I
107TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1129
To establish the High Performance Schools Program in the Department
of Energy and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH 20, 2001
Mr. UDALL of Colorado (for himself, Mr. BOEHLERT, Mr. GEORGE MILLER
of California, Mr. BONIOR, Mr. ETHERIDGE, and Mr. HONDA) introduced
the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and
the Workforce
A BILL
To establish the High Performance Schools Program in the
Department of Energy and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘High Performance
Schools Act of 2001’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
(a) FINDINGS.—The Congress finds the following:
(1) American K–12 schools spend over $6 bil-
lion annually on energy costs, which is more than is
spent on books and computers combined.
(2) Educators teach and students learn best in
an environment that is comfortable, healthy, natu-
rally lit where possible, and in good repair, and stud-
ies have indicated that student achievement is great-
er and attendance higher when those conditions are
met.
(3) Over half of our Nation’s K–12 schools are
more than 40 years old and in need of renovation to
reach such standard of efficiency and comfort, and
6,000 new schools will be required over the next 10
years to accommodate the growing number of stu-
dents.
(4) Inadequate ventilation in school buildings,
poor lighting and acoustical quality, and uncomfort-
able temperatures can diminish students’ capacity to
concentrate and excel.
(5) Inefficient use of water, either in consump-
tion or from poorly maintained systems, is prevalent
in older schools.
(6) Using a whole building approach in the de-
sign of new schools and the renovation of existing
schools—considering how materials, systems, and
products connect and overlap and also how a school
is integrated on its site and within the surrounding
community—will result in high performance school
buildings.
(7) Adoption of whole building concepts has
been shown to result in dramatic improvements in
student and teacher performance.
(8) Adopting a whole building approach usually
results in a lower life cycle cost for the school build-
ing than for a conventionally designed and built
building.
(9) Systematic use of energy conservation in
school construction and renovation projects can save
at least one quarter of current energy costs, leaving
more money for teachers and educational materials.
(10) The use of renewable energy sources such
as daylighting, passive solar heating, photovoltaics,
wind, geothermal, hydropower, and biomass power in
a building already designed to be low-energy can
help meet the building’s energy needs without added
emissions.
(11) Using environmentally preferable products
and providing for adequate supplies of fresh air will
improve indoor air quality and provide healthful
school buildings.
(12) Most school districts do not have the
knowledge of cutting-edge design and technologies to
implement optimum efficiency into new school con-
struction or into school renovations.
(b) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this Act to assist
school districts in the production, through construction or
renovation, of high performance elementary and secondary
school buildings that are healthful, productive, energy effi-
cient, and environmentally sound.
SEC. 3. PROGRAM ESTABLISHMENT AND ADMINISTRATION.
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is established in the
Department of Energy the High Performance Schools
Program (in this Act referred to as the ‘‘Program’’).
(b) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Energy may,
through the Program, make grants—
(1) to be provided to school districts to imple-
ment the purpose of this Act for new and existing
school buildings;
(2) to State energy offices to administer the
program of assistance to school districts pursuant to
this Act; and
(3) to State energy offices to promote participa-
tion by school districts in the program established by
this Act.
(c) GRANTS TO ASSIST SCHOOL DISTRICTS.—Grants
under subsection (b)(1) for new school buildings shall be
used to achieve energy efficiency performance that reduces
energy use at least 30 percent below that of a school con-
structed in compliance with standards prescribed in Chap-
ter 8 of the 2000 International Energy Conservation Code,
or a similar State code intended to achieve substantially
equivalent results. Grants under subsection (b)(1) for ex-
isting school buildings shall be used to achieve energy effi-
ciency performance that reduces energy use below the
school’s baseline consumption, assuming a 3-year, weath-
er-normalized average for calculating such baseline.
Grants under subsection (b)(1) shall be made to school
districts that have—
(1) demonstrated a need for such grants in
order to respond appropriately to increasing elemen-
tary and secondary school enrollments or to make
major investments in renovation of school facilities;
and
(2) made a commitment to use the grant funds
to develop high performance school buildings in ac-
cordance with the plan developed and approved pur-
suant to subsection (e)(1).
(d) OTHER GRANTS.—
(1) GRANTS
FOR
ADMINISTRATION.—Grants
under subsection (b)(2) shall be used to evaluate
compliance by school districts with requirements of
this Act and in addition may be used for—
(A) distributing information and materials
to clearly define and promote the development
of high performance school buildings for both
new and existing facilities;
(B) organizing and conducting programs
for school board members, school district per-
sonnel, architects, engineers, and others to ad-
vance the concepts of high performance school
buildings;
(C) obtaining technical services and assist-
ance in planning and designing high perform-
ance school buildings; and
(D) collecting and monitoring data and in-
formation pertaining to the high performance
school building projects.
(2) GRANTS
TO
PROMOTE
PARTICIPATION.—
Grants under subsection (b)(3) may be used for pro-
motional and marketing activities, including facili-
tating private and public financing, promoting the
use of energy service companies, working with school
administrations, students, and communities, and co-
ordinating public benefit programs.
(e) IMPLEMENTATION.—
(1) PLANS.—Grants under subsection (b)(1)
shall be provided only to school districts that, in con-
sultation with State offices of energy and education,
have developed plans that the State energy office de-
termines to be feasible and appropriate in order to
achieve the purposes for which such grants are
made.
(2) 
SUPPLEMENTING
GRANT
FUNDS.—The
State energy office shall encourage qualifying school
districts to supplement their grant funds with funds
from other sources in the implementation of their
plans.
SEC. 4. ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.
(a) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in subsection
(c), funds appropriated to carry out this Act shall be pro-
vided to State energy offices.
(b) PURPOSES.—Except as provided in subsection
(c), funds appropriated to carry out this Act shall be allo-
cated as follows:
(1) Seventy percent shall be used to make
grants under section 3(b)(1).
(2) Fifteen percent shall be used to make
grants under section 3(b)(2).
(3) Fifteen percent shall be used to make
grants under section 3(b)(3).
(c) OTHER FUNDS.—The Secretary of Energy may
retain not to exceed $300,000 per year from amounts ap-
propriated under section 5 to assist State energy offices
in coordinating and implementing the Program. Such
funds may be used to develop reference materials to fur-
ther define the principles and criteria to achieve high per-
formance school buildings.
SEC. 5. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated to the Sec-
retary of Energy to carry out this Act $200,000,000 for
each of fiscal years 2002 through 2005, and such sums
as may be necessary for each of fiscal years 2006 through
2011.
SEC. 6. REPORT TO CONGRESS.
The Secretary of Energy shall conduct a biennial re-
view of State actions implementing this Act, and the Sec-
retary shall report to Congress on the results of such re-
views. In conducting such reviews, the Secretary shall as-
sess the effectiveness of the calculation procedures used
by the States in establishing eligibility of schools for fund-
ing under this Act, and may assess other aspects of the
program to determine whether they have been effectively
implemented.
SEC. 7. DEFINITIONS.
For purposes of this Act:
(1) ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL.—
The terms ‘‘elementary school’’ and ‘‘secondary
school’’ shall have the same meaning given such
terms in paragraphs (14) and (26) of section 14101
of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of
1965 (20 U.S.C. 8801(14), (26)).
(2) HIGH PERFORMANCE SCHOOL BUILDING.—
The term ‘‘high performance school building’’ means
a school building which, in its design, construction,
operation, and maintenance, maximizes use of re-
newable energy and energy efficient practices, is
cost-effective on a life cycle basis, uses affordable,
environmentally preferable, durable materials, en-
hances indoor environmental quality, protects and
conserves water, and optimizes site potential.
(3) RENEWABLE ENERGY.—The term ‘‘renew-
able energy’’ means energy produced by solar, wind,
geothermal, hydroelectric, or biomass power.
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