Smart Building Acceleration Act
Latest action. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-166.
Smart Building Acceleration Act
Directs the Department of Energy (DOE) to: (1) conduct a survey of privately owned smart buildings throughout the nation, select at least one building each from an appropriate range of building sizes and types, and evaluate the costs and benefits of such buildings using the guidelines of the Federal Energy Management Program relating to whole-building evaluation, measurement, and verification; and (2) establish a program to establish one or more smart buildings under the jurisdiction of the General Services Administration and the Departments of Defense, Energy, and Veterans Affairs to demonstrate and evaluate the costs and benefits of smart buildings. Requires such evaluations to include an identification of which advanced building technologies are most cost-effective and show the most promise for increasing building energy savings, increasing service performance to building occupants, and reducing environmental impacts.
Defines a "smart building" to mean a building with an energy system that:
is flexible and automated;
has extensive operational monitoring and communication connectivity, allowing remote monitoring and analysis of all building functions;
is integrated with the overall building operations for control of energy generation, consumption, and storage; and
communicates with utilities and other third party commercial entities.
Directs DOE: (1) as part of DOE's Better Building Challenge, to develop a smart building accelerator in consultation with major private sector property owners to demonstrate innovative policies and approaches that will accelerate the transition to smart buildings; and (2) to conduct research and development to address key barriers to the integration of advanced building technologies and to accelerate the transition to smart buildings.
Written by analysts at the Congressional Research Service and published on Congress.gov, not by Civibrief. Summarized at the "Introduced in Senate" stage on April 22, 2015. It describes the bill, it is not the legal text.
Where is it in the process, and what happens next?
4 steps remain before this bill could become law.
The record's latest action, on April 30, 2015: Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held. Hearings printed: S.Hrg. 114-166.
- Clearing the committees it was referred to, and being scheduled for a floor vote
- Passage by the Senate
- Passage by the House
- The President's signature. If the President vetoes it, two-thirds of both chambers must vote to override.
How likely is it to become law?
Civibrief does not forecast outcomes and this page has no opinion about this one. What the record supports is a base rate, which is a fact about the whole pile, not a prediction about this measure.
In the 114th Congress (2015-16), 329 of the 10,233 bills and joint resolutions introduced became law, about 3.2 percent. That count covers every measure at every stage, including the many that never left committee.
This one is not there yet: 4 steps are still outstanding, listed above.
Has anyone actually voted on it?
No. No roll call in this Congress cites this measure. That is the ordinary outcome: most measures never reach a recorded floor vote, and a committee ends most of them simply by not acting.
A vote is not the only thing that happens to a measure. Hearings, markups, and referrals are all recorded actions, and none of them is a vote of the full chamber.
Who is behind it?
Maria Cantwell (D-WA) introduced it on April 22, 2015, and 1 member has since signed on as a cosponsor.
They are 1 Republican.
Cosponsoring is a formal signature on the text. It is not a commitment to vote for the measure, it does not bind anyone's party, and a long list of cosponsors is a measure of attention rather than of prospects.
How long has it been in play?
It was introduced on April 22, 2015, 4159 days ago. The most recent recorded action was 4151 days ago, on April 30, 2015.
Measures do not carry over. Anything the 114th Congress has not finished by January 3, 2017 dies when the term ends, and has to be introduced again from the start in the next Congress.
Every answer above is assembled from this measure's own record on Congress.gov and from published counts of what Congress has passed before. Civibrief does not predict outcomes and takes no position on any measure.
Vote history
- SenateIn committee, no floor vote yet
- HouseAwaits Senate passage
- PresidentAwaits both chambers