§ 17063 — Energy Information For Commercial Buildings

(a) (1) Not later than 2 years after April 30, 2015, the Secretary of Energy, in collaboration with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, shall complete a study— (A) on the impact of— (i) State and local performance benchmarking and disclosure policies, and any associated building efficiency policies, for commercial and multifamily buildings; and (ii) 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; (B) that identifies best practice policy approaches studied under subparagraph (A) that have resulted in the greatest improvements in building energy efficiency; and (C) that considers— (i) compliance rates and the benefits and costs of the policies and programs on building owners, utilities, tenants, and other parties; (ii) utility practices, programs, and systems that provide aggregated energy consumption information to multitenant building owners, and the impact of public utility commissions and State privacy laws on those practices, programs, and systems; (iii) exceptions to compliance in existing laws where building owners are not able to gather or access whole building energy information from tenants or utilities; (iv) the treatment of buildings with— (I) multiple uses; (II) uses for which baseline information is not available; and (III) studios; (v) implementation practices, including disclosure methods and phase-in of compliance; (vi) the safety and security of benchmarking tools offered by government agencies, and the resiliency of those tools against cyber attacks; and (vii) international experiences with regard to building benchmarking and disclosure laws and data aggregation for multitenant buildings. (2) At the conclusion of the study, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the results of the study. (1) Not later than 18 months after April 30, 2015, and following opportunity for public notice and comment, the Secretary of Energy, in coordination with other relevant agencies, shall maintain, and if necessary create, a database for the purpose of storing and making available public energy-related information on commercial and multifamily buildings, including— (A) data provided under Federal, State, local, and other laws or programs regarding building benchmarking and energy information disclosure; (B) information on buildings that have disclosed energy ratings and certifications; and (C) energy-related information on buildings provided voluntarily by the owners of the buildings, only in an anonymous form unless the owner provides otherwise. (2) The database maintained pursuant to paragraph (1) shall complement and not duplicate the functions of the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Portfolio Manager tool. (d) The Secretary of Energy shall seek input from stakeholders to maximize the effectiveness of the actions taken under this section. (e) Not later than 2 years after April 30, 2015, and every 2 years thereafter, the Secretary of Energy shall submit to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the progress made in complying with this section.