ASHRAE Journal -November 2012 - 77

washington report

Licensing Discussed
By Mark Ames and Mark Wills

few months ago, then-ASHRAE President Ron Jarnagin issued a call for information and coordination of action by the regions and

U.S. chapters on the “master’s-or-equivalent” (MOE, aka “bachelor’splus-30”) issue, which entails requiring all those sitting for the P.E. exam to have at least a master’s degree or its equivalent.
In recent times, MOE has been discussed in several states and ASHRAE— along with partnering engineering societies (collectively, the Licensing that Works [LTW] Coalition)—is trying to stop this trend before such proposals become the rule rather than the exception. In Vermont, a new member of the Board of Professional Engineering is a vocal advocate for MOE. He has coordinated a presentation on the issue through his affiliations with ASCE and NSPE, the most prominent supporters of MOE. ASHRAE Presidential Member Dick Hayter and a representative from ASME (our primary partner in the LTW Coalition) presented on this issue to the ASHRAE Board on Oct. 4. Also, ASHRAE President Tom Watson and ASME President Marc Goldsmith signed and sent to Board members a letter encouraging opposition to any future discussion and approval of MOE regulations. This issue will be a top priority for the Grassroots Government Activities Committee, which will commence activities in Society Year 2013–14. Life-Cycle Cost and Commissioning Requirements for Federal Buildings Gain Support in the U.S. House. A subcommittee of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee approved two amendments to the Public Buildings Reform Act (H.R.6430).
November 2012

Offered by Representative Russ Carnahan (D-Mo.), the two amendments were drawn from the Congressman’s High-Performance Federal Buildings Act (H.R.3371). One of the amendments would require the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) to consider life-cycle costs during the design of buildings for structures whose estimated construction costs top $1 million, and where the federal government is paying more than half of the construction expenses. Under the bill, life-cycle costs would include the sum of investment, capital, installation, energy, operating, maintenance, and replacement expenses over the greater of either 50 years or the projected use period of the building. The amendment would require GSA to report on life-cycle cost savings for buildings that GSA acquires or leases. Carnahan’s other amendment would require GSA to issue regulations that establish federal building commissioning standards that are modeled on existing private sector standards and guidelines, which could include ASHRAE Guideline 0, The Commissioning Process. Buildings that GSA constructs or alters would be required to meet the commissioning standards GSA issues. While these victories should be celebrated, the future of the Public Buildings Reform Act, which now includes Carnahan’s amendments, remains uncertain, as the bill still faces approval from the full Transportation and Infrastructure Com-

mittee before being considered on the House floor for passage, and would then need to overcome similar hurdles in the Senate. Given the congested post-election Congressional agenda, hope for this bill may indeed be slim, though still present, as these issues have bipartisan support. For more news on this, visit www. a s h r a e . o r g / g ov e r n m e n t - a f f a i r s / government-affairs-updates. Senate Passes Bill Encouraging Use of Advanced Metering and Updated Standards in Federal Buildings. The Senate passed the Enabling Energy Saving Innovations Act (H.R.4850), a bill which originated in the House, and then had selected portions of the Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act (also known as Shaheen-Portman) added as amendments. The bill would require federal agencies to develop best practices for implementing advanced metering (under the National Energy Conservation Policy Act, all federal buildings are directed to use advanced meters or advanced metering devices by October 1 of this year). The bill would also encourage the use of more up-to-date building standards by allowing GSA to update the project design to meet current federal building energy-efficiency standards for buildings whose design has been substantially completed, but for which construction has not yet begun. Because of these changes, the bill must be passed again by the House before going to the President for his signature. The likelihood of this is uncertain; however, there is strong support in Congress and the building community for these provisions. Mark Ames (mames@ashrae.org) is ASHRAE manager of federal government affairs. Mark Wills (mwills@ashrae.org) is ASHRAE manager of state and local government affairs.
ASHRAE Journal 77

ASHRAE Journal -November 2012

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