant Star program.’’. 

3 TITLE II—GRID-ENABLED WATER 

4 HEATERS 

5 SEC. 201. GRID-ENABLED WATER HEATERS. 

6 Part B of title III of the Energy Policy and Conserva7 tion Act is amended— 

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

9 adding at the end the following: 

10 ‘‘(6) ADDITIONAL STANDARDS FOR GRID-EN11 ABLED WATER HEATERS.— 

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

13 ‘‘(i) ACTIVATION LOCK.—The term 

14 ‘activation lock’ means a control mecha15 nism (either a physical device directly on 

16 the water heater or a control system inte17 grated into the water heater) that is locked 

18 by default and contains a physical, soft19 ware, or digital communication that must 

20 be activated with an activation key to en21 able the product to operate at its designed 

22 specifications and capabilities and without 

23 which activation the product will provide 

24 not greater than 50 percent of the rated 


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1 first hour delivery of hot water certified by 

2 the manufacturer. 

3 ‘‘(ii) GRID-ENABLED WATER HEAT4 ER.—The term ‘grid-enabled water heater’ 

5 means an electric resistance water heater 

6 that— 

7 ‘‘(I) has a rated storage tank vol8 ume of more than 75 gallons; 

9 ‘‘(II) is manufactured on or after 

10 April 16, 2015; 

11 ‘‘(III) has— 

12 ‘‘(aa) an energy factor of 

13 not less than 1.061 minus the 

14 product obtained by multi15 plying— 

16 ‘‘(AA) the rated storage 

17 volume of the tank, ex18 pressed in gallons; and 

19 ‘‘(BB) 0.00168; or 

20 ‘‘(bb) an equivalent alter21 native standard prescribed by the 

22 Secretary and developed pursu23 ant to paragraph (5)(E); 


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1 ‘‘(IV) is equipped at the point of 

2 manufacture with an activation lock; 

3 and 

4 ‘‘(V) bears a permanent label ap5 plied by the manufacturer that— 

6 ‘‘(aa) is made of material 

7 not adversely affected by water; 

8 ‘‘(bb) is attached by means 

9 of non-water-soluble adhesive; 

10 and 

11 ‘‘(cc) advises purchasers and 

12 end-users of the intended and ap13 propriate use of the product with 

14 the following notice printed in 

15 16.5 point Arial Narrow Bold 

16 font: 

17 ‘‘ ‘IMPORTANT INFORMATION: This water heater is 

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

19 or demand response program. It will not provide adequate 

20 hot water unless enrolled in such a program and activated 

21 by your utility company or another program operator. 

22 Confirm the availability of a program in your local area 

23 before purchasing or installing this product.’. 

24 ‘‘(B) REQUIREMENT.—The manufacturer 

25 or private labeler shall provide the activation 


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

2 utility or other company that operates an elec3 tric thermal storage or demand response pro4 gram that uses such a grid-enabled water heat5 er. 

6 ‘‘(C) REPORTS.— 

7 ‘‘(i) MANUFACTURERS.—The Sec8 retary shall require each manufacturer of 

9 grid-enabled water heaters to report to the 

10 Secretary annually the quantity of grid-en11 abled water heaters that the manufacturer 

12 ships each year. 

13 ‘‘(ii) OPERATORS.—The Secretary 

14 shall require utilities and other demand re15 sponse and thermal storage program oper16 ators to report annually the quantity of 

17 grid-enabled water heaters activated for 

18 their programs using forms of the Energy 

19 Information Agency or using such other 

20 mechanism that the Secretary determines 

21 appropriate after an opportunity for notice 

22 and comment. 

23 ‘‘(iii) CONFIDENTIALITY REQUIRE24 MENTS.—The Secretary shall treat shipVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:26 Apr 14, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S535.RFH S535

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1 ment data reported by manufacturers as 

2 confidential business information. 

3 ‘‘(D) PUBLICATION OF INFORMATION.— 

4 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—In 2017 and 

5 2019, the Secretary shall publish an anal6 ysis of the data collected under subpara7 graph (C) to assess the extent to which 

8 shipped products are put into use in de9 mand response and thermal storage pro10 grams. 

11 ‘‘(ii) PREVENTION OF PRODUCT DI12 VERSION.—If the Secretary determines 

13 that sales of grid-enabled water heaters ex14 ceed by 15 percent or greater the quantity 

15 of such products activated for use in de16 mand response and thermal storage pro17 grams annually, the Secretary shall, after 

18 opportunity for notice and comment, estab19 lish procedures to prevent product diver20 sion for non-program purposes. 

21 ‘‘(E) COMPLIANCE.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Subparagraphs 

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

24 until the Secretary determines under this 

25 section that— 


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1 ‘‘(I) grid-enabled water heaters 

2 do not require a separate efficiency 

3 requirement; or 

4 ‘‘(II) sales of grid-enabled water 

5 heaters exceed by 15 percent or great6 er the quantity of such products acti7 vated for use in demand response and 

8 thermal storage programs annually 

9 and procedures to prevent product di10 version for non-program purposes 

11 would not be adequate to prevent such 

12 product diversion. 

13 ‘‘(ii) EFFECTIVE DATE.—If the Sec14 retary exercises the authority described in 

15 clause (i) or amends the efficiency require16 ment for grid-enabled water heaters, that 

17 action will take effect on the date de18 scribed in subsection (m)(4)(A)(ii). 

19 ‘‘(iii) CONSIDERATION.—In carrying 

20 out this section with respect to electric 

21 water heaters, the Secretary shall consider 

22 the impact on thermal storage and demand 

23 response programs, including any impact 

24 on energy savings, electric bills, peak load 


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1 reduction, electric reliability, integration of 

2 renewable resources, and the environment. 

3 ‘‘(iv) REQUIREMENTS.—In carrying 

4 out this paragraph, the Secretary shall re5 quire that grid-enabled water heaters be 

6 equipped with communication capability to 

7 enable the grid-enabled water heaters to 

8 participate in ancillary services programs if 

9 the Secretary determines that the tech10 nology is available, practical, and cost-ef11 fective.’’; 

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

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

14 the end; 

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

16 the period at the end and inserting a semicolon; 

17 (C) by redesignating the second paragraph 

18 (6) as paragraph (7); 

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

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

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

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

23 ‘‘(8) for any person— 

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

25 grid-enabled water heater with knowledge that 


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1 such water heater is not used as part of an 

2 electric thermal storage or demand response 

3 program; 

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

5 grid-enabled water heater with knowledge that 

6 such activation key will be used to activate a 

7 grid-enabled water heater that is not used as 

8 part of an electric thermal storage or demand 

9 response program; 

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

11 water heater to operate at its designed speci12 fication and capabilities with knowledge that 

13 such water heater is not used as part of an 

14 electric thermal storage or demand response 

15 program; or 

16 ‘‘(D) to knowingly remove or render illegi17 ble the label of a grid-enabled water heater de18 scribed in section 325(e)(6)(A)(ii)(V).’’; 

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

20 (A) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(5)’’ and in21 serting ‘‘paragraph (5), (6), (7), or (8) of sec22 tion 332(a)’’; and 

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

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


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

2 and 

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

4 (A) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(5)’’ and in5 serting ‘‘paragraph (5), (6), (7), or (8) of sec6 tion 332(a)’’; and 

7 (B) by striking ‘‘section 332(a)(6)’’ and in8 serting ‘‘section 332(a)(7)’’. 

9 TITLE III—ENERGY INFORMA10 TION FOR COMMERCIAL 

11 BUILDINGS 

12 SEC. 301. ENERGY INFORMATION FOR COMMERCIAL BUILD13 INGS. 

14 (a) REQUIREMENT OF BENCHMARKING AND DISCLO15 SURE FOR LEASING BUILDINGS WITHOUT ENERGY STAR

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

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

18 amended— 

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

20 ‘‘paragraph (1)’’; and 

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

22 that follows through the period at the end and in23 serting the following: 

24 ‘‘signing the contract, the following requirements are 

25 met: 


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

2 efficiency and conservation improvements that 

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

4 including improvements in lighting, windows, 

5 and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning 

6 systems. 

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

8 benchmarked under a nationally recognized, on9 line, free benchmarking program, with public 

10 disclosure, unless the space is a space for which 

11 owners cannot access whole building utility con12 sumption data, including spaces— 

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

14 privacy laws that provide that utilities shall 

15 not provide such aggregated information to 

16 multitenant building owners; and 

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

18 energy consumption information to the 

19 commercial building owner in response to a 

20 request from the building owner. 

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

22 the space shall provide to the building owner, or 

23 authorize the owner to obtain from the utility, 

24 the energy consumption information of the 


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1 space for the benchmarking and disclosure re2 quired by this subparagraph.’’. 

3 (b) STUDY.— 

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

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

6 Energy, in collaboration with the Administrator of 

7 the Environmental Protection Agency, shall complete 

8 a study— 

9 (A) on the impact of— 

10 (i) State and local performance 

11 benchmarking and disclosure policies, and 

12 any associated building efficiency policies, 

13 for commercial and multifamily buildings; 

14 and 

15 (ii) programs and systems in which 

16 utilities provide aggregated information re17 garding whole building energy consumption 

18 and usage information to owners of multi19 tenant commercial, residential, and mixed20 use buildings; 

21 (B) that identifies best practice policy ap22 proaches studied under subparagraph (A) that 

23 have resulted in the greatest improvements in 

24 building energy efficiency; and 

25 (C) that considers— 


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1 (i) compliance rates and the benefits 

2 and costs of the policies and programs on 

3 building owners, utilities, tenants, and 

4 other parties; 

5 (ii) utility practices, programs, and 

6 systems that provide aggregated energy 

7 consumption information to multitenant 

8 building owners, and the impact of public 

9 utility commissions and State privacy laws 

10 on those practices, programs, and systems; 

11 (iii) exceptions to compliance in exist12 ing laws where building owners are not 

13 able to gather or access whole building en14 ergy information from tenants or utilities; 

15 (iv) the treatment of buildings with— 

16 (I) multiple uses; 

17 (II) uses for which baseline infor18 mation is not available; and 

19 (III) uses that require high levels 

20 of energy intensities, such as data 

21 centers, trading floors, and televisions 

22 studios; 

23 (v) implementation practices, includ24 ing disclosure methods and phase-in of 

25 compliance; 


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1 (vi) the safety and security of 

2 benchmarking tools offered by government 

3 agencies, and the resiliency of those tools 

4 against cyber attacks; and 

5 (vii) international experiences with re6 gard to building benchmarking and disclo7 sure laws and data aggregation for multi8 tenant buildings. 

9 (2) SUBMISSION TO CONGRESS.—At the conclu10 sion of the study, the Secretary shall submit to the 

11 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 

12 of Representatives and Committee on Energy and 

13 Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the re14 sults of the study. 

15 (c) CREATION AND MAINTENANCE OF DATABASE.— 

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

17 after the date of enactment of this Act and following 

18 opportunity for public notice and comment, the Sec19 retary of Energy, in coordination with other relevant 

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

21 database for the purpose of storing and making 

22 available public energy-related information on com23 mercial and multifamily buildings, including— 

24 (A) data provided under Federal, State, 

25 local, and other laws or programs regarding 


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1 building benchmarking and energy information 

2 disclosure; 

3 (B) information on buildings that have dis4 closed energy ratings and certifications; and 

5 (C) energy-related information on buildings 

6 provided voluntarily by the owners of the build7 ings, only in an anonymous form unless the 

8 owner provides otherwise. 

9 (2) COMPLEMENTARY PROGRAMS.—The data10 base maintained pursuant to paragraph (1) shall 

11 complement and not duplicate the functions of the 

12 Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star 

13 Portfolio Manager tool. 

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

15 Energy shall seek input from stakeholders to maximize the 

16 effectiveness of the actions taken under this section. 

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

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

19 the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Committee 

20 on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives 

21 and Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the 


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1 Senate a report on the progress made in complying with 

2 this section. 

Passed the Senate March 26 (legislative day, March 

27), 2015. 

Attest: JULIE E. ADAMS, 

Secretary. 


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