ASHRAE Journal - August 2008 - (Page 80)

Building Caucus Formed By Ryan M. Colker T More information on the caucus and coalition is available from the coalition website at http://www.hpbccc.org. Senate Climate Bill Dies As reported in May’s “Washington Report,” the U.S. Senate was set to consider a carbon cap-and-trade bill on the Senate floor for the first time. The bill, S.3036 (a replacement to S.2191), was introduced by Senator Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and was considered in the Senate the week of June 2. The substitute bill included many of the concepts contained in the initial bill and provided additional provisions focused on efforts to account for greenhouse gas emissions associated with buildings. The bill was brought to the floor after senators from both parties agreed to consider the bill (vote of 74 for consideration, 14 against). Thirty hours were set aside for initial debate on the bill. However, the real debate never started as Republicans voiced concerns about the Senate’s approval of President Bush’s judicial nominations and then required the clerk to read all 491 pages of the bill. Consideration of the bill ended when an attempted cloture vote fell short of the 60 votes needed (48 votes for cloture, 36 against). Many experts who follow the political process believe climate change legislation will not be considered again until after the presidential inauguration in January. Both of the presumptive nominees (John McCain and Barack Obama) have indicated support for a cap-and-trade system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Meanwhile, in the House of Representatives, Representative Ed Markey (D-Mass.) has introduced a cap-auctionand-trade bill (H.R. 6186). The bill aims to reduce global warming pollution by 85% by 2050 and cover 87% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Almost all emissions allowances would be obtained by auction in contrast to the Lieberman/ Warner legislation, which would have initially provided allowances to certain entities with an ultimate transition to a largely auction-based system. Proceeds obtained from the auctions under the Markey bill would be used to assist low- and middle-income families with any increase in energy costs and would invest in programs to mitigate future climate change costs and advance low-carbon technologies. As of the beginning of July, no plans for consideration of this bill have been set by the House. Ryan M. Colker is ASHRAE’s Manager of Government Affairs in Washington, D.C. Up-to-date information on ASHRAE’s Government Affairs activities is available at http://www.ashrae. org/advocacy. ashrae.org August 2008 he U.S. House of Representatives has formed a new congressional caucus focused on high-performance buildings. The High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus is cochaired by Representatives Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.) and Judy Biggert (R-Ill.). ASHRAE and other private sector organizations have formed the parallel High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus Coalition to support the work of the caucus. A congressional caucus provides a forum for congressional members interested in a particular topic or issue or who share similar positions to advance legislation in the issue area, provides educational opportunities to congressional members and staff, and raises awareness about the issue. The High-Performance Buildings Caucus was formed to heighten awareness and inform policymakers about the major impact buildings have on health, safety, and welfare and the opportunities to design, construct, and operate high-performance buildings that reflect concern for these impacts. Fundamental to these concerns include protecting life and property, developing novel building technologies, facilitating and enhancing U.S. economic competitiveness, increasing energy efficiency in the built environment, ensuring buildings have minimal climate change impacts and are able to respond to changes in the environment, and supporting the development of private sector standards, codes and guidelines that address these concerns. The High-Performance Buildings Caucus will promote and showcase best practices in building design and focus on issues reflecting all aspects of high-performance buildings including: • Sustainability; • Accessibility; • Aesthetics; • Cost-effectiveness; • Function and operation; • Historic preservation; • Productivity; and • Safety and security. The formation of the caucus was officially announced at a congressional briefing releasing the report of the High-Performance Buildings Council organized by the National Institute of Building Sciences. The report was requested by Congress in Section 914 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and required an assessment of current standards and rating systems for highperformance buildings. ASHRAE presidential member Bill Coad chaired the task group who wrote the report. ASHRAE director of technology Claire Ramspeck will serve on the executive committee of the council as secretary. 80 ASHRAE Journal http://www.hpbccc.org http://www.ashrae.org/advocacy http://www.ashrae.org/advocacy http://ashrae.org

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of ASHRAE Journal - August 2008

ASHRAE Journal - August 2008 Contents Commentary Industry News Letters Meetings and Shows Maintain to Sustain—Delivering ASHRAE’s Sustainability Promise Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation: Current Best Practices Improving Humidity Control With Energy Recovery Ventilation Single- or Two-Stage Compression Data Center Cooling: Using Wet-Bulb Economizers Building Sciences InfoCenter Practical Pointers Products Emerging Technologies Washington Report People Special Products Classified Advertising Advertising Index

ASHRAE Journal - August 2008

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