42 U.S.C. § 17083

Current through P.L. 118-78 (published on www.congress.gov on 07/30/2024)

Section 17083 - Public outreach

The Commercial Director and Federal Director, in coordination with the Consortium, shall carry out public outreach to inform individuals and entities of the information and services available governmentwide by-

(1) establishing and maintaining a national high-performance green building clearinghouse, including on the Internet, that-

(A) identifies existing similar efforts and coordinates activities of common interest; and

(B) provides information relating to high-performance green buildings, including hyperlinks to Internet sites that describe the activities, information, and resources of-

(i) the Federal Government;

(ii) State and local governments;

(iii) the private sector (including nongovernmental and nonprofit entities and organizations); and

(iv) international organizations;

(2) identifying and recommending educational resources for implementing high-performance green building practices, including security and emergency benefits and practices;

(3) providing access to technical assistance, tools, and resources for constructing high-performance green buildings, particularly tools to conduct life-cycle costing and life-cycle assessment;

(4) providing information on application processes for certifying a high-performance green building, including certification and commissioning;

(5) providing to the public, through the Commercial Director, technical and research information or other forms of assistance or advice that would be useful in planning and constructing high-performance green buildings;

(6) using such additional methods as are determined by the Commercial Director to be appropriate to conduct public outreach;

(7) surveying existing research and studies relating to high-performance green buildings; and

(8) coordinating activities of common interest.

42 U.S.C. § 17083

Pub. L. 110-140, §423, 121 Stat. 1606.

STATUTORY NOTES AND RELATED SUBSIDIARIES

EFFECTIVE DATESection effective on the date that is 1 day after Dec. 19, 2007, see section 1601 of Pub. L. 110-140, set out as a note under section 1824 of Title 2, The Congress.

Commercial Director: The term "Commercial Director" means the individual appointed to the position established under section 17081 of this title.
Consortium: The term "Consortium" means the High-Performance Green Building Partnership Consortium created in response to section 17092(c)(1) of this title to represent the private sector in a public-private partnership to promote high-performance green buildings and zero-net-energy commercial buildings.
Federal Director: The term "Federal Director" means the individual appointed to the position established under section 17092(a) of this title.
high-performance green building: The term "high-performance green building" means a high-performance building that, during its life-cycle, as compared with similar buildings (as measured by Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey or Residential Energy Consumption Survey data from the Energy Information Agency)-(A) reduces energy, water, and material resource use;(B) improves indoor environmental quality, including reducing indoor pollution, improving thermal comfort, and improving lighting and acoustic environments that affect occupant health and productivity;(C) reduces negative impacts on the environment throughout the life-cycle of the building, including air and water pollution and waste generation;(D) increases the use of environmentally preferable products, including biobased, recycled content, and nontoxic products with lower life-cycle impacts;(E) increases reuse and recycling opportunities;(F) integrates systems in the building;(G) reduces the environmental and energy impacts of transportation through building location and site design that support a full range of transportation choices for users of the building; and(H) considers indoor and outdoor effects of the building on human health and the environment, including-(i) improvements in worker productivity;(ii) the life-cycle impacts of building materials and operations; and(iii) other factors that the Federal Director or the Commercial Director consider to be appropriate.
life-cycle assessment: The term "life-cycle assessment" means a comprehensive system approach for measuring the environmental performance of a product or service over the life of the product or service, beginning at raw materials acquisition and continuing through manufacturing, transportation, installation, use, reuse, and end-of-life waste management.
practices: The term "practices" means design, financing, permitting, construction, commissioning, operation and maintenance, and other practices that contribute to achieving zero-net-energy buildings or facilities.