Sec. 3141. Greater energy efficiency in building codes

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Section 303 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6832 ), as amended by section 3116, is further amended— by striking paragraph

(14)and inserting the following: The term model building energy code means a voluntary building energy code or standard developed and updated through a consensus process among interested persons, such as the IECC or ASHRAE Standard 90.1 or a code used by other appropriate organizations regarding which the Secretary has issued a determination that buildings subject to it would achieve greater energy efficiency than under a previously developed code. ; and by adding at the end the following: The term ASHRAE Standard 90.1 means the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90/1 Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings. The term cost-effective means having a simple payback of 10 years or less. The term IECC means the International Energy Conservation Code as published by the International Code Council. The term Indian tribe has the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 ( 25 U.S.C. 4103 ). The term simple payback means the time in years that is required for energy savings to exceed the incremental first cost of a new requirement or code. The term technically feasible means capable of being achieved, based on widely available appliances, equipment, technologies, materials, and construction practices. . Section 304 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6833 ) is amended to read as follows: The Secretary shall provide technical assistance, as described in subsection (e), for the purposes of— implementation of building energy codes by States, Indian tribes, and, as appropriate, by local governments, that are technically feasible and cost-effective; and supporting full compliance with the State, tribal, and local codes. Not later than 3 years after the date on which a model building energy code is published, each State or Indian tribe shall certify whether or not the State or Indian tribe, respectively, has reviewed and updated the energy provisions of the building code of the State or Indian tribe, respectively. The certification shall include a statement of whether or not the energy savings for the code provisions that are in effect throughout the State or Indian tribal territory meet or exceed— the energy savings of the most recently published model building energy code; or the targets established under section 307(b)(2). If a model building energy code is not updated by a target date established under section 307(b)(2)(D), each State or Indian tribe shall, not later than 3 years after the specified date, certify whether or not the State or Indian tribe, respectively, has reviewed and updated the energy provisions of the building code of the State or Indian tribe, respectively, to meet or exceed the target in section 307(b)(2). Not later than 90 days after a State or Indian tribe certification under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— determine whether the code provisions of the State or Indian tribe, respectively, meet the criteria specified in paragraph (1); determine whether the certification submitted by the State or Indian tribe, respectively, is complete; and if the requirements of subparagraph

(B)are satisfied, validate the certification. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require a State or Indian tribe to adopt any building code or provision within a code. Not later than 3 years after the date of a certification under subsection (b), each State and Indian tribe shall certify whether or not the State or Indian tribe, respectively, has— achieved full compliance under paragraph

(3)with the applicable certified State or Indian tribe building energy code or with the associated model building energy code; or made significant progress under paragraph

(4)toward achieving compliance with the applicable certified State or Indian tribe building energy code or with the associated model building energy code. If the State or Indian tribe certifies progress toward achieving compliance, the State or Indian tribe shall repeat the certification until the State or Indian tribe certifies that the State or Indian tribe has achieved full compliance. A certification under paragraph

(1)shall include documentation of the rate of compliance based on— inspections of a random sample of the buildings covered by the code in the preceding year; or an alternative method that yields an accurate measure of compliance. A State or Indian tribe shall be considered to achieve full compliance under paragraph

(1)if— at least 90 percent of building space covered by the code in the preceding year substantially meets all the requirements of the applicable code specified in paragraph (1), or achieves equivalent or greater energy savings level; or 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 preceding year. 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— 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 has met the most recent target under subparagraph (A). Not later than 90 days after a State or Indian tribe certification under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall— determine whether the State or Indian tribe has demonstrated meeting the criteria of this subsection, including accurate measurement of compliance; determine whether the certification submitted by the State or Indian tribe is complete; and if the requirements of subparagraph

(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 requirements and submitting the certification. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted to require a State or Indian tribe to adopt any building code or provision within a code. In any State or Indian tribe for which the Secretary has not validated a certification under subsection

(b)or (c), a local government may be eligible for Federal support by meeting the certification requirements of subsections

(b)and (c). The Secretary shall annually submit to Congress, and publish in the Federal Register, a report on— the status of model building energy codes; the status of code adoption and compliance in the States and Indian tribes; implementation of this section; and improvements in energy savings over time as a result of the targets established under section 307(b)(2). The report shall include estimates of impacts of past action under this section, and potential impacts of further action, on— upfront financial and construction costs, cost benefits and returns (using a return on investment analysis), and lifetime energy use for buildings; resulting energy costs to individuals and businesses; and resulting overall annual building ownership and operating costs. The Secretary shall, upon request, provide technical assistance to States and Indian tribes to implement the goals and requirements of this section— to implement State residential and commercial building energy codes; and to document the rate of compliance with a building energy code. The assistance shall include, as requested by the State or Indian tribe, technical assistance in— evaluating the energy savings of building energy codes; assessing the economic considerations, referenced in section 307(b)(4), of implementing building energy codes; building energy analysis and design tools; energy simulation models; building demonstrations; developing the definitions of energy use intensity and building types for use in model building energy codes to evaluate the efficiency impacts of the model building energy codes; and complying with a performance-based pathway referenced in the model code. For purposes of this section, technical assistance shall not include actions that promote or discourage the adoption of a particular building energy code, code provision, or energy savings target to a State or Indian tribe. For purposes of this section, information provided by the Secretary, attendant to any technical 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 (February 22, 2002). The Secretary shall provide support to States and Indian tribes— to implement the reporting requirements of this section; and to implement residential and commercial 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. Support shall not be given to support adoption and implementation of model building energy codes for which the Secretary has made a determination under section 307(g)(1)(C) that the code is not cost-effective. Support shall be offered to States to train State and local building code officials to implement and enforce codes described in paragraph (1)(B). States may work under this subsection with local governments that implement and enforce codes described in paragraph (1)(B). The Secretary shall provide technical assistance, as described in subsection (e), for the development of voluntary programs that exceed the model building energy codes for residential and commercial buildings for use as— voluntary incentive programs adopted by local, tribal, or State governments; and nonbinding guidelines for energy-efficient building design. The voluntary programs described in paragraph

(1)shall be designed— to achieve substantial energy savings compared to the model building energy codes; and to meet targets under section 307(b), if available, up to 3 to 6 years in advance of the target years. The Comptroller General of the United States shall conduct a study of the impacts of updating the national model building energy codes for residential and commercial buildings. In conducting the study, the Comptroller General shall consider and report, at a minimum— the actual energy consumption savings stemming from updated energy codes compared to the energy consumption savings predicted during code development; the actual consumer cost savings stemming from updated energy codes compared to predicted consumer cost savings; and an accounting of expenditures of the Federal funds under each program authorized by this title. Not later than 3 years after the date of enactment of the North American Energy Security and Infrastructure Act of 2016 , 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. 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— code improvements that would require that buildings be designed, sited, and constructed in a manner that makes the buildings more adaptable in the future to become zero-net-energy after initial construction, as advances are achieved in energy-saving technologies; code procedures to incorporate a ten-year payback, not just first-year energy use, in trade-offs and performance calculations; and legislative options for increasing energy savings from building energy codes, including additional incentives for effective State and local verification of compliance with and enforcement of a code. The Secretary, in consultation with appropriate representatives of the utility, utility regulatory, building ownership, and other stakeholders, shall— undertake a study of best practices regarding delivery of aggregated energy consumption information to owners and managers of residential and commercial buildings with multiple tenants and uses; and consider the development of a memorandum of understanding between and among affected stakeholders to reduce barriers to the delivery of aggregated energy consumption information to such owners and managers. Nothing in this section or section 307 supersedes or modifies the application of sections 321 through 346 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6291 et seq. ). No Federal funds shall be— used to support actions by the Secretary, or States, to promote or discourage the adoption of a particular building energy code, code provision, or energy saving target to a State or Indian tribe; or provided to private third parties or non-governmental organizations to engage in such activities. . Section 305 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6834 ) is amended by striking voluntary building energy code in subsections (a)(2)(B) and

(b)and inserting model building energy code . Section 307 of the Energy Conservation and Production Act ( 42 U.S.C. 6836 ) is amended to read as follows: The Secretary shall provide technical assistance, as described in subsection (c), for updating of model building energy codes. The Secretary shall provide technical assistance, for updating the model building energy codes. The Secretary shall provide technical assistance to States, Indian tribes, local governments, nationally recognized code and standards developers, and other interested parties for updating of model building energy codes by establishing one or more aggregate energy savings targets through rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, to achieve the purposes of this section. Separate targets may be established for commercial and residential buildings. The baseline for updating model building energy codes shall be the 2009 IECC for residential buildings and ASHRAE Standard 90.1–2010 for commercial buildings. Targets for specific years shall be established and revised by the Secretary through rulemaking in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code, and coordinated with nationally recognized code and standards developers at a level that— is at the maximum level of energy efficiency that is technically feasible and cost effective, while accounting for the economic considerations under paragraph (4); and promotes the achievement of commercial and residential high performance buildings through high performance energy efficiency (within the meaning of section 401 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 ( 42 U.S.C. 17061 )). Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this clause, the Secretary shall establish initial targets under this subparagraph. Subject to clause (i), prior to the applicable year, the Secretary may set a later target year for any of the model building energy codes described in subparagraph

(A)if the Secretary determines that a target cannot be met. When establishing targets under this paragraph through rulemaking, the Secretary shall ensure compliance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness Act of 1996 ( 5 U.S.C. 601 note; Public Law 104–121 ) for any indirect economic effect on small entities that is reasonably foreseeable and a result of such rule. In establishing energy savings targets under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall develop and adjust the targets in recognition of potential savings and costs relating to— efficiency gains made in appliances, lighting, windows, insulation, and building envelope sealing; advancement of distributed generation and on-site renewable power generation technologies; equipment improvements for heating, cooling, and ventilation systems and water heating systems; building management systems and smart grid technologies to reduce energy use; and other technologies, practices, and building systems regarding building plug load and other energy uses. In developing and adjusting the targets, the Secretary shall use climate zone weighted averages for equipment efficiency for heating, cooling, ventilation, and water heating systems, using equipment that is actually installed. In establishing and revising energy savings targets under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall consider the economic feasibility of achieving the proposed targets established under this section 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. The Secretary shall not propose or provide technical or financial assistance for any code, provision in the code, or energy target, or amendment thereto, that has a payback greater than 10 years. The Secretary shall, on a timely basis, provide technical assistance to model building energy code-setting and standard development organizations consistent with the goals of this section. The assistance shall include, as requested by the organizations, technical assistance in— evaluating the energy savings of building energy codes; assessing the economic considerations, under subsection (b)(4), of code or standards proposals or revisions; building energy analysis and design tools; energy simulation models; building demonstrations; developing definitions of energy use intensity and building types for use in model building energy codes to evaluate the efficiency impacts of the model building energy codes; developing a performance-based pathway for compliance; developing model building energy codes by Indian tribes in accordance with tribal law; and code development meetings, including through direct Federal employee participation in committee meetings, hearings and online communication, voting, and presenting research and technical or economic analyses during such meetings. Except as provided in paragraph (2)(I), for purposes of this section, technical assistance shall not include actions that promote or discourage the adoption of a particular building energy code, code provision, or energy savings target. For purposes of this section, information provided by the Secretary, attendant to development of any energy savings targets, is influential information and shall satisfy the guidelines established by the Office of Management and Budget and published at 67 Federal Register 8,452 (February 22, 2002). The Secretary may submit timely model building energy code amendment proposals that are technically feasible, cost-effective, and technology-neutral to the model building energy code-setting and standard development organizations, with supporting evidence, sufficient to enable the model building energy codes to meet the targets established under subsection (b)(2). All amendment proposals submitted by the Secretary shall be published in the Federal Register and made available on the Department of Energy website 90 days prior to any submittal to a code development body, and shall be subject to a public comment period of not less than 60 days. Information provided by the Secretary, attendant to submission of any amendment proposals, is influential information and shall satisfy the guidelines established by the Office of Management and Budget and published at 67 Federal Register 8,452 (February 22, 2002). When calculating the costs and benefits of an amendment, the Secretary shall use climate zone weighted averages for equipment efficiency for heating, cooling, ventilation, and water heating systems, using equipment that is actually installed. The Secretary shall make publicly available the entire calculation methodology (including input assumptions and data) used by the Secretary to estimate the energy savings of code or standard proposals and revisions. The Secretary shall establish a methodology for evaluating cost effectiveness of energy code changes in multifamily buildings that incorporates economic parameters representative of typical multifamily buildings. If the provisions of the IECC or ASHRAE Standard 90.1 regarding building energy use are revised, the Secretary shall make a preliminary determination not later than 90 days after the date of the revision, and a final determination not later than 15 months after the date of the revision, on whether or not the revision— improves energy efficiency in buildings compared to the existing IECC or ASHRAE Standard 90.1, as applicable; meets the applicable targets under subsection (b)(2); and is technically feasible and cost-effective. If the Secretary makes a preliminary determination under paragraph (1)(B) that a revised IECC or ASHRAE Standard 90.1 does not meet the targets established under subsection (b)(2), is not technically feasible, or is not cost-effective, the Secretary may at the same time provide technical assistance, as described in subsection (c), to the International Code Council or ASHRAE, as applicable, with proposed changes that would result in a model building energy code or standard that meets the criteria, and with supporting evidence. Proposed changes submitted by the Secretary shall be published in the Federal Register and made available on the Department of Energy website 90 days prior to any submittal to a code development body, and shall be subject to a public comment period of not less than 60 days. Information provided by the Secretary, attendant to submission of any amendment proposals, is influential information and shall satisfy the guidelines established by the Office of Management and Budget and published at 67 Federal Register 8,452 (February 22, 2002). On receipt of the technical assistance, as described in subsection (c), the International Code Council or ASHRAE, as applicable, shall, prior to the Secretary making a final determination under paragraph (1), have an additional 270 days to accept or reject the proposed changes made by the Secretary to the model building energy code or standard. A final determination under paragraph

(1)shall be on the final revised model building energy code or standard. In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall— publish notice of targets, amendment proposals and supporting analysis and determinations under this section in the Federal Register to provide an explanation of and the basis for such actions, including any supporting modeling, data, assumptions, protocols, and cost-benefit analysis, including return on investment; provide an opportunity for public comment on targets and supporting analysis and determinations under this section, in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United States Code; and provide an opportunity for public comment on amendment proposals. Not withstanding any other provision of this section, any model building code or standard established under this section shall not be binding on a State, local government, or Indian tribe as a matter of Federal law. . The item relating to section 307 in the table of contents for the Energy Conservation and Production Act is amended to read as follows: Sec. 307. Support for model building energy codes. .

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