Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§17086 Advanced Integration of Buildings Onto the Electric Grid

Title 42 › CHAPTER 152 — ENERGY INDEPENDENCE AND SECURITY › SUBCHAPTER III — ENERGY SAVINGS IN BUILDINGS AND INDUSTRY › Part B — High-Performance Commercial Buildings › § 17086

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

Require the Secretary to start a research, development, and demonstration program to make parts of homes and commercial buildings act as flexible energy users and energy sources for the electric grid. The program must work on things like cheap wireless sensors to track, predict, and control building energy use; common ways to manage and share data so devices can work together; smarter control systems and data processing for better efficiency; ways to shift building energy use to help grid stability; clearer views of behind‑the‑meter equipment; lower-cost parts; and protection against cybersecurity risks, plus any other topics the Secretary finds useful. Within 1 year after December 27, 2020, the Secretary must send a report to the House Committees on Science, Space, and Technology and on Energy and Commerce, and to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The report must assess needed technologies for new and older buildings, give design guidance, identify barriers to owner adoption, check feasibility at Department facilities, and include a 10-year roadmap. The report must be updated every 3 years while the program runs. The Secretary must put the report’s recommendations into action and coordinate across Department offices, including the Office of Electricity.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §17086

The Public Health and Welfare, Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)In general

The Secretary shall establish a program of research, development, and demonstration to enable components of commercial and residential buildings to serve as dynamic energy loads on and resources for the electric grid. The program shall focus on—

(1)developing low-cost, low power, wireless sensors to—

(A)monitor building energy load;

(B)forecast building energy need; and

(C)enable building-level energy control;

(2)developing data management capabilities and standard communication protocols to further interoperability at the building and grid-level;

(3)developing advanced building-level energy management of components through integration of smart technologies, control systems, and data processing, to enable energy efficiency and savings;

(4)optimizing energy consumption at the building level to enable grid stability and resilience;

(5)improving visualization of behind the meter equipment and technologies to provide better insight into the energy needs and energy forecasts of individual buildings;

(6)reducing the cost of key components to accelerate the adoption of smart building technologies;

(7)protecting against cybersecurity threats and addressing security vulnerabilities of building systems or equipment; and

(8)other areas determined appropriate by the Secretary.

(b)Considerations

In carrying out the program under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—

(1)work with utility partners, building owners, technology vendors, and building developers to test and validate technologies and encourage the commercial application of these technologies by building owners; and

(2)consider the specific challenges of enabling greater interaction between components of—

(A)small- and medium-sized buildings and the electric grid; and

(B)residential and commercial buildings and the electric grid.

(c)Buildings-to-grid integration report

Not later than 1 year after December 27, 2020, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate a report on the results of a study that examines the research, development, and demonstration opportunities, challenges, and standards needed to enable components of commercial and residential buildings to serve as dynamic energy loads on and resources for the electric grid.

(1)Report requirements

The report shall include—

(A)an assessment of the technologies needed to enable building components as dynamic loads on and resources for the electric grid, including how such technologies can be—

(i)incorporated into new commercial and residential buildings; and

(ii)retrofitted in older buildings;

(B)guidelines for the design of new buildings and building components to enable modern grid interactivity and improve energy efficiency;

(C)an assessment of barriers to the adoption by building owners of advanced technologies enabling greater integration of building components onto the electric grid; and

(D)an assessment of the feasibility of adopting technologies developed under subsection (a) at Department facilities.

(2)Recommendations

As part of the report, the Secretary shall develop a 10-year roadmap to guide the research, development, and demonstration program to enable components of commercial and residential buildings to serve as dynamic energy loads on and resources for the electric grid.

(3)Updates

The Secretary shall update the report required under this section every 3 years for the duration of the program under subsection (a) and shall submit the updated report to the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources of the Senate.

(d)Program implementation

In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall—

(1)implement the recommendations from the report in subsection (c); and

(2)coordinate across all relevant program offices at the Department to achieve the goals established in this section, including the Office of Electricity.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 17086

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110