§17081 Commercial High-performance Green Buildings

Summary

Creates a senior Director position. The Secretary must appoint a Director of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings in a career senior executive job. That Director must set up and run the Office of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings and do the other work required here. The Director must be professionally qualified. The Director must coordinate with the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, make and negotiate public‑private partnerships (including with a recognized Consortium), represent the public and the Department in those partnerships, use federal money to attract private investment, promote related research, and work with the Federal Director to create a national high‑performance green building clearinghouse that shares information through outreach, education, and technical help. The Director reports to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy or other senior officials to keep the program integrated. The Director must also work with at least these federal offices and agencies: the General Services Administration; Environmental Protection Agency; Office of the Federal Environmental Executive; Office of Federal Procurement Policy; Department of Energy (especially the Federal Energy Management Program); Department of Health and Human Services; Department of Housing and Urban Development; Department of Defense; National Institute of Standards and Technology; Department of Transportation; and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, plus nonprofit green building rating groups. Within 90 days after December 19, 2007, the Director must recognize one or more high‑performance green building partnership consortia. Any qualifying consortium must include representatives from design professions, builders/developers/finance/real estate, building owners and operators, academia and research (including at least one national laboratory with commercial building energy expertise), code agencies, independent green building groups, indoor air and environmental experts, intelligent building experts, utility efficiency programs, manufacturers and suppliers, public transportation experts, and nongovernmental energy efficiency organizations. The Secretary may pay the Consortium under partnership terms, either to the Consortium or its members. Not later than 2 years after December 19, 2007, and every two years after that, the Director must report to Congress on the status of federal and state/local high‑performance green building initiatives, how well programs are following this part, and the status of funding requests and appropriations.