flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Biden Administration will make new investments in building energy efficiency

Codes and Standards

Biden Administration will make new investments in building energy efficiency

Focus on grid-interactive buildings; Energy Star expansion; new targets for energy, water reduction.


By Peter Fabris, Contributing Editor | May 24, 2021

Courtesy Pixabay

The Biden Administration recently announced new federal investments in building energy efficiency and electrification, as well as new opportunities to modernize homes and businesses.

Among the initiatives is an interagency federal sustainability effort to develop the first-ever building performance standards (BPS) for the federal government. BPS will establish metrics, targets, and tracking methods to reach federal carbon emissions goals. The standards will identify progressive performance milestones as well as the resources that agencies need to meet them.

A low-carbon buildings pilot will be launched. Through the Department of Energy’s Better Buildings Initiative, DOE revealed the first 55 commercial, industrial, and multifamily organizations to participate in a program that will share lessons learned for real world pathways to low- and no-emission buildings.

The Environmental Protection Agency said it is launching new residential and commercial sector partnerships to accelerate efficiency and electrification retrofits. This program will have a focus on underserved residential households through the Energy Star Home Upgrade program, accelerate building electrification through an advanced Energy Star certification for new residential buildings, and recognize commercial buildings through a new zero-carbon commercial building certification. It will also launch a new Greenhouse Gas tool linked to its Portfolio Manager tool.

The announcement included the release of a blueprint to integrate grid-interactive buildings into Energy Savings Contracts and new Energy Star standards to advance heat pump technology and fast chargers for electric vehicles.

Related Stories

| Jan 25, 2013

AISC 206-13 standard for structural steel erectors available for review

AISC 206-13, a quality management system standard for structural steel erectors, is now available for public review.

| Jan 25, 2013

Builders Hardware Manufacturers Assn. revises five ANSI hardware standards

The Builders Hardware Manufacturers Association (BHMA) has released five revisions to ANSI/BHMA standards recently been approved by ANSI (American National Standards Institute).

| Jan 16, 2013

Pentagon plans huge spending cuts, including construction funds, amid budget deadlock fears

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta has ordered cuts to military spending as a precaution in case the White House and Congress fail to agree to avert $52 billion in cuts to the Pentagon budget this year.

| Jan 16, 2013

GSA's Green Proving Ground program pushes energy efficiency

The General Services Administration, which manages a portfolio of almost 10,000 buildings, is using the Green Proving Ground program to test technological advances in energy efficiency.

| Jan 16, 2013

Standards that include reflective roofs must take into account local climate

Roofs painted white can reflect heat and reduce warm-weather energy use, but in cooler regions like Minneapolis or Chicago, the issue of energy-efficiency is less straightforward.

| Jan 16, 2013

New standard for geothermal heat pump systems piping to be included in 2015 International Mechanical Code

NSF International, an independent global organization that writes standards, and tests and certifies products, has published the first in a series of American National Standards for Ground-Source Geothermal Piping Systems – NSF/ANSI 358-1.

| Jan 16, 2013

ANSI passes new safety standards for reinforcing steel and post-tensioning

The ANSI A10 Accredited Standards Committee for Construction and Demolition Operations recently approved amendments to the ANSI A10.9 Concrete and Masonry Standard.

| Jan 8, 2013

Congress passes Drywall Safety Act

Congress recently passed the Drywall Safety Act; President Barack Obama is expected to sign it soon.

| Jan 8, 2013

Building-integrated PVs could help boost green standards over the next few years

A developing technology could begin to have an impact on sustainable standards over the next few years.

| Jan 8, 2013

Revamp of codes among nine low tech steps to raise community resiliency

Updating of local zoning and building codes is one of nine low-tech steps that can boost sustainability and storm resiliency, according to this article.

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category




halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021