§17082 Zero Net Energy Commercial Buildings Initiative

Summary

The Commercial Director must set up a Zero-Net-Energy Commercial Buildings Initiative to cut how much energy U.S. commercial buildings use and to get more buildings to produce no net greenhouse gas emissions. A "consortium" means a High-Performance Green Building Consortium the Commercial Director picks. The "initiative" means this program. A "zero-net-energy commercial building" is a high-performance commercial building that uses much less energy, meets remaining needs with energy sources that don’t make greenhouse gases, results in no net greenhouse gas emissions, and is economically viable. The Commercial Director must, within 180 days after December 19, 2007, hold a competitive selection and sign an agreement with a consortium, using the authority in section 7256(g) as much as possible. The initiative’s goals are: make every new commercial building zero-net-energy by 2030, 50 percent of U.S. commercial buildings by 2040, and all commercial buildings by 2050. The program can fund research and development, pilot projects and demonstrations, spread and help deploy proven technologies and practices, train building professionals, provide public information, help update building codes, address landlord/tenant incentive problems, and improve how energy savings are measured. The Commercial Director must require cost sharing under section 16352. Money authorized to carry out the program is $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2008; $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2009 and 2010; $100,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2011 and 2012; and $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2018.