42 U.S.C. § 17084 — Separate spaces with high-performance

Page 8962 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 17084 hyperlinks to Internet sites that describe the activities, information, and resources of— (i) the Federal Government; (ii) State and local governments; (iii) the private sector (including non- governmental and nonprofit entities and organizations); and (iv) international organizations; (2) identifying and recommending edu- cational resources for implementing high-per- formance green building practices, including security and emergency benefits and practices; (3) providing access to technical assistance, tools, and resources for constructing high-per- formance green buildings, particularly tools to conduct life-cycle costing and life-cycle as- sessment; (4) providing information on application processes for certifying a high-performance green building, including certification and commissioning; (5) providing to the public, through the Com- mercial Director, technical and research infor- mation or other forms of assistance or advice that would be useful in planning and con- structing high-performance green buildings; (6) using such additional methods as are de- termined by the Commercial Director to be appropriate to conduct public outreach; (7) surveying existing research and studies relating to high-performance green buildings; and (8) coordinating activities of common inter- est. (Pub. L. 110–140, title IV, § 423, Dec. 19, 2007, 121 Stat. 1606.) Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries EFFECTIVE DATE Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of Pub. L. 110–140, set out as a note under section 1824 of Title 2, The Congress. § 17084. Separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures (a) Definitions In this section: (1) High-performance energy efficiency meas- ure The term ‘‘high-performance energy effi- ciency measure’’ means a technology, product, or practice that will result in substantial operational cost savings by reducing energy consumption and utility costs. (2) Separate spaces The term ‘‘separate spaces’’ means areas within a commercial building that are leased or otherwise occupied by a tenant or other oc- cupant for a period of time pursuant to the terms of a written agreement. (b) Study (1) In general Not later than 1 year after April 30, 2015, the Secretary, acting through the Assistant Sec- retary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, shall complete a study on the feasi- bility of— (A) significantly improving energy effi- ciency in commercial buildings through the design and construction, by owners and ten- ants, of separate spaces with high-perform- ance energy efficiency measures; and (B) encouraging owners and tenants to im- plement high-performance energy efficiency measures in separate spaces. (2) Scope The study shall, at a minimum, include— (A) descriptions of— (i) high-performance energy efficiency measures that should be considered as part of the initial design and construction of separate spaces; (ii) processes that owners, tenants, ar- chitects, and engineers may replicate when designing and constructing separate spaces with high-performance energy effi- ciency measures; (iii) policies and best practices to achieve reductions in energy intensities for lighting, plug loads, heating, cooling, cooking, laundry, and other systems to satisfy the needs of the commercial build- ing tenant; (iv) return on investment and payback analyses of the incremental cost and pro- jected energy savings of the proposed set of high-performance energy efficiency measures, including consideration of avail- able incentives; (v) models and simulation methods that predict the quantity of energy used by sep- arate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures and that compare that predicted quantity to the quantity of en- ergy used by separate spaces without high- performance energy efficiency measures but that otherwise comply with applicable building code requirements; (vi) measurement and verification plat- forms demonstrating actual energy use of high-performance energy efficiency meas- ures installed in separate spaces, and whether such measures generate the sav- ings intended in the initial design and con- struction of the separate spaces; (vii) best practices that encourage an in- tegrated approach to designing and con- structing separate spaces to perform at op- timum energy efficiency in conjunction with the central systems of a commercial building; and (viii) any impact on employment result- ing from the design and construction of separate spaces with high-performance en- ergy efficiency measures; and (B) case studies reporting economic and energy savings returns in the design and construction of separate spaces with high- performance energy efficiency measures. (3) Public participation Not later than 90 days after April 30, 2015, the Secretary shall publish a notice in the Federal Register requesting public comments regarding effective methods, measures, and Page 8963 TITLE 42—THE PUBLIC HEALTH AND WELFARE § 17086 practices for the design and construction of separate spaces with high-performance energy efficiency measures. (4) Publication The Secretary shall publish the study on the website of the Department of Energy. (Pub. L. 110–140, title IV, § 424, as added Pub. L. 114–11, title I, § 103(a), Apr. 30, 2015, 129 Stat. 183.) § 17085. Tenant Star program (a) Definitions In this section: (1) High-performance energy efficiency meas- ure The term ‘‘high-performance energy effi- ciency measure’’ has the meaning given the term in section 17084 of this title. (2) Separate spaces The term ‘‘separate spaces’’ has the meaning given the term in section 17084 of this title. (b) Tenant Star The Administrator of the Environmental Pro- tection Agency, in consultation with the Sec- retary of Energy, shall develop a voluntary pro- gram within the Energy Star program estab- lished by section 6294a of this title, which may be known as ‘‘Tenant Star’’, to promote energy efficiency in separate spaces leased by tenants or otherwise occupied within commercial build- ings. (c) Expanding survey data The Secretary of Energy, acting through the Administrator of the Energy Information Ad- ministration, shall— (1) collect, through each Commercial Build- ings Energy Consumption Survey of the En- ergy Information Administration that is con- ducted after April 30, 2015, data on— (A) categories of building occupancy that are known to consume significant quantities of energy, such as occupancy by data cen- ters, trading floors, and restaurants; and (B) other aspects of the property, building operation, or building occupancy determined by the Administrator of the Energy Informa- tion Administration, in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, to be relevant in low- ering energy consumption; (2) with respect to the first Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey con- ducted after April 30, 2015, to the extent full compliance with the requirements of para- graph (1) is not feasible, conduct activities to develop the capability to collect such data and begin to collect such data; and (3) make data collected under paragraphs (1) and (2) available to the public in aggregated form and provide such data, and any associ- ated results, to the Administrator of the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency for use in ac- cordance with subsection (d). (d) Recognition of owners and tenants (1) Occupancy-based recognition Not later than 1 year after the date on which sufficient data is received pursuant to sub- section (c), the Administrator of the Environ- mental Protection Agency shall, following an opportunity for public notice and comment— (A) in a manner similar to the Energy Star rating system for commercial buildings, de- velop policies and procedures to recognize tenants in commercial buildings that volun- tarily achieve high levels of energy effi- ciency in separate spaces; (B) establish building occupancy cat- egories eligible for Tenant Star recognition based on the data collected under subsection (c) and any other appropriate data sources; and (C) consider other forms of recognition for commercial building tenants or other occu- pants that lower energy consumption in sep- arate spaces. (2) Design- and construction-based recognition After the study required by section 17084(b) of this title is completed, the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, in con- sultation with the Secretary and following an opportunity for public notice and comment, may develop a voluntary program to recognize commercial building owners and tenants that use high-performance energy efficiency meas- ures in the design and construction of separate spaces. (Pub. L. 110–140, title IV, § 425, as added Pub. L. 114–11, title I, § 104(a), Apr. 30, 2015, 129 Stat. 185.) § 17086. Advanced integration of buildings onto the electric grid (a) In general The Secretary shall establish a program of re- search, development, and demonstration to en- able components of commercial and residential buildings to serve as dynamic energy loads on and resources for the electric grid. The program shall focus on— (1) developing low-cost, low power, wireless sensors to— (A) monitor building energy load; (B) forecast building energy need; and (C) enable building-level energy control; (2) developing data management capabilities and standard communication protocols to fur- ther interoperability at the building and grid- level; (3) developing advanced building-level en- ergy management of components through in- tegration of smart technologies, control sys- tems, and data processing, to enable energy ef- ficiency and savings; (4) optimizing energy consumption at the building level to enable grid stability and re- silience; (5) improving visualization of behind the meter equipment and technologies to provide better insight into the energy needs and en- ergy forecasts of individual buildings; (6) reducing the cost of key components to accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies; (7) protecting against cybersecurity threats and addressing security vulnerabilities of building systems or equipment; and (8) other areas determined appropriate by the Secretary.