Obama Signs Energy Efficiency Bill

WASHINGTON — President Obama passed on May 1 a bipartisan energy efficiency bill that provides incentives to cut energy use in commercial buildings, manufacturing plants and homes.

Sens. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H authored the bill — the Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015. It includes legislation previously introduced by U.S. Sens. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., and Michael Bennet, D-Colo., called the Bennet-Ayotte Better Buildings Act. The law encourages tenants of commercial buildings to voluntarily implement cost-effective measures that will help reduce energy consumption and ultimately utility costs for businesses. Ayotte and Bennet first introduced the bill in 2013.

“This bipartisan legislation is an important step toward increasing energy efficiency across the public and private sectors,” Ayotte said in a statement. “I’m also pleased the bill includes our Better Buildings Act, a common sense, no-cost measure that would incentivize commercial tenants to voluntarily implement cost-effective measures to responsibly reduce energy consumption.”

Building owners across the country have been trying to distinguish their buildings with the voluntary Energy Star label to help attract tenants and satisfy investors. The Energy Star distinction lets the public know that the building has been evaluated for its energy management and has identified ways to save energy, cut costs and reduce greenhouse emissions. The Energy Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015 is adding a “Tenant Star” certification in addition to Energy Star to reward and recognize tenants that design and construct high-performance leased spaces.

To date, the focus has been on how real estate owners and developers may lower energy consumption at the “whole-building” level. However, office tenants like data centers, law firms, banks, trading floors, restaurants and retail stores use a lot of energy — especially in areas experiencing large growth and development. The Better Buildings Act, part of the newly passed bill, takes a holistic approach by considering office tenants’ impact on energy consumption and behaviors.

In addition to the “Tenant Star” designation, the bill asks the Department of Energy to study and learn from private sector “best practices” of how commercially leased spaces are designed to achieve high performance and help reduce utility costs for businesses.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., responded favorably to the newly passed bill, saying in a statement: “Efficiency is a win-win that saves money and energy. Breakthrough innovation not only helps increase energy production, it also helps reduce energy use. This bipartisan solution will allow us to harness new technologies to achieve important energy and cost savings. I applaud my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their hard work in getting this common sense bill signed into law. My committee will continue its work to build upon this success and increase energy efficiency across the federal government and private sector.”