42 U.S.C. § 8236 — Voluntary rating guidelines

(a) In general: No later than 18 months after October 24, 1992, the Secretary — working with the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, representatives of existing home energy rating programs, and other appropriate people — had to issue, by rule, voluntary guidelines. These guidelines could be used by state and local governments, utilities, builders, real estate agents, lenders, and agencies involved in mortgage markets, among others, to enable and encourage giving residential buildings energy efficiency ratings. (b) Contents of guidelines: The guidelines had to do five things. (1) Encourage uniform systems for rating how energy efficient a residential building is each year. (2) Set up protocols and procedures for: (A) certifying that the tools used to analyze a building's energy use are technically accurate; (B) training the people who conduct the ratings; (C) collecting and reporting data; (D) quality control; and (E) monitoring and evaluation. (3) Encourage consistency with, and support for, the uniform plan for federal energy efficient mortgages — including the plan developed under section 946 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act and under sections 105 and 106 of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. (4) Make sure rating systems account for local climate and construction practices, on-site solar energy collection, and the benefits of construction practices that shift peak energy loads, and that they do not discriminate among different fuel types. (5) Set up procedures so that residential buildings can get an energy efficiency rating at the time they're sold, and so that rating gets communicated to potential buyers.