ASHRAE Journal - August 2011 - 80

washington report

CBeCs in Jeopardy?
F
By Mark ames

unding for the 2011 edition of the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) may be in jeopardy for the coming

fiscal year as a result of report language inserted into the House Energy and Water funding bill for fiscal year 2012 that places severe restrictions on funding for federal energy consumption surveys administered by the Energy Information Administration (EIA), which includes CBECS.
Report language is used to help explain Congressional committees’ funding decisions and determine legislative intent. CBECS is a national sample survey that collects information on the stock of U.S. commercial buildings, their energy-related characteristics, energy consumption and expenditures. CBECS has a variety of uses, including the development of some ASHRAE standards, ASHRAE’s Building Energy Quotient building labeling program, the ENERGY STAR program, and by federal decisionmakers to help prioritize some of the government’s building-related activities. CBECS is conducted about once every four years. Technical sampling errors resulted in the 2007 data not being released, and as a result, the 2003 edition of the Survey is the most recently available. Work on the 2011 survey was previously suspended due to fiscal year 2011 federal funding reductions to EIA. If funding is not provided for the 2011 CBECS, the public and private sectors will be forced to rely on data that is nearly a decade old, possibly impacting decision-making. ASHRAE is helping lead a coalition of supporters to encourage Congress to provide funding that would enable work on the 2011 CBECS to be resumed. To view the letter ASHRAE sent to Members of Congress on this issue, visit www. ashrae.org/advocacy, and click on “Com80 ASHRAE Journal

munications & Testimony” on the left side of the webpage. Sen. Mark Udall, in Partnership with Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Introduce DoD Energy Security Act of 2011. Meeting the U.S. military’s energy needs presents economic and security challenges. The military spends $20 billion annually on energy, and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen says “Saving energy saves lives.” In response to these challenges, Senator Mark Udall (D-CO), in partnership with Representative Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ-8), introduced the Department of Defense Energy Security Act of 2011 (S. 1204). Relevant to ASHRAE, the bill would require the Department of Defense (DoD) to submit to Congress a report on energy efficiency standards used by DoD for military construction. This report would include a cost-benefit analysis, on a life-cycle basis, of adopting for sustainable design and development for the construction and renovation of DoD buildings and structures, ASHRAE/ USGBC/IES Standard 189.1vs. ASHRAE/ IES Standard 90.1. The report also would require DoD to prescribe DoD-wide standards for the design, construction, and renovation of DoD facilities. These standards would mandate energy-efficiency standards equivalent, at a minimum, to ASHRAE Standard 189.1.
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If this bill is enacted, these standards would be effective by Jan. 1, 2014. Several provisions are similar to those in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 (H.R. 1540), and discussions with House staff indicate that some provisions of the DoD Energy Security Act may be offered as amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act, which is the legislation expected to pass the House, as opposed to the DoD Energy Security Act passing as a stand-alone bill. Senators Introduce Bipartisan Electric Vehicles Legislation; Encourages Collaboration with ASHRAE. Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Lamar Alexander (R-TN) introduced the Promoting Electric Vehicles Act of 2011 (S. 948). This bipartisan legislation would create a five-year pilot program to begin electrifying the federal vehicle fleet, acquiring charging stations, and studying the cost and performance of electric vehicles. Of interest to ASHRAE, the bill would require the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to work with ASHRAE, the International Code Council (ICC), and other organizations to develop and publish guidance for model buildings codes for the inclusion of charging infrastructure in new construction and major renovations of buildings. These model codes and guidance would take into consideration the potential for integrating electric vehicles into the Smart Grid. The collaboration between ASHRAE, ICC, DOE, and others would also include the development of model construction permitting or inspection processes that allow for the expedited installation of charging infrastructures for electric vehicles, and related model zoning and parking rules. This bill is being considered by the Senate Committee on Energy & Natural Resources. Mark Ames is ASHRAE’s manager of government affairs, mames@ashrae.org.
August 2011

ASHRAE Journal - August 2011

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