plicable code specified in paragraph (1), or 
achieves equivalent or greater energy savings 
level; or 
‘‘(B) the estimated excess energy use of 
buildings that did not meet the applicable code 
specified in paragraph (1) in the preceding 
year, compared to a baseline of comparable 
buildings that meet this code, is not more than 
5 percent of the estimated energy use of all 
buildings covered by this code during the pre-
ceding year. 
‘‘(4) 
SIGNIFICANT
PROGRESS
TOWARD 
ACHIEVEMENT OF COMPLIANCE.—A State or Indian 
tribe shall be considered to have made significant 
progress toward achieving compliance for purposes 
of paragraph (1) if the State or Indian tribe— 
‘‘(A) has developed and is implementing a 
plan for achieving compliance during the 8-year 
period beginning on the date of enactment of 
this paragraph, including annual targets for 
compliance and active training and enforcement 
programs; and 
‘‘(B) has met the most recent target under 
subparagraph (A). 
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‘‘(5) VALIDATION
BY
SECRETARY.—Not later 
than 90 days after a State or Indian tribe certifi-
cation under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— 
‘‘(A) determine whether the State or In-
dian tribe has demonstrated meeting the cri-
teria of this subsection, including accurate 
measurement of compliance; 
‘‘(B) determine whether the certification 
submitted by the State or Indian tribe is com-
plete; and 
‘‘(C) if the requirements of subparagraph 
(B) are satisfied, validate the certification. 
‘‘(6) LIMITATION.—Nothing in this section 
shall be interpreted to require a State or Indian 
tribe to adopt any building code or provision within 
a code. 
‘‘(d) STATES
OR INDIAN TRIBES THAT DO NOT 
ACHIEVE COMPLIANCE.— 
‘‘(1) REPORTING.—A State or Indian tribe that 
has not made a certification required under sub-
section (b) or (c) by the applicable deadline shall 
submit to the Secretary a report on the status of the 
State or Indian tribe with respect to meeting the re-
quirements and submitting the certification. 
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‘‘(2) STATE
SOVEREIGNTY.—Nothing in this 
section shall be interpreted to require a State or In-
dian tribe to adopt any building code or provision 
within a code. 
‘‘(3) LOCAL
GOVERNMENT.—In any State or 
Indian tribe for which the Secretary has not vali-
dated a certification under subsection (b) or (c), a 
local government may be eligible for Federal support 
by meeting the certification requirements of sub-
sections (b) and (c). 
‘‘(4) ANNUAL REPORTS BY SECRETARY.— 
‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
annually submit to Congress, and publish in the 
Federal Register, a report on— 
‘‘(i) the status of model building en-
ergy codes; 
‘‘(ii) the status of code adoption and 
compliance in the States and Indian tribes; 
‘‘(iii) implementation of this section; 
and 
‘‘(iv) improvements in energy savings 
over time as a result of the targets estab-
lished under section 307(b)(2). 
‘‘(B) IMPACTS.—The report shall include 
estimates of impacts of past action under this 
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section, and potential impacts of further action, 
on— 
‘‘(i) upfront financial and construction 
costs, cost benefits and returns (using a 
return on investment analysis), and life-
time energy use for buildings; 
‘‘(ii) resulting energy costs to individ-
uals and businesses; and 
‘‘(iii) resulting overall annual building 
ownership and operating costs. 
‘‘(e) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES AND IN-
DIAN TRIBES.—The Secretary shall provide technical as-
sistance to States and Indian tribes to implement the goals 
and requirements of this section, including procedures and 
technical analysis for States and Indian tribes— 
‘‘(1) to implement State residential and com-
mercial building energy codes; and 
‘‘(2) to document the rate of compliance with a 
building energy code. 
‘‘(f) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO STATES AND IN-
DIAN TRIBES.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, upon 
request, provide technical assistance to States and 
Indian tribes to implement the goals and require-
ments of this section— 
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‘‘(A) to implement State residential and 
commercial building energy codes; and 
‘‘(B) to document the rate of compliance 
with a building energy code. 
‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The assistance 
shall include, as requested by the State or Indian 
tribe, technical assistance in— 
‘‘(A) evaluating the energy savings of 
building energy codes; 
‘‘(B) assessing the economic consider-
ations, referenced in section 307(b)(4), of im-
plementing building energy codes; 
‘‘(C) building energy analysis and design 
tools; 
‘‘(D) energy simulation models; 
‘‘(E) building demonstrations; 
‘‘(F) developing the definitions of energy 
use intensity and building types for use in 
model building energy codes to evaluate the effi-
ciency impacts of the model building energy 
codes; and 
‘‘(G) complying with a performance-based 
pathway referenced in the model code. 
‘‘(3) EXCLUSION.—For purposes of this section, 
‘technical assistance’ shall not include actions that 
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advocate, promote, or discourage the adoption of a 
particular building energy code, code provision, or 
energy savings target to a State or Indian tribe. 
‘‘(4) INFORMATION
QUALITY
AND
TRANS-
PARENCY.—For purposes of this section, information 
provided by the Secretary, attendant to any tech-
nical assistance provided to a State or Indian tribe, 
is ‘influential information’ and shall satisfy the 
guidelines established by the Office of Management 
and Budget and published at 67 Federal Register 
8,452 (Feb. 22, 2002). 
‘‘(g) FEDERAL SUPPORT.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 
support to States and Indian tribes— 
‘‘(A) to implement the reporting require-
ments of this section; and 
‘‘(B) to implement residential and commer-
cial building energy codes, including increasing 
and verifying compliance with the codes and 
training of State, tribal, and local building code 
officials to implement and enforce the codes. 
‘‘(2) EXCLUSION.—Support shall not be given 
to support adoption and implementation of model 
building energy codes for which the Secretary has 
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made a determination under section 307(d)(1)(C), 
that the code is not cost-effective. 
‘‘(3) TRAINING.—Support shall be offered to 
States, to train State and local building code offi-
cials to implement and enforce codes described in 
paragraph (2). 
‘‘(4) LOCAL GOVERNMENTS.—States may work 
under this subsection with local governments that 
implement and enforce the codes. 
‘‘(h) VOLUNTARY PROGRAMS TO EXCEED MODEL 
BUILDING ENERGY CODE.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide 
technical assistance, as described in subsection (f), 
for the development of voluntary programs that ex-
ceed the model building energy codes for residential 
and commercial buildings for use as— 
‘‘(A) voluntary incentive programs adopted 
by local, tribal, or State governments; and 
‘‘(B) non-binding guidelines for energy-ef-
ficient building design. 
‘‘(2) TARGETS.—The voluntary programs de-
scribed in paragraph (1) shall be designed— 
‘‘(A) to achieve substantial energy savings 
compared to the model building energy codes; 
and 
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‘‘(B) to meet targets under section 307(b), 
if available, up to 3 to 6 years in advance of the 
target years. 
‘‘(i) STUDIES.— 
‘‘(1) GAO STUDY.— 
‘‘(A) The Comptroller General of the 
United States shall conduct a study of the im-
pacts of updating the national model building 
energy codes for residential and commercial 
buildings. In conducting the study, the Comp-
troller General shall consider and report, at a 
minimum— 
‘‘(i) the actual energy consumption 
savings stemming from updated energy 
codes compared to the energy consumption 
savings predicted during code development; 
‘‘(ii) the actual consumer cost savings 
stemming from updated energy codes com-
pared to predicted consumer cost savings; 
and 
‘‘(iii) an accounting of expenditures of 
the Federal funds under each program au-
thorized by the title or by amendments 
made by this title. 
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‘‘(B) REPORT
TO
CONGRESS.—Not later 
than 3 years after the date of enactment of the 
Energy Savings and Building Efficiency Act of 
2015, the Comptroller General of the United 
States shall submit a report to the Committee 
on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate 
and the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
of the House of Representatives including the 
study findings and conclusions. 
‘‘(2) FEASIBILITY STUDY.—The Secretary, in 
consultation with building science experts from the 
National Laboratories and institutions of higher 
education, designers and builders of energy-efficient 
residential and commercial buildings, code officials, 
and other stakeholders, shall undertake a study of 
the feasibility, impact, economics, and merit of— 
‘‘(A) code improvements that would require 
that buildings be designed, sited, and con-
structed in a manner that makes the buildings 
more adaptable in the future to become zero- 
net-energy after initial construction, as ad-
vances are achieved in energy-saving tech-
nologies; 
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‘‘(B) code procedures to incorporate a ten- 
year payback, not just first-year energy use, in 
trade-offs and performance calculations; and 
‘‘(C) legislative options for increasing en-
ergy savings from building energy codes, includ-
ing additional incentives for effective State and 
local verification of compliance with and en-
forcement of a code. 
‘‘(3) ENERGY DATA IN MULTI-TENANT BUILD-
INGS.—The Secretary, in consultation with appro-
priate representatives of the utility, utility regu-
latory, building ownership, and other stakeholders, 
shall— 
‘‘(A) undertake a study of best practices 
regarding delivery of aggregated energy con-
sumption information to owners and managers 
of residential and commercial buildings with 
multiple tenants and uses; and 
‘‘(B) consider the development of a memo-
randum of understanding between and among 
affected stakeholders to reduce barriers to the 
delivery of aggregated energy consumption in-
formation to such owners and managers. 
‘‘(j) EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS.—Nothing in this sec-
tion or section 307 supersedes or modifies the application 
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of sections 321 through 346 of the Energy Policy and 
Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6291 et seq.). 
‘‘(k) FUNDING LIMITATIONS.—No Federal funds 
shall be used to support actions by the Secretary, or 
States, to advocate, promote, or discourage the adoption 
of a particular building energy code, code provision, or en-
ergy saving target to a State or Indian tribe; or be pro-
vided to private third parties or non-governmental organi-
zations that engage in this type of advocacy.’’. 
(c) FEDERAL
BUILDING
ENERGY
EFFICIENCY 
STANDARDS.—Section 305 of the Energy Conservation 
and Production Act (42 U.S.C. 6834) is amended by strik-
ing ‘‘voluntary building energy code’’ each place it appears 
in subsections (a)(2)(B) and (b) and inserting ‘‘model 
building energy code’’. 
(d) MODEL BUILDING ENERGY CODES.—Section 307 
of the Energy Conservation and Production Act (42 
U.S.C. 6836) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘SEC. 307. SUPPORT FOR MODEL BUILDING ENERGY 
CODES. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall provide tech-
nical assistance, as described in subsection (c), for updat-
ing of model building energy codes. 
‘‘(b) TARGETS.— 
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