42 U.S.C. § 17081 — Commercial high-performance green buildings

(a) Director of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings. Despite any other law, the Secretary — acting through the Assistant Secretary of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy — must appoint a Director of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings to a career-reserved Senior Executive Service position. This Director's main responsibility is to (1) establish and manage the Office of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings, and (2) carry out the other duties this part requires. (b) Qualifications. The Commercial Director must be an individual who, by professional background and experience, is specifically qualified to carry out this part's duties. (c) Duties. For developing high-performance green buildings and zero-energy commercial buildings nationwide, the Commercial Director must: (1) coordinate the Office of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings' activities with the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; (2) develop the legal groundwork for, negotiate, and establish one or more public-private partnerships with the Consortium, its members, or other qualified parties, to further that development; (3) represent the public and the Department in negotiating and carrying out those partnerships; (4) use appropriated funds effectively to encourage the maximum private investment toward that development; (5) promote research and development of high-performance green buildings, consistent with section 17083 of this title; and (6) jointly establish, with the Federal Director, a national high-performance green building clearinghouse under section 17083(1) of this title, providing information and sharing research results through outreach, education, and technical assistance. (d) Reporting. The Commercial Director reports directly to the Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, or to other senior officials in a way that integrates this part's energy-efficiency and renewable-energy work, and its technology development and deployment work. (e) Coordination. The Commercial Director must ensure high-performance green building information and activities are fully coordinated across the federal government, working with the General Services Administration and all relevant agencies, at minimum: (1) the Environmental Protection Agency; (2) the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive; (3) the Office of Federal Procurement Policy; (4) the Department of Energy, particularly the Federal Energy Management Program; (5) the Department of Health and Human Services; (6) the Department of Housing and Urban Development; (7) the Department of Defense; (8) the National Institute of Standards and Technology; (9) the Department of Transportation; (10) the Office of Science and Technology Policy; and (11) nonprofit high-performance green building rating and analysis groups the Commercial Director thinks can offer support, expertise, and review. (f) High-Performance Green Building Partnership Consortium. (1) By March 18, 2008, the Commercial Director must formally recognize one or more groups that qualify as a high-performance green building partnership consortium. (2) To qualify, a consortium must include representation from: (A) the design professions, including national associations of architects and professional engineers; (B) the development, construction, financial, and real estate industries; (C) public- and private-sector building owners and operators; (D) academic and research organizations, including at least one national laboratory with deep commercial building energy expertise; (E) building code agencies and organizations, including a model energy code-setting organization; (F) independent high-performance green building associations or councils; (G) indoor air quality and environmental-factor experts; (H) intelligent-buildings and integrated building-information-system experts; (I) utility energy efficiency programs; (J) manufacturers and providers of high-performance green building equipment and techniques; (K) public transportation industry experts; and (L) nongovernmental energy efficiency organizations. (3) The Secretary may pay the Consortium — directly, or through one or more of its members — for its activities under a public-private partnership described in this part. (g) Report. By December 19, 2009, and every two years after that, the Commercial Director — working with the Consortium — must submit a report to Congress that (1) describes the status of high-performance green building initiatives under this part and other federal programs affecting commercial high-performance green buildings as of the report date, including how well they follow this part and the status of their funding requests and appropriations, and (2) summarizes and highlights state and local high-performance green building initiatives, including executive orders, policies, or laws promoting high-performance green building and how well they have been put into practice.