GREEN Building Jobs Act of 2021

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 832 To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to fund job-creating improvements in energy and resiliency for Federal buildings managed by the General Services Administration, to enable a portfolio of clean buildings by 2030, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MARCH 18, 2021 Mr. CARDIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works A BILL To amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to fund job-creating improvements in energy and resiliency for Federal buildings managed by the General Services Administration, to enable a portfolio of clean buildings by 2030, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘GSA Resilient, Energy 4 Efficient, and Net-Zero Building Jobs Act of 2021’’ or 5 the ‘‘GREEN Building Jobs Act of 2021’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 832 IS SEC. 2. FEDERAL BUILDING LEASING. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 435 of the Energy Inde- 2 pendence and Security Act of 2007 (42 U.S.C. 17091) is 3 amended to read as follows: 4 ‘‘SEC. 435. LEASING. 5 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF LESSOR.—In this section, the 6 term ‘lessor’ means any individual, firm, partnership, lim- 7 ited liability company, trust, association, State, unit of 8 local government, or legal entity that is the rightful owner 9 of a property leased to the Federal Government. 10 ‘‘(b) LEASING REQUIREMENTS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in sub- 12 section (c), effective beginning on the date that is 1 13 year after the date of enactment of the GREEN 14 Building Jobs Act of 2021, no Federal agency shall 15 enter into a contract to lease space unless— 16 ‘‘(A) the space is for a building or space 17 in a building that— 18 ‘‘(i) in the most recent year, has 19 earned the Energy Star label under the 20 Energy Star program established by sec- 21 tion 324A of the Energy Policy and Con- 22 servation Act (42 U.S.C. 6294a); and 23 ‘‘(ii) has obtained or will obtain as a 24 required performance specification a green 25 building certification consistent with rec- 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 832 IS ommendations of the Administrator based 1 on the review of high-performance building 2 certification systems carried out by the Ad- 3 ministrator pursuant to section 436(h); 4 and 5 ‘‘(B) the contract includes— 6 ‘‘(i) a requirement for the lessor of 7 the building to disclose data on consump- 8 tion of utilities (energy and water)— 9 ‘‘(I) for the portion of the build- 10 ing occupied by the agency; and 11 ‘‘(II) that is provided by the les- 12 sor through submetering or an alter- 13 native method identified by the Ad- 14 ministrator for buildings lacking sub- 15 meters; and 16 ‘‘(ii) 1 or more mechanisms to ensure 17 that the lessor of the building takes rea- 18 sonable steps to maintain the requirements 19 of the building described in subparagraph 20 (A). 21 ‘‘(2) LOCATION.—In determining the geo- 22 graphic location of a space to lease under paragraph 23 (1), the Administrator shall not use as a criterion 24 the presence or absence of buildings in that location 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 832 IS that have an Energy Star label described in para- 1 graph (1)(A)(i) or a green building certification de- 2 scribed in paragraph (1)(A)(ii). 3 ‘‘(c) WAIVER.— 4 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Subject to paragraph (2), a 5 Federal agency may enter into a contract to lease 6 space that does not meet a requirement described in 7 clause (i) or (ii) of subsection (b)(1)(A) if— 8 ‘‘(A) no other space is available that can 9 meet that requirement within a reasonable pe- 10 riod and meet the functional requirements of 11 the agency, including locational needs; 12 ‘‘(B) the agency proposes to remain in a 13 building or a space in a building— 14 ‘‘(i) that the agency has occupied pre- 15 viously; and 16 ‘‘(ii) less than 50 percent of the 17 leasable space of which is leased by the 18 Federal Government; 19 ‘‘(C) the agency proposes to lease a build- 20 ing or space in a building of historical, architec- 21 tural, or cultural significance (as defined in sec- 22 tion 3306(a) of title 40, United States Code); 23 or 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 832 IS ‘‘(D) the lease is for not more than 10,000 1 gross square feet of space in a building less 2 than 50 percent of the leasable space of which 3 is leased by the Federal Government. 4 ‘‘(2) WAIVER APPROVAL.— 5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A Federal agency may 6 enter into a contract under paragraph (1) if— 7 ‘‘(i)(I) the agency submits a request 8 to the Federal Director of the Office of 9 Federal High-Performance Green Build- 10 ings indicating the basis for the request 11 under paragraph (1); and 12 ‘‘(II) the Federal Director of that Of- 13 fice approves the request; and 14 ‘‘(ii) in the case of a waiver under 15 subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of para- 16 graph (1), the contract includes the re- 17 quirements described in subparagraph 18 (B)(ii), which— 19 ‘‘(I) in the case of a waiver under 20 subparagraph (A) of that paragraph, 21 shall be required to be implemented 22 prior to occupancy of the building or 23 space in the building by the Federal 24 agency; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 832 IS ‘‘(II) in the case of a waiver 1 under subparagraph (B) or (C) of 2 that paragraph, shall be required to 3 be implemented not later than 1 year 4 after the Federal agency signs the 5 contract. 6 ‘‘(B) CONTRACT REQUIREMENTS.— 7 ‘‘(i) DEFINITION OF 8 NONBENCHMARKED SPACE.—In this sub- 9 paragraph, the term ‘nonbenchmarked 10 space’ means a building or space in a 11 building for which owners cannot access 12 whole building utility consumption data, 13 including buildings— 14 ‘‘(I) that are located in States 15 that do not require utilities to provide, 16 and utilities do not provide, such ag- 17 gregated information to multitenant 18 building owners; and 19 ‘‘(II) the tenants of which do not 20 provide energy consumption informa- 21 tion to the commercial building owner 22 in response to a request from that 23 owner. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 832 IS ‘‘(ii) REQUIREMENTS.—The require- 1 ments referred to in subparagraph (A)(ii) 2 are the following: 3 ‘‘(I) The building or space in a 4 building— 5 ‘‘(aa) meets the requirement 6 described in subsection 7 (b)(1)(A)(i); or 8 ‘‘(bb) is renovated for all 9 feasible energy efficiency and 10 conservation improvements that 11 will be cost effective over the life 12 of the lease (including any op- 13 tional and reasonably anticipated 14 extensions or renewals of the 15 lease), including improvements in 16 lighting, windows, heating, ven- 17 tilation, and air conditioning sys- 18 tems and controls. 19 ‘‘(II) The building or space in a 20 building is— 21 ‘‘(aa) benchmarked under a 22 nationally recognized, online, and 23 free benchmarking program, and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 832 IS the benchmark is publicly dis- 1 closed; or 2 ‘‘(bb) a nonbenchmarked 3 space. 4 ‘‘(III) In the case of a building 5 or space in a building that is a 6 nonbenchmarked space, the Federal 7 agency provides to the building owner, 8 or authorizes the owner to obtain 9 from the utility, the energy consump- 10 tion data of the space to enable 11 benchmarking of the building. 12 ‘‘(C) INCORPORATION OF ASSISTANCE INTO 13 LEASE.—In the case of a contract to lease 14 space that receives a waiver under paragraph 15 (1)(A), the Administrator may— 16 ‘‘(i) include in the relevant lease pro- 17 curement documents a statement about the 18 availability of financial incentives and tech- 19 nical assistance under the pilot program 20 established under subsection (g); or 21 ‘‘(ii)(I) incorporate into the terms of 22 the lease with the lessor any financial in- 23 centive or technical assistance provided to 24 that lessor under that pilot program; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 832 IS ‘‘(II) if subclause (I) is carried out, 1 extend the deadline required under sub- 2 paragraph (A)(ii)(I). 3 ‘‘(d) REVISION OF FEDERAL REGULATIONS.—Not 4 later than 1 year after the date of enactment of the 5 GREEN Building Jobs Act of 2021, the Administrator 6 shall revise Part 102–73(c) of the Federal Management 7 Regulation and Part 570 of the General Services Adminis- 8 tration Acquisition Manual, as appropriate, to reflect the 9 requirements of this section. 10 ‘‘(e) REPORT.—The Administrator shall annually 11 publish on the website of the General Services Administra- 12 tion a report on the aggregate compliance of all leased 13 buildings and spaces in buildings held by the General 14 Services Administration with the most recent version of 15 the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings. 16 ‘‘(f) COMPLIANCE IMPROVEMENT.—Not later than 17 180 days after the date of enactment of the GREEN 18 Building Jobs Act of 2021, the Administrator shall de- 19 velop and implement a policy to improve lessor compliance 20 with energy efficiency provisions of leases, including by 21 considering a variety of approaches. 22 ‘‘(g) INCENTIVE PILOT PROGRAM.— 23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Administrator shall es- 24 tablish a pilot program to provide financial incen- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 832 IS tives for lessors to achieve an Energy Star label 1 under the Energy Star program established by sec- 2 tion 324A of the Energy Policy and Conservation 3 Act (42 U.S.C. 6294a) in a building— 4 ‘‘(A) in which space is leased to a Federal 5 agency; and 6 ‘‘(B)(i) in which the total space leased by 7 the Federal Government is less than 50 percent 8 of the leasable space of the building; 9 ‘‘(ii) that is of historical, architectural, or 10 cultural significance (as defined in section 11 3306(a) of title 40, United States Code); or 12 ‘‘(iii) for which a waiver is granted under 13 subsection (c)(1)(A). 14 ‘‘(2) DIVERSITY.—In carrying out the pilot pro- 15 gram established under paragraph (1), the Adminis- 16 trator shall ensure— 17 ‘‘(A) a diversity in the buildings and 18 spaces owned by lessors provided financial as- 19 sistance under that paragraph, including build- 20 ings with multiple, separate leases that individ- 21 ually do not trigger requirements under this 22 Act; and 23 ‘‘(B) geographical diversity, including the 24 representation of rural areas. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 11 •S 832 IS ‘‘(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—As part of the 1 pilot program established under paragraph (1), the 2 Administrator may provide technical assistance, di- 3 rectly or through contracts, to lessors receiving fi- 4 nancial assistance under that pilot program. 5 ‘‘(4) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Ad- 7 ministrator $50,000,000 to carry out this sub- 8 section, to remain available until expended.’’. 9 (b) REPORT ON REALTY SERVICES.—Section 102(b) 10 of the Better Buildings Act of 2015 (42 U.S.C. 17062(b)) 11 is amended by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after 13 the date of enactment of the GREEN Building Jobs 14 Act of 2021, the Administrator shall submit to Con- 15 gress, and make publicly available on the website of 16 the General Services Administration, a report on the 17 implementation of paragraph (3), including— 18 ‘‘(A) the results of the policies and prac- 19 tices described in that paragraph, including the 20 number of leases implementing the measures 21 described in that paragraph; 22 ‘‘(B) a description of any barriers to 23 achieving greater energy and water efficiency; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 12 •S 832 IS ‘‘(C) recommendations to address those 1 barriers.’’. 2 SEC. 3. ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY, NET-ZERO, AND 3 ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE INFRASTRUCTURE 4 GOALS. 5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subtitle C of title IV of the En- 6 ergy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (Public Law 7 110–140; 121 Stat. 1607) is amended by adding at the 8 end the following: 9 ‘‘SEC. 442. ENERGY AND WATER EFFICIENCY GOALS. 10 ‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—Subject to subsections (b), 11 (c), and (d), the Administrator shall, for each of fiscal 12 years 2021 through 2030— 13 ‘‘(1) reduce average building energy intensity 14 (as measured in British thermal units per gross 15 square foot) at GSA facilities by 2.5 percent each 16 fiscal year so that the average building energy inten- 17 sity of GSA facilities is reduced by 25 percent or 18 greater by 2030, relative to the average building en- 19 ergy intensity of GSA facilities in fiscal year 2018; 20 ‘‘(2) improve water use efficiency and manage- 21 ment at GSA facilities by reducing average potable 22 water consumption intensity (as measured in gallons 23 per gross square foot)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:13 Apr 10, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S832.IS S832 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 13 •S 832 IS ‘‘(A) by 54 percent by fiscal year 2030, 1 relative to the average water consumption of 2 GSA facilities in fiscal year 2007; and 3 ‘‘(B) through reductions of 2 percent each 4 fiscal year; 5 ‘‘(3) reduce industrial, landscaping, and agricul- 6 tural water consumption at GSA facilities (as meas- 7 ured in gallons)— 8 ‘‘(A) by 20 percent by fiscal year 2030, 9 relative to the industrial, landscaping, and agri- 10 cultural water consumpt [Text truncated for display. 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