Energy Savings and Building Efficiency Act of 2014
Referred to the Subcommittee on Energy and Power.
Congressional Research Service
Official summary
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Jul 8, 2014
Energy Savings and Building Efficiency Act of 2014 - Amends the Energy Conservation and Production Act to revise provisions regarding the technical assistance that the Department of Energy (DOE) provides to states, Indian tribes, local governments, or model organizations with respect to model energy codes for residential and commercial building codes. Requires DOE to provide technical assistance to implement technically feasible and cost-effective building energy codes.
Requires states and Indian tribes to measure their compliance with applicable building energy codes or with the associated model building energy code. Sets standards for compliance.
Prohibits DOE from advocating, promoting or discouraging the adoption of a particular building energy code, code provision, or energy savings target to a state or Indian tribe. Deems information provided by DOE to be "influential information" subject to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) guidelines.
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Requires DOE to establish energy saving targets for updating model building energy codes. Requires DOE to consider the economic feasibility of achieving the proposed targets and the potential costs and savings for consumers and building owners by conducting a return on investment analysis using a simple payback methodology over a 3-, 5-, and 7-year period. (Simple payback is the time in years that is required for energy savings to exceed the incremental first cost of a new requirement or code.) Prohibits DOE from proposing or providing assistance for any code or target that has a payback greater than 10 years.
Directs DOE to provide grants to establish building training and assessment centers at institutions of higher education.
Requires any DOE program that may enable the owner of a building to obtain a rating, score, or label regarding energy usage or performance of a building to be made available on a voluntary basis.
Source last updated: Aug 12, 2025. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
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