Sec. 3. Building technologies research and development
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Subtitle A of title IX of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 ( 42 U.S.C. 16181 et seq. ) is amended by adding at the end the following: Not later than 180 days after the enactment of the Building Technologies Research and Development Act, the Secretary shall establish a program of research, development, demonstration, and commercial application to develop cost-effective tools, technologies, and practices that reduce emissions from, increase productivity and well-being of occupants in, and increase the energy efficiency and beneficial electrification of new and existing commercial and residential buildings, including retrofits and electrification of existing buildings, rural housing, low-income housing, multi-family housing, public housing, and manufactured housing.
The Secretary shall carry out research to identify barriers to, and strategies for, expanding the use of low-emissions and energy efficient building technologies and appliances in the buildings where members of frontline communities live and work. In carrying out this section, the Secretary may coordinate with other Federal agencies on housing and rural development programs. Research topics covered under this subsection may include— barriers to and solutions for the purchase, integration, and use of technologies developed under this section in rural, low-income, multi-family, public, and manufactured housing; causes of, and solutions for, inequitable energy costs or high energy burdens in housing in frontline communities; and solutions that ensure that housing in frontline communities are energy efficient as well as affordable.
The Secretary shall support research and analysis to identify non-technical barriers and methods to address such barriers, to enable greater use of tools, technologies, and practices developed under this section in new and existing commercial and residential buildings, including rural, low-income, public, multi-family, and manufactured housing. As part of the program established in section (a), the Secretary may, in consultation with relevant Federal agencies including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the United States Geological Survey, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, National Science Foundation, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency, support research and development on principles of resilient building design, construction, and operation to address current and future predicted risks over the lifetime of a building, including considerations of regional differences such as natural hazard exposure, resource availability, and fuel mix and energy production.
As part of the program established in section (a), the Secretary shall support research and development on technologies and methodologies to enable advanced building design, construction techniques, and retrofits. In supporting research and development under this section, the Secretary shall— include considerations of a full lifecycle analysis inclusive of building design, manufacturing, and construction, including environmental considerations, embodied energy and embodied carbon in building materials, transportation of materials, and implications for building retro-commissioning as well as final disposal and recycling; incorporate considerations of regional differences such as climate, season, temperature, energy production, fuel mix, and precipitation, in consultation with the Administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, for proposed building designs, building sites, or existing buildings, including the development of tools, technologies, and practices to address such regional differences and improve building energy resilience in the face of natural disasters, wildfires, extreme weather events, and natural hazards; support research and development on the use of various potential energy sources and distributed generation to supply cooling, heating, and power for buildings, including integrated and adaptive control solutions that improve traditional building energy management and emerging technologies such as batteries, and thermal storage compatible with all sizes of buildings; support the development of technologies that enable low-emissions and energy efficient or advanced buildings, such as lighting systems, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and refrigeration systems and other appliances that are cost-competitive over the life of the product as compared to conventional technologies and that incorporate considerations of integration in new and existing buildings, retrofitting, and ease of installation, using a whole-systems and whole-buildings approach; support the development of cost-effective next-generation window and building envelope technologies that incorporate considerations of integration in new and existing buildings, retrofitting, and ease of installation, including advanced building materials; support development of alternative working fluids and refrigerants for use in buildings equipment to reduce global warming potential; support research on methods to enhance the comfort, health, and well-being of individual occupants in buildings that also result in improved energy efficiency and emissions reductions, including indoor air quality; and support research on modular or off-site construction techniques and technologies for manufactured housing that advance energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and enhance affordability of buildings.
As part of the program established in subsection (a), the Secretary shall support the development of building models, including for the design and operation of buildings, the analysis of relevant data to enable smart buildings, and building energy modeling. In particular, the Secretary shall focus on the development of— advanced modeling capabilities that include modeling of grid interactivity, resilience, and relevant behavioral, community-scale, and urban-scale activities in order to— provide system-level analysis of new technologies, including distributed generation and storage; evaluate system benefits such as emissions reductions, community resilience, distribution grid reliability, and service to underserved communities; and provide data, derived from both simulation and demonstration projects established in subsection (h), to inform decision making new business models; automated methods to generate models of proposed or existing buildings; methods to address barriers, including non-technical barriers, to commercial application of building models for building operation; methods to analyze data collected by technologies in smart buildings and collections of buildings; artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches to building energy management; and advanced data collection and monitoring methods for utilities at the building level and component level.
The Secretary shall establish a competitive grant program for the demonstration of advanced building technologies and systems developed under the program established in subsection
(a)that— focuses on a range of new and existing building types, including low-income housing, rural housing and agricultural buildings, multi-family residential buildings, manufactured housing, and small- and medium-sized commercial buildings; and includes community-scale demonstration projects. In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall— support testing and validation activities to improve the commercial application of relevant tools, sensors, technologies, and methods, including the use of testbeds and the development of test methods to determine cost savings and performance in realistic scenarios; and support analysis, testing, and validation to accurately determine energy savings, emissions reductions, cost-savings, and other potential impacts of the highest-performing appliances and equipment that are commercially available. In carrying out the activities authorized in this section, the Secretary shall work with utilities, State and local energy offices, building owners, technology developers and manufacturers, contractors, building developers, connected building system manufacturers, and other relevant entities to guide the focus areas of the activities of the program authorized in paragraph (a), provide feedback on roadmap documents, and encourage the commercial application of these technologies by building owners, operators, developers, occupants, contractors, or other relevant entities. In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall coordinate across all relevant program offices at the Department, including the Office of Electricity, the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management, the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response. In this section: The term emissions means greenhouse gas emissions or other pollutants. The term frontline community means a community with significant representation of communities of color, low-income communities, or Tribal and indigenous communities, that— experiences, or is at risk of experiencing, higher or more adverse human health or environmental effects; or faces an above average proportion of their income directed to the payment of energy-related costs. The term Smart Building has the meaning given such term in section 1007(a) of Division Z of the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021. .
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Sec. 3
Building technologies research and development
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