Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2007-07-31 00:00:00

Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2007 - Title I: Promoting Energy Efficiency - Subtitle A: Appliance Efficiency - (Sec. 101) Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to revise provisions that set energy standards, including standards for specified appliances, boilers, motors, and external power supplies. Provides procedures to amend or make standards. Subtitle B: Lighting Efficiency - (Sec. 121) Instructs the Secretary of Energy to issue regulations prohibiting the sale of: (1) 100 watt general service incandescent lamps after January 1, 2012, unless those lamps emit at least 60 lumens per watt; and (2) general service lamps manufactured after specified effective dates that do not meet the specified minimum efficacy levels (lumens/watt). (Sec. 123) Requires the use of energy efficient lighting fixtures and bulbs in the construction and alteration of public buildings. Subtitle C: Residential Building Efficiency - (Sec. 131) Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act (ECPA) to require the Secretary of Energy to: (1) support updating national model building energy codes and standards at least every three years to achieve overall savings; and (2) establish standards for energy efficiency in manufactured housing. (Sec. 134) Authorizes: (1) appropriations for weatherization assistance for low-income persons for FY2008-FY2012; and (2) the Secretary to initiate an Alternative Delivery System Pilot Project to examine options for decreasing energy consumption associated with heating and cooling. Authorizes the Secretary to make specified funding available to local weatherization agencies to expand the weatherization assistance program for residential buildings. Subtitle D: Commercial and Federal Building Efficiency - (Sec. 142) Requires the Secretary to establish an Office of High-Performance Green Buildings (OHPGB) within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and to appoint its Director. Includes among the duties of the Director: (1) establishing green practices for federal facilities; (2) developing a strategy to reduce commercial building energy use; and (3) establishing a clearinghouse. (Sec. 148) Amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act (NECPA) to require federal agencies to designate energy managers to carry out energy and water evaluations of covered facilities. Requires the Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) to issue scorecards for federal energy management activities. (Sec. 149) Requires the OHPGB Director to establish demonstration projects concerning green building initiatives in federal facilities and universities. (Sec. 150) Requires the Secretary and the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to initiate an information program about energy efficiency for data centers. (Sec. 151) Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2014 to carry out this subtitle, as well as appropriations for FY2008-FY2050 for a zero-energy commercial buildings initiative. (Sec. 152) Directs the Secretary, through the Federal Energy Management Program, to study and report to Congress on on the use of power management software by the Department of Energy (DOE) and federal facilities to reduce the use of electricity in computer monitors and personal computers. Subtitle E: Industrial Energy Efficiency - (Sec. 161) Amends ECPA to require the EPA Administrator to establish: (1) a Recoverable Waste-Energy Inventory Program that surveys industrial and commercial combustion sources; and (2) a Registry of Recoverable Waste-energy Sources. Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012. Establishes a Waste Energy Recovery Incentive Grant Program within EPA. Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012. Prescribes a standard to make any owner or operator of a waste energy recovery project identified on the Registry who generates net excess power eligible to benefit from at least one of three specified options for disposal of the net excess power in accordance with certain rate conditions and limitations. Specifies options for: (1) the sale of net excess power to utilities; (2) transport of net excess power by a utility for direct sale to a third party; or (3) transport of such power over private transmission lines. Requires state regulatory authorities and nonregulated electric utilities to conduct administrative proceedings to determine whether or not to implement such standard. Redesignates the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Combined Heat and Power Application Centers as Clean Energy Application Centers and reallocates the administration of such Centers to Doe's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. Requires the Secretary to make grants for specified Regional Clean Energy Application Centers. Subtitle F: Energy Efficiency of Public Institutions - Sustainable Energy Institutional Infrastructure Act of 2007 - (Sec. 174) Requires the Secretary to: (1) help institutional entities in identifying, evaluating, designing, and implementing sustainable energy infrastructure; and (2) create a Sustainable Institutions Revolving Fund to provide loans for construction or improvement of such infrastructure to serve such entities. Authorizes appropriations for FY2009-FY2012. (Sec. 176) Amends EPCA to authorize appropriations for FY2007-FY2012 for state energy conservation programs. Subtitle G: Energy Savings Performance Contracting - (Sec. 183) Amends NECPA to: (1) authorize federal agencies to enter into a separate contract for energy services and conservation measures, and provide the necessary financing; and (3) make such contract authority permanent. (Sec. 185) Instructs the Secretary of Energy to create and administer in the Federal Energy Management Program a training program to educate federal contract negotiation and contract management personnel to: (1) negotiate energy savings performance contracts; (2) conclude effective and timely contracts for energy efficiency services; and (3) review federal contracts for their potential energy efficiency opportunities. (Sec. 186) Prohibits any federal agency from: (1) establishing a policy limiting the maximum energy savings performance contract term to a period shorter than 25 years; or (2) limiting the total amount of obligations under such contracts or other private financing of energy savings measures. Subtitle H: Advisory Committee on Energy Efficiency Financing - (Sec. 189) Requires the Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to establish an advisory committee on energy efficiency finance and investment issues, options, ideas, and trends, which shall also assist the energy community in identifying practical ways of lowering costs and increasing investments in energy efficiency technologies. Authorizes appropriations. Subtitle I: Energy Efficiency Block Grant Program - (Sec. 192) Requires the Secretary to establish: (1) a Block Grant Program for local governments and states for development and implementation of an Energy Efficiency Strategy; and (2) a technical assistance program to help them with energy efficiency programs. (Sec. 198) Authorizes appropriations for FY2008-FY2012. Subtitle J: Green Buildings Retrofit Loan Guarantees - (Sec. 199) Instructs the Director of DOE Office of Science to make green buildings retrofit loan guarantees of up to $100 million for specified renovation projects. Pledges the full faith and credit of the United States for the payment of all such guarantees with respect to principal and interest.