Copyright: lassedesignen
Early this morning, the Senate passed the "Energy-Efficiency Improvement Act of 2015" in the last minutes before Congress adjourned for a two-week recess. The bill includes the Tenant Star provision that would enable residential and commercial buildings to achieve an Energy Star rating.
Specifically, buildings that would normally not be able to achieve an Energy Star
rating overall could instead receive recognition for qualifying
energy-efficiency improvements in certain areas of a building.
Authored by
Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), this is the second time
that the bill has passed the Senate in recent weeks. The legislation was
previously included as an amendment to the Keystone XL bill that passed the
Senate, but was vetoed by President Obama.
The House is expected to consider a broad package of
energy provisions later in the spring.
NMHC/NAA continue to meet with lawmakers to help ensure support for enacting voluntary energy-efficiency recognition programs, as well as transparency in the Department of Energy’s building code activities.
