The Congress finds that—
large amounts of fuel and energy are consumed unnecessarily each year in heating, cooling, ventilating, and providing domestic hot water for newly constructed residential and commercial buildings because such buildings lack adequate energy conservation features;
Federal voluntary performance standards for newly constructed buildings can prevent such waste of energy, which the Nation can no longer afford in view of its current and anticipated energy shortage;
the failure to provide adequate energy conservation measures in newly constructed buildings increases long-term operating costs that may affect adversely the repayment of, and security for, loans made, insured, or guaranteed by Federal agencies or made by federally insured or regulated instrumentalities; and
State and local building codes or similar controls can provide an existing means by which to assure, in coordination with other building requirements and with a minimum of Federal interference in State and local transactions, that newly constructed buildings contain adequate energy conservation features.
The purposes of this subchapter, therefore, are to—
redirect Federal policies and practices to assure that reasonable energy conservation features will be incorporated into new commercial and residential buildings receiving Federal financial assistance;
provide for the development and implementation, as soon as practicable, of voluntary performance standards for new residential and commercial buildings which are designed to achieve the maximum practicable improvements in energy efficiency and increases in the use of nondepletable sources of energy; and
encourage States and local governments to adopt and enforce such standards through their existing building codes and other construction control mechanisms, or to apply them through a special approval process.
Pub. L. 94–385, title III, § 30290 Stat. 1144Pub. L. 97–35, title X, § 1041(a)95 Stat. 621(, , ; , , .)
Editorial Notes
Amendments
Pub. L. 97–351981—Subsecs. (a)(2), (b)(2). inserted “voluntary” before “performance standards”.
Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries
Effective Date of 1981 Amendment
Pub. L. 97–35section 1038 of Pub. L. 97–35section 6240 of this titleAmendment by effective , see , set out as a note under .
Short Title
section 301 of Pub. L. 94–385section 6801 of this titleFor short title of this subchapter as the “Energy Conservation Standards for New Buildings Act of 1976”, see , set out as a note under .