lcalvobartolome/proxann_data huggingface dataset:
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-01-06 00:00:00

ENERGY STAR Regulatory Improvement Act

This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Environmental Protection Agency to revise the Energy Star program to exempt program partners that have complied with all program requirements for a period of at least 18 months from third-party certification requirements for the labeling of consumer, home, and office electronic products. In order to facilitate product listing and performance verification for a sample of products, the EPA may require test data and other product information to be submitted.

The exemption from third-party certification provided to a program partner will be terminated if the partner is found to have violated program requirements with respect to at least two separate models during a two-year period. The exemption will resume if the partner complies with all program requirements for at least three years.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-01-22 00:00:00

Energy Star Program Integrity Act 

This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to revise the Energy Star program to prohibit a disclosure relating to participation of a product in the program from creating a warranty or giving rise to private claims or rights of action relating to disqualification of the product from Energy Star if: (1) the product has been certified by a certification body recognized by the program, (2) the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved corrective measures, and (3) the responsible party has fully complied with all such measures.

The bill may not be construed to require the EPA to modify any procedure or take any other action.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-01-27 00:00:00

Thermal Insulation Efficiency Improvement Act

This bill directs the Department of Energy to submit a report within one year on the impact of thermal insulation on both energy and water use systems for potable hot and chilled water in federal buildings and on the return on investment of installing the insulation. The report must include: (1) an analysis based on the cost of municipal or regional water for delivered water and the avoided cost of new water; and (2) a summary of energy and water savings, including short-term and long-term (20 years) projections of such savings.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-02-05 00:00:00

(This measure has not been amended since it was introduced. The summary has been expanded because action occurred on the measure.)

Streamlining Energy Efficiency for Schools Act of 2015

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to direct the Department of Energy's Office of Energy and Renewable Energy to establish a clearinghouse to disseminate information regarding available programs and financing mechanisms that may be used to help initiate, develop, and finance energy efficiency, distributed generation, and energy retrofitting projects for schools.

The office must: (1) consult with appropriate agencies to develop a list of programs and financing mechanisms that are, or may be, used for the projects; and (2) coordinate with appropriate agencies to develop a collaborative education and outreach effort to streamline communications and promote the programs and financing mechanisms.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-02-11 00:00:00

Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015

Better Buildings Act of 2015

 This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to: (1) develop and publish model leasing provisions to encourage building owners and tenants to use greater cost-effective energy efficiency and water efficiency measures in commercial buildings, and (2) develop policies and best practices to implement the measures for the realty services provided by the GSA to federal agencies.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is required under the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) to develop a voluntary Tenant Star program within the Energy Star program to recognize tenants of spaces in commercial buildings that voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency. The EPA 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 leased spaces.

Energy Efficient Government Technology Act 

The EISA is amended also to require: (1) each federal agency to coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the EPA to develop an implementation strategy for the maintenance, purchase, and use of energy-efficient and energy-saving information technologies; (2) DOE to maintain a data center energy practitioner program that leads to the certification of energy practitioners qualified to evaluate the energy usage and efficiency opportunities in federal data centers; and (3) DOE to establish an open data initiative to make information about federal data center energy usage available and accessible in a manner that encourages data center innovation, optimization, and consolidation.

DOE must maintain, and if necessary create, a database for storing and making available public energy-related information on commercial and multifamily buildings.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-02-11 00:00:00

(Sec. 1) Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (EPCA) to provide additional energy conservation standards applicable to grid-enabled water heaters for use as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response program (a program that enables customers to reduce or shift their power use during peak demand periods).

Requires annual reports from: (1) manufacturers of such water heaters regarding the quantity of the products shipped each year, and (2) utilities and other demand response and thermal storage program operators regarding the quantity of products activated for their programs.

Requires the Department of Energy (DOE) to publish analyses of data collected from such reports and to establish procedures to prevent product diversion if sales of the products exceed by at least 15% the quantity activated for use in the demand response and thermal storage programs annually.

Maintains the standards and publication procedures established by this Act until the Secretary determines that: (1) such water heaters do not require a separate efficiency requirement, or (2) procedures to prevent product diversion for non-program purposes would not be adequate to prevent such product diversion.

Requires DOE to consider the impact of EPCA electric water heater standards on thermal storage and demand response programs, including on energy savings, electric bills, peak load reduction, electric reliability, integration of renewable resources, and the environment.

Directs DOE to require the water heaters be equipped with communication capability to enable the grid-enabled water heaters to participate in ancillary services programs if the technology is available, practical, and cost-effective.

Makes it unlawful for any person to:

 activate an activation lock for a grid-enabled water heater with knowledge that it is not used as part of such program, distribute an activation key for such a water heater with knowledge that it will be used to activate a heater that is not used as part of the program, enable such water heater to operate at its designed specification and capabilities with knowledge that it is not used as part of the program, or knowingly remove or render illegible the label of a such water heater.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-04 00:00:00

Energy Efficient Government Technology Act 

(Sec. 2) This bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to require each federal agency to coordinate with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), the Department of Energy (DOE), and the Environmental Protection Agency to develop an implementation strategy for the maintenance, purchase, and use by the agency of energy-efficient and energy-saving information technologies. The OMB must establish performance goals for evaluating the efforts of agencies in improving the maintenance, purchase, and use of the technology. The executive branch's Chief Information Officers Council must recommend best practices for attaining the performance goals, including consideration of the use of energy savings performance and utility energy services contracting.

Agencies must include in their annual government efficiency status reports a description of those energy-saving efforts and their results, and the OMB must begin to include in its annual government efficiency report a description of agencies' efforts and results.

(Sec. 3) DOE must make available to the public an update to the Report to Congress on Server and Data Center Energy Efficiency published on August 2, 2007, that includes analyses of the impact of newer information technologies and computing methods and water usage by data centers.

In collaboration with key stakeholders and the OMB, DOE must also: (1) maintain a data center energy practitioner program that leads to the certification of energy practitioners qualified to evaluate the energy usage and efficiency opportunities in federal data centers; and (2) establish an open data initiative to make information about federal data center energy usage available and accessible while encouraging data center innovation, optimization, and consolidation.

In collaboration with key stakeholders, DOE must: (1) participate in efforts to harmonize global specifications and metrics for data center energy and water efficiency, and (2) facilitate the development of a metric for data center energy efficiency.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-04 00:00:00

Energy Savings and Building Efficiency Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to revise provisions regarding the technical assistance that the Department of Energy (DOE) provides to states, Indian tribes, local governments, or model organizations with respect to model energy codes for residential and commercial building codes. DOE must provide technical assistance to implement technically feasible and cost-effective building energy codes.

States and Indian tribes must measure their compliance with applicable building energy codes or with the associated model building energy code. Standards for compliance are established.

DOE may not advocate, promote or discourage the adoption of a particular building energy code, code provision, or energy savings target to a state or Indian tribe. Information provided by DOE is "influential information" subject to Office of Management and Budget guidelines.

DOE must establish energy saving targets for updating model building energy codes. DOE must consider the economic feasibility of achieving the proposed targets and the potential costs and savings for consumers and building owners by conducting a return on investment analysis using a simple payback methodology over a 3-, 5-, and 7-year period. (Simple payback is the time in years that is required for energy savings to exceed the incremental first cost of a new requirement or code.) DOE may not propose or provide assistance for any code or target that has a payback greater than 10 years.

DOE must provide grants to establish building training and assessment centers at institutions of higher education.

Any DOE program that may enable the owner of a building to obtain a rating, score, or label regarding energy usage or performance of a building must be made available on a voluntary basis.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-25 00:00:00

Energy Savings Through Public-Private Partnerships Act of 2015

 This bill amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to revise requirements for energy savings performance and utility energy service contracts (performance contracts). (These contracts allow federal agencies to work with private contractors on energy efficiency upgrades to federal facilities.)

Each federal facility energy manager must provide an explanation regarding life cycle cost-effective measures that have not been implemented as part of the web-based compliance certification system. (Life cycle costs are the total cost of owning, operating, and maintaining a building over its useful life.)

The Department of Energy (DOE) must report to the President and Congress on each agency's performance contracts, including their investment value and their energy savings.

The energy conservation measures that may be contained in performance contracts are expanded by including those involving energy consuming devices and required support structures.

Agencies may not limit recognition of operation and maintenance savings associated with energy systems that were modernized or replaced with energy conservation measures and water conservation measures (e.g. lower energy and water bills due to energy efficiency and conservation measures).

Agencies may sell or transfer energy savings and apply the proceeds to fund a performance contract.

The energy savings that may be contained in performance contracts are expanded to include: (1) the use, sale, or transfer of energy incentives, rebates, or credits (including renewable energy credits) from governments or utilities; and (2) any revenue generated from a reduction in energy or water use, more efficient waste recycling, or additional energy generated from more efficient equipment.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-03-25 00:00:00

Utility Energy Service Contracts Improvement Act of 2015 

 This bill amends the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to make explicit that utility energy service contracts (UESCs) may have a contract period of up to 25 years. UESCs are contracts that allow utilities to provide federal agencies with energy and water efficiency improvements and demand reduction services.

UESC conditions must include requirements for measurement, verification, and performance assurances or guarantees of the savings.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-04-14 00:00:00

Voluntary Verification Program Act of 2015 

This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to require the Department of Energy (DOE) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to rely on voluntary programs for certifying manufacturer compliance with energy conservation performance standards and Energy Star specifications for consumer products and industrial equipment.

 Consumer products are the following: central air conditioners and central air conditioning heat pumps, water heaters, furnaces, direct heating equipment, and pool heaters.

 Industrial equipment is the following: commercial package air conditioning and heating equipment, automatic commercial ice makers, packaged terminal air-conditioners and packaged terminal heat pumps, warm air furnaces and packaged boilers, and storage water heaters, instantaneous water heaters, and unfired hot water storage tanks.

The consumer products exclude those that are designed solely for use in recreational vehicles and other mobile equipment.

DOE and the EPA must initiate a negotiated rulemaking to establish criteria, meeting certain minimum requirements, for achieving recognition by DOE or the EPA as an approved voluntary verification program.

Neither DOE nor the EPA may require manufacturers that participate in a voluntary verification program to provide information that can be obtained through the program. If a voluntary program subjects products to periodic verification testing and provides test results to DOE or the EPA on request, DOE and the EPA may not subject participating manufacturers that are in compliance with the program to additional testing to verify the accuracy of the performance rating of the product or equipment.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-04-15 00:00:00

Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015

Better Buildings Act of 2015

 This bill requires the General Services Administration (GSA) to: (1) develop and publish model leasing provisions to encourage building owners and tenants to use greater cost-effective energy efficiency and water efficiency measures in commercial buildings, and (2) develop policies and practices to implement the measures for the realty services provided by the GSA to agencies.

This bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to require the Department of Energy (DOE) to study the feasibility of improving energy efficiency in commercial buildings through the design and construction of spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) must develop a voluntary Tenant Star program within the Energy Star program to recognize tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency. The EPA 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 leased spaces.

This bill amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide additional energy conservation standards for grid-enabled water heaters for use as part of an electric thermal storage or demand response program, which is a program that enables customers to reduce or shift their power use during peak demand periods.

A federal agency leasing space in a building without an Energy Star label must include in its lease provisions requirements that the space's energy efficiency be measured against a nationally-recognized benchmark. The agency must also meet certain energy consumption disclosure requirements.

DOE must maintain a database for storing and making available public energy-related information on commercial and multifamily buildings.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-04-16 00:00:00

This bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to require a federal agency leasing space in a building without an Energy Star label to include in its lease provisions requirements that the space's energy efficiency be measured against a nationally-recognized benchmark. The agency must also meet certain energy consumption disclosure requirements.

The Department of Energy (DOE) must study and report on: (1) the impact of state and local performance benchmarking and disclosure policies for commercial and multifamily buildings; (2) the impact of 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; and (3) the best practice policy approaches studied in those impact analyses that have resulted in the greatest improvements in building energy efficiency.

DOE must maintain a database for storing and making available public energy-related information on commercial and multifamily buildings.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-04-22 00:00:00

Access to Consumer Energy Information Act or the E-Access Act

 Directs the Secretary of Energy (DOE) to encourage and support the adoption of policies that allow electricity consumers access to their own electricity data.

 Amends the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize state energy conservation plans to include programs that: (1) enhance consumer access to, and understanding of, energy usage and price information, including consumers' own residential and commercial electricity information; and (2) allow for development and adoption of innovative products and services to assist consumers in managing energy consumption and expenditures.

Directs the Secretary to issue voluntary guidelines, meeting specified criteria, which establish model standards to implement retail electric energy information access in states.

Authorizes states to submit to the Secretary a description of their data sharing policies regarding consumer access to electric energy information for DOE certification that they meet such voluntary guidelines.

Directs the Secretary, subject to appropriations, to make federal funds available to assist any DOE-certified state to implement its energy conservation plan.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-04-28 00:00:00

Home Owner Managing Energy Savings Act of 2015 or the HOMES Act 

The Department of Energy (DOE) must establish the Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program to provide rebates of up to $5,000 to reward homeowners for achieving home energy savings. Rebates may not exceed: (1) $10,000 per individual; or (2) 50% of the qualified home energy efficiency expenditures paid or incurred by the homeowner.

DOE must develop: (1) a network of rebate aggregators or a national rebate aggregator that can facilitate the delivery of rebates to reimburse participating homeowners or contractors, and (2) guidelines for allowing utilities participating as rebate aggregators to count the energy savings from their participation toward state and local level energy saving targets.

 This bill provides for the tax treatment of rebates, including an exclusion of such rebates from the taxable income of the homeowner.

DOE must make grants available for developing quality assurance programs to oversee the delivery of home efficiency retrofit programs, overseeing quality assurance plans, establishing and delivering financing pilots, coordinating with existing residential retrofit programs and infrastructure development to assist deployment of the Home Energy Savings Retrofit Rebate Program, and carrying out that Program.

DOE must establish a Residential Energy Efficiency Pay for Performance pilot program to encourage the use of measured energy savings, and financial payments for those energy savings, in the operation of residential energy efficiency programs.
Topic: Energy — Conservation
Subject: Energy
Date: 2015-04-30 00:00:00

This bill directs the Department of Energy to establish a pilot program to award grants, through FY2020, to nonprofit organizations for retrofitting their buildings with energy-efficiency improvements.

This bill amends the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to offset the costs of the grants by decreasing the amount of appropriations authorized for the Zero Net Energy Commercial Buildings Initiative in FY2016.