Part C—High-Performance Federal Buildings
§17091. Leasing
(a) In general
Except as provided in subsection (b), effective beginning on the date that is 3 years after December 19, 2007, no Federal agency shall enter into a contract to lease space in a building that has not earned the Energy Star label in the most recent year.
(b) Exception
(1) Application
This subsection applies if—
(A) no space is available in a building described in subsection (a) that meets the functional requirements of an agency, including locational needs;
(B) the agency proposes to remain in a building that the agency has occupied previously;
(C) the agency proposes to lease a building of historical, architectural, or cultural significance (as defined in
(D) the lease is for not more than 10,000 gross square feet of space.
(2) Buildings without Energy Star label
If one of the conditions described in paragraph (1) is met, the agency may enter into a contract to lease space in a building that has not earned the Energy Star label in the most recent year if the lease contract includes provisions requiring that, prior to occupancy or, in the case of a contract described in paragraph (1)(B), not later than 1 year after signing the contract, the following requirements are met:
(A) The space is renovated for all energy efficiency and conservation improvements that would be cost effective over the life of the lease, including improvements in lighting, windows, and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
(B)(i) Subject to clause (ii), the space is benchmarked under a nationally recognized, online, free benchmarking program, with public disclosure, unless the space is a space for which owners cannot access whole building utility consumption data, including spaces—
(I) that are located in States with privacy laws that provide that utilities shall not provide such aggregated information to multitenant building owners; and
(II) for which tenants do not provide energy consumption information to the commercial building owner in response to a request from the building owner.
(ii) A Federal agency that is a tenant of the space shall provide to the building owner, or authorize the owner to obtain from the utility, the energy consumption information of the space for the benchmarking and disclosure required by this subparagraph.
(c) Revision of Federal Acquisition Regulation
(1) In general
Not later than 3 years after December 19, 2007, the Federal Acquisition Regulation described in section 1121(b) and (c)(1) of title 41 shall be revised to require Federal officers and employees to comply with this section in leasing buildings.
(2) Consultation
The members of the Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council established under
(
Editorial Notes
Codification
In subsec. (c)(1), "section 1121(b) and (c)(1) of title 41" substituted for "section 6(a) of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (
In subsec. (c)(2), "
Amendments
2015—Subsec. (b)(2).
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of
§17092. High-performance green Federal buildings
(a) Establishment of Office
Not later than 60 days after December 19, 2007, the Administrator shall establish within the General Services Administration an Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, and appoint an individual to serve as Federal Director in, a position in the career-reserved Senior Executive service, to—
(1) establish and manage the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; and
(2) carry out other duties as required under this part.
(b) Compensation
The compensation of the Federal Director shall not exceed the maximum rate of basic pay for the Senior Executive Service under
(c) Duties
The Federal Director shall—
(1) coordinate the activities of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings with the activities of the Office of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings, and the Secretary, in accordance with
(2) ensure full coordination of high-performance green building information and activities within the General Services Administration and all relevant agencies, including, at a minimum—
(A) the Environmental Protection Agency;
(B) the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive;
(C) the Office of Federal Procurement Policy;
(D) the Department of Energy;
(E) the Department of Health and Human Services;
(F) the Department of Defense;
(G) the Department of Transportation;
(H) the National Institute of Standards and Technology; and
(I) the Office of Science and Technology Policy;
(3) establish a senior-level Federal Green Building Advisory Committee under section 474,1 which shall provide advice and recommendations in accordance with that section and subsection (d);
(4) identify and every 5 years reassess improved or higher rating standards recommended by the Advisory Committee;
(5) ensure full coordination, dissemination of information regarding, and promotion of the results of research and development information relating to Federal high-performance green building initiatives;
(6) identify and develop Federal high-performance green building standards for all types of Federal facilities, consistent with the requirements of this part and
(7) establish green practices that can be used throughout the life of a Federal facility;
(8) review and analyze current Federal budget practices and life-cycle costing issues, and make recommendations to Congress, in accordance with subsection (d); and
(9) identify opportunities to demonstrate innovative and emerging green building technologies and concepts.
(d) Additional duties
The Federal Director, in consultation with the Commercial Director and the Advisory Committee, and consistent with the requirements of
(1) identify, review, and analyze current budget and contracting practices that affect achievement of high-performance green buildings, including the identification of barriers to high-performance green building life-cycle costing and budgetary issues;
(2) develop guidance and conduct training sessions with budget specialists and contracting personnel from Federal agencies and budget examiners to apply life-cycle cost criteria to actual projects;
(3) identify tools to aid life-cycle cost decisionmaking; and
(4) explore the feasibility of incorporating the benefits of high-performance green buildings, such as security benefits, into a cost-budget analysis to aid in life-cycle costing for budget and decisionmaking processes.
(e) Incentives
Within 90 days after December 19, 2007, the Federal Director shall identify incentives to encourage the expedited use of high-performance green buildings and related technology in the operations of the Federal Government, in accordance with the requirements of
(1) the provision of recognition awards; and
(2) the maximum feasible retention of financial savings in the annual budgets of Federal agencies for use in reinvesting in future high-performance green building initiatives.
(f) Report
Not later than 2 years after December 19, 2007, and biennially thereafter, the Federal Director, in consultation with the Secretary, shall submit to Congress a report that—
(1) describes the status of compliance with this part, the requirements of
(A) the extent to which the programs are being carried out in accordance with this part and the requirements of
(B) the status of funding requests and appropriations for those programs;
(2) identifies within the planning, budgeting, and construction process all types of Federal facility procedures that may affect the certification of new and existing Federal facilities as high-performance green buildings under the provisions of
(3) identifies inconsistencies, as reported to the Advisory Committee, in Federal law with respect to product acquisition guidelines and high-performance product guidelines;
(4) recommends language for uniform standards for use by Federal agencies in environmentally responsible acquisition;
(5) in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, reviews the budget process for capital programs with respect to alternatives for—
(A) restructuring of budgets to require the use of complete energy and environmental cost accounting;
(B) using operations expenditures in budget-related decisions while simultaneously incorporating productivity and health measures (as those measures can be quantified by the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, with the assistance of universities and national laboratories);
(C) streamlining measures for permitting Federal agencies to retain all identified savings accrued as a result of the use of life-cycle costing for future high-performance green building initiatives; and
(D) identifying short-term and long-term cost savings that accrue from high-performance green buildings, including those relating to health and productivity;
(6) identifies green, self-sustaining technologies to address the operational needs of Federal facilities in times of national security emergencies, natural disasters, or other dire emergencies;
(7) summarizes and highlights development, at the State and local level, of high-performance green building initiatives, including executive orders, policies, or laws adopted promoting high-performance green building (including the status of implementation of those initiatives); and
(8) includes, for the 2-year period covered by the report, recommendations to address each of the matters, and a plan for implementation of each recommendation, described in paragraphs (1) through (7).
(g) Implementation
The Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings shall carry out each plan for implementation of recommendations under subsection (f)(8).
(h) Identification of certification system
(1) In general
For the purpose of this section, not later than 60 days after December 19, 2007, the Federal Director shall identify and shall provide to the Secretary pursuant to
(2) Basis
The system identified under paragraph (1) shall be based on—
(A) a study completed every 5 years and provided to the Secretary pursuant to
(B) the ability and availability of assessors and auditors to independently verify the criteria and measurement of metrics at the scale necessary to implement this part;
(C) the ability of the applicable standard-setting organization to collect and reflect public comment;
(D) the ability of the standard to be developed and revised through a consensus-based process;
(E) an evaluation of the robustness of the criteria for a high-performance green building, which shall give credit for promoting—
(i) efficient and sustainable use of water, energy, and other natural resources;
(ii) use of renewable energy sources;
(iii) improved indoor environmental quality through enhanced indoor air quality, thermal comfort, acoustics, day lighting, pollutant source control, and use of low-emission materials and building system controls;
(iv) reduced impacts from transportation through building location and site design that promote access by public transportation; and
(v) such other criteria as the Federal Director determines to be appropriate; and
(F) national recognition within the building industry.
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This part, referred to in subsecs. (a)(2), (c)(6), (f)(1) and (h)(2)(B), was in the original "this subtitle", meaning subtitle C (§§431–441) of title IV of
Section 474, referred to in subsec. (c)(3), probably means section 494 of
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of
Executive Documents
Change of Name
Office of the Federal Environmental Executive reestablished as the Office of the Chief Sustainability Officer by Ex. Ord. No. 13693, §6, Mar. 19, 2015, 80 F.R. 15877, formerly set out in a note under
1 See References in Text note below.
§17093. Federal green building performance
(a) In general
Not later than October 31 of each of the 2 fiscal years following the fiscal year in which this Act is enacted, and at such times thereafter as the Comptroller General of the United States determines to be appropriate, the Comptroller General of the United States shall, with respect to the fiscal years that have passed since the preceding report—
(1) conduct an audit of the implementation of this part,
(2) submit to the Federal Director, the Advisory Committee, the Administrator, and Congress a report describing the results of the audit.
(b) Contents
An audit under subsection (a) shall include a review, with respect to the period covered by the report under subsection (a)(2), of—
(1) budget, life-cycle costing, and contracting issues, using best practices identified by the Comptroller General of the United States and heads of other agencies in accordance with
(2) the level of coordination among the Federal Director, the Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Energy, and relevant agencies;
(3) the performance of the Federal Director and other agencies in carrying out the implementation plan;
(4) the design stage of high-performance green building measures;
(5) high-performance building data that were collected and reported to the Office; and
(6) such other matters as the Comptroller General of the United States determines to be appropriate.
(c) Environmental Stewardship Scorecard
The Federal Director shall consult with the Advisory Committee to enhance, and assist in the implementation of, the Office of Management and Budget government efficiency reports and scorecards under
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This Act, referred to in subsec. (a), is
This part, referred to in subsec. (a)(1), was in the original "this subtitle", meaning subtitle C (§§431–441) of title IV of
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of
§17094. Storm water runoff requirements for Federal development projects
The sponsor of any development or redevelopment project involving a Federal facility with a footprint that exceeds 5,000 square feet shall use site planning, design, construction, and maintenance strategies for the property to maintain or restore, to the maximum extent technically feasible, the predevelopment hydrology of the property with regard to the temperature, rate, volume, and duration of flow.
(
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of
§17095. Cost-effective technology acceleration program
(a) Definition of Administrator
In this section, the term "Administrator" means the Administrator of General Services.
(b) Establishment
(1) In general
The Administrator shall establish a program to accelerate the use of more cost-effective technologies and practices at GSA facilities.
(2) Requirements
The program established under this subsection shall—
(A) ensure centralized responsibility for the coordination of cost reduction-related recommendations, practices, and activities of all relevant Federal agencies;
(B) provide technical assistance and operational guidance to applicable tenants to achieve the goal identified in subsection (c)(2)(B)(ii);
(C) establish methods to track the success of Federal departments and agencies with respect to that goal; and
(D) be fully coordinated with and no less stringent nor less energy-conserving or water-conserving than required by other provisions of this Act and other applicable law, including sections 321 through 324, 431 through 438, 461, 511 through 518, and 523 through 525 and amendments made by those sections.
(c) Accelerated use of technologies
(1) Review
(A) In general
As part of the program under this section, not later than 90 days after December 19, 2007, the Administrator shall conduct a review of—
(i) current use of cost-effective lighting technologies and geothermal heat pumps in GSA facilities; and
(ii) the availability to managers of GSA facilities of cost-effective lighting technologies and geothermal heat pumps.
(B) Requirements
The review under subparagraph (A) shall—
(i) examine the use of cost-effective lighting technologies, geothermal heat pumps, and other cost-effective technologies and practices by Federal agencies in GSA facilities; and
(ii) as prepared in consultation with the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, identify cost-effective lighting technology and geothermal heat pump technology standards that could be used for all types of GSA facilities.
(2) Replacement
(A) In general
As part of the program under this section, not later than 180 days after December 19, 2007, the Administrator shall establish, using available appropriations and programs implementing sections 432 and 525 1 (and amendments made by those sections), a cost-effective lighting technology and geothermal heat pump technology acceleration program to achieve maximum feasible replacement of existing lighting, heating, cooling 2 technologies with cost-effective lighting technologies and geothermal heat pump technologies in each GSA facility. Such program shall fully comply with the requirements of sections 321 through 324, 431 through 438, 461, 511 through 518, and 523 through 525 1 and amendments made by those sections and any other provisions of law, which shall be applicable to the extent that they are more stringent or would achieve greater energy savings than required by this section.
(B) Acceleration plan timetable
(i) In general
To implement the program established under subparagraph (A), not later than 1 year after December 19, 2007, the Administrator shall establish a timetable of actions to comply with the requirements of this section and sections 431 through 435, whichever achieves greater energy savings most expeditiously, including milestones for specific activities needed to replace existing lighting, heating, cooling 2 technologies with cost-effective lighting technologies and geothermal heat pump technologies, to the maximum extent feasible (including at the maximum rate feasible), at each GSA facility.
(ii) Goal
The goal of the timetable under clause (i) shall be to complete, using available appropriations and programs implementing sections 431 through 435 1 (and amendments made by those sections), maximum feasible replacement of existing lighting, heating, and cooling technologies with cost-effective lighting technologies and geothermal heat pump technologies consistent with the requirements of this section and sections 431 through 435,1 whichever achieves greater energy savings most expeditiously. Notwithstanding any provision of this section, such program shall fully comply with the requirements of the Act 3 including sections 321 through 324, 431 through 438, 461, 511 through 518, and 523 through 525 and amendments made by those sections and other provisions of law, which shall be applicable to the extent that they are more stringent or would achieve greater energy or water savings than required by this section.
(d) GSA facility technologies and practices
(1) In general
Not later than 180 days after December 19, 2007, and annually thereafter, the Administrator shall—
(A) ensure that a manager responsible for implementing section 432 1 and for accelerating the use of cost-effective technologies and practices is designated for each GSA facility; and
(B) submit to Congress a plan to comply with section 432,1 this section, and other applicable provisions of this Act and applicable law with respect to energy and water conservation at GSA facilities.
(2) Measures
The plan shall implement measures required by such other provisions of law in accordance with those provisions, and shall implement the measures required by this section to the maximum extent feasible (including at the maximum rate feasible) using available appropriations and programs implementing sections 431 through 435 and 525 1 (and amendments made by those sections), by not later than the date that is 5 years after December 19, 2007.
(3) Contents of plan
The plan shall—
(A) with respect to cost-effective technologies and practices—
(i) identify the specific activities needed to comply with sections 431 through 435; 1
(ii) identify the specific activities needed to achieve at least a 20-percent reduction in operational costs through the application of cost-effective technologies and practices from 2003 levels at GSA facilities by not later than 5 years after December 19, 2007;
(iii) describe activities required and carried out to estimate the funds necessary to achieve the reduction described in clauses (i) and (ii);
(B) include an estimate of the funds necessary to carry out this section;
(C) describe the status of the implementation of cost-effective technologies and practices at GSA facilities, including—
(i) the extent to which programs, including the program established under subsection (b), are being carried out in accordance with this part; and
(ii) the status of funding requests and appropriations for those programs;
(D) identify within the planning, budgeting, and construction processes, all types of GSA facility-related procedures that inhibit new and existing GSA facilities from implementing cost-effective technologies;
(E) recommend language for uniform standards for use by Federal agencies in implementing cost-effective technologies and practices;
(F) in coordination with the Office of Management and Budget, review the budget process for capital programs with respect to alternatives for—
(i) implementing measures that will assure that Federal agencies retain all identified savings accrued as a result of the use of cost-effective technologies, consistent with
(ii) identifying short- and long-term cost savings that accrue from the use of cost-effective technologies and practices;
(G) with respect to cost-effective technologies and practices, achieve substantial operational cost savings through the application of the technologies; and
(H) include recommendations to address each of the matters, and a plan for implementation of each recommendation, described in subparagraphs (A) through (G).
(4) Administration
Notwithstanding any provision of this section, the program required under this section shall fully comply with the requirements of sections 321 through 324, 431 through 438, 461, 511 through 518, and 523 through 525 1 and amendments made by those sections, which shall be applicable to the extent that they are more stringent or would achieve greater energy or water savings than required by this section.
(e) Authorization of appropriations
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are necessary to carry out this section, to remain available until expended.
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
This Act, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2)(D), (c)(2)(B)(ii), and (d)(1)(B), is
Sections 321 through 324, 431 through 438, 461, 511 through 518, and 523 through 525, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2)(D), (c)(2)(A), (B)(ii), and (d)(4), are sections 321 to 324, 431 to 438, 461, 511 to 518, and 523 to 525, respectively, of
Sections 432 and 525, referred to in subsec. (c)(2)(A), are sections 432 and 525 of
Sections 431 through 435, referred to in subsecs. (c)(2)(B) and (d)(2), (3)(A)(i), are sections 431 to 435 of
Section 432, referred to in subsec. (d)(1), is section 432 of
Section 525, referred to in subsec. (d)(2), is section 525 of
This part, referred to in subsec. (d)(3)(C)(i), was in the original "this subtitle", meaning subtitle C (§§431–441) of title IV of
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of
1 See References in Text note below.
2 So in original. Probably should be "and cooling".
3 So in original. Probably should be "this Act".
§17096. Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out sections 434 through 439 and 482 1 $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2012, to remain available until expended.
(
Editorial Notes
References in Text
Sections 434 through 439, referred to in text, are sections 434 to 439 of
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date
Section effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of