Federal Energy Management Program | Federal Laws and Requirements Search

These laws and requirements are related to facility energy efficiency.

Agency Energy Intensity
Title	Legal Authority	Originating Legislation	Summary
Building Energy Intensity Reduction (1)	42 U.S.C. § 8253(a)	EISA 2007 § 431; EPAct 2005 § 102(c)	Subject to certain exclusions, each Federal agency must reduce the energy consumption per gross square foot of its Federal buildings relative to a fiscal year (FY) 2003 baseline by 27% by 2014 and by 30% by FY 2015.

Building Energy Use
Title	Legal Authority	Originating Legislation	Summary
Facility Energy Reduction	E.O. 13834 § 2(a)	N/A	Achieve and maintain annual reductions in building energy use and implement energy efficiency measures that reduce costs.

Data Center
Title	Legal Authority	Originating Legislation	Summary
Data Center Management	E.O. 13834	N/A	Data centers are energy intensive operations that contribute to agency energy and water use and costs. The Office of Management and Budget's Office of the Federal Chief Information Officer leads development of policy and requirements for Federal data center management, including goals for consolidation, virtualization, optimization, efficiency, and transitioning to cloud-based solutions.

Definitions
Title	Legal Authority	Originating Legislation	Summary
Definitions (1)	42 U.S.C. § 8259	NECPA	Defines agency, construction, cogneration facilities, energy conservations measures, energy survey, Federal building, life cycle cost, renewable energy source, and secretary.
Definitions (2)	42 U.S.C. § 8259	NECPA	Defines agency, facility energy supervisor, trained energy manager, task force and energy conservation measure.

Facility Assessments
Title	Legal Authority	Originating Legislation	Summary
Benchmarking of Federal Facilities	42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(8)	EISA 2007 § 432	Agencies are required to enter energy use data for each metered covered facility into a building energy use benchmarking system.
Definition of Covered Facilities	42 U.S.C. § 8253 (f)(2)(B)	EISA 2007 § 432	Defines "covered facilities" to include central utility plants and distribution systems and other energy intensive operations that constitute at least 75% of facility energy use. (Disclaimer: This is not a general definition of covered facilities nor is it applicable outside of this specific statutory context.)
Energy Management Training	42 U.S.C. § 8262c(d)	EPAct 1992 § 157	Each department and agency listed in subsection (a)(1) of section 8262c shall report to DOE on the status and implementation of the requirements of this section.
Energy and Water Evaluations	42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(3)(A)	EISA 2007 § 432	Agency energy managers are required to complete an annual comprehensive energy and water evaluation for approximately 25% of agency covered facilities in a manner that ensures that an evaluation of such facility is completed at least once every four years.
Follow-up on Implemented Measures	42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(5)	EISA 2007 § 432	For each measure implemented under 42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(4), agencies are required to ensure that equipment is fully commissioned at acceptance to be operating at design specifications; a plan for appropriate operations, maintenance, and repair of the equipment is in place at acceptance and is followed; equipment and system performance is measured during its entire life to ensure proper operations, maintenance, and repair; and energy and water savings are measured and verified.
Implementation of Identified Energy and Water Efficiency Measures	42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(4)	EISA 2007 § 432	Not later than two years after the completion of each evaluation under 42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(3), each agency may implement any energy- or water-saving measure that was identified as life cycle cost-effective and bundle individual measures of varying paybacks together into combined projects.
Recommissioning and Retrocommissioning	42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(3)(B)	EISA 2007 § 432	As part of the evaluation under 42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(3)(A), energy managers are required to identify and assess recommissioning measures (or if the facility has never been commissioned, retrocommissioning measures) for the facility.
Web-Based Certification	42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(7)	EISA 2007 § 432	For each covered facility, an agency is required to use a Web-based tracking system to certify compliance with the requirements for energy and water evaluations under 42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(3), implementation of identified energy and water measures under 42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(4), and follow-up on implemented measures under 42 U.S.C. § 8253(f)(5).