§ 17061. Definitions

In this title: 1 1 See References in Text note below.

• (1) The term “Administrator” means the Administrator of General Services.
• (2) The term “Advisory Committee” means the Green Building Advisory Committee established under section 484. 1
• (3) The term “Commercial Director” means the individual appointed to the position established under section 17081 of this title .
• (4) 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.
• (5)
  • (A) The term “cost-effective lighting technology” means a lighting technology that—
    • (i) will result in substantial operational cost savings by ensuring an installed consumption of not more than 1 watt per square foot; or
    • (ii) is contained in a list under—
      • (I) section 8259b of this title ;
      • (II) Federal acquisition regulation 23–203; and
      • (III) is at least as energy-conserving as required by other provisions of this Act, including the requirements of this title 1 and title III 1 which shall be applicable to the extent that they would achieve greater energy savings than provided under clause (i) or this clause. 2 2 So in original. Does not fit with cl. (ii) introductory provision.
  • (B) The term “cost-effective lighting technology” includes—
    • (i) lamps;
    • (ii) ballasts;
    • (iii) luminaires;
    • (iv) lighting controls;
    • (v) daylighting; and
    • (vi) early use of other highly cost-effective lighting technologies.
• (6) The term “cost-effective technologies and practices” means a technology or practice that—
  • (A) will result in substantial operational cost savings by reducing electricity or fossil fuel consumption, water, or other utility costs, including use of geothermal heat pumps;
  • (B) complies with the provisions of section 8259b of this title and Federal acquisition regulation 23–203; and
  • (C) is at least as energy and water conserving as required under this title, 1 including sections 431 through 435, and title V, 1 including sections 511 through 525, which shall be applicable to the extent that they are more stringent or require greater energy or water savings than required by this section.
• (7) The term “Federal Director” means the individual appointed to the position established under section 17092(a) of this title .
• (8) The term “Federal facility” means any building that is constructed, renovated, leased, or purchased in part or in whole for use by the Federal Government.
• (9)
  • (A) The term “operational cost savings” means a reduction in end-use operational costs through the application of cost-effective technologies and practices or geothermal heat pumps, including a reduction in electricity consumption relative to consumption by the same customer or at the same facility in a given year, as defined in guidelines promulgated by the Administrator pursuant to section 7628(b) of this title , that achieves cost savings sufficient to pay the incremental additional costs of using cost-effective technologies and practices including geothermal heat pumps by not later than the later of the date established under sections 431 through 434, 1 or—
    • (i) for cost-effective technologies and practices, the date that is 5 years after the date of installation; and
    • (ii) for geothermal heat pumps, as soon as practical after the date of installation of the applicable geothermal heat pump.
  • (B) The term “operational cost savings” includes savings achieved at a facility as a result of—
    • (i) the installation or use of cost-effective technologies and practices; or
    • (ii) the planting of vegetation that shades the facility and reduces the heating, cooling, or lighting needs of the facility.
  • (C) The term “operational cost savings” does not include savings from measures that would likely be adopted in the absence of cost-effective technology and practices programs, as determined by the Administrator.
• (10) The term “geothermal heat pump” means any heating or air conditioning technology that—
  • (A) uses the ground or ground water as a thermal energy source to heat, or as a thermal energy sink to cool, a building; and
  • (B) meets the requirements of the Energy Star program of the Environmental Protection Agency applicable to geothermal heat pumps on the date of purchase of the technology.
• (11)
  • (A) The term “GSA facility” means any building, structure, or facility, in whole or in part (including the associated support systems of the building, structure, or facility) that—
    • (i) is constructed (including facilities constructed for lease), renovated, or purchased, in whole or in part, by the Administrator for use by the Federal Government; or
    • (ii) is leased, in whole or in part, by the Administrator for use by the Federal Government—
      • (I) except as provided in subclause (II), for a term of not less than 5 years; or
      • (II) for a term of less than 5 years, if the Administrator determines that use of cost-effective technologies and practices would result in the payback of expenses.
  • (B) The term “GSA facility” includes any group of buildings, structures, or facilities described in subparagraph (A) (including the associated energy-consuming support systems of the buildings, structures, and facilities).
  • (C) The Administrator may exempt from the definition of “GSA facility” under this paragraph a building, structure, or facility that meets the requirements of section 8253(c) of this title .
• (12) The term “high-performance building” means a building that integrates and optimizes on a life cycle basis all major high performance attributes, including energy conservation, environment, safety, security, durability, accessibility, cost-benefit, productivity, sustainability, functionality, and operational considerations.
• (13) 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.
• (14) The term “life-cycle”, with respect to a high-performance green building, means all stages of the useful life of the building (including components, equipment, systems, and controls of the building) beginning at conception of a high-performance green building project and continuing through site selection, design, construction, landscaping, commissioning, operation, maintenance, renovation, deconstruction or demolition, removal, and recycling of the high-performance green building.
• (15) 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.
• (16) The term “life-cycle costing”, with respect to a high-performance green building, means a technique of economic evaluation that—
  • (A) sums, over a given study period, the costs of initial investment (less resale value), replacements, operations (including energy use), and maintenance and repair of an investment decision; and
  • (B) is expressed—
    • (i) in present value terms, in the case of a study period equivalent to the longest useful life of the building, determined by taking into consideration the typical life of such a building in the area in which the building is to be located; or
    • (ii) in annual value terms, in the case of any other study period.
• (17) The term “Office of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings” means the Office of Commercial High-Performance Green Buildings established under section 17081(a) of this title .
• (18) The term “Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings” means the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings established under section 17092(a) of this title .
• (19) 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.
• (20) The term “zero-net-energy commercial building” means a commercial building that is designed, constructed, and operated to—
  • (A) require a greatly reduced quantity of energy to operate;
  • (B) meet the balance of energy needs from sources of energy that do not produce greenhouse gases;
  • (C) therefore result in no net emissions of greenhouse gases; and
  • (D) be economically viable.