The High Performance Buildings Coalition supports legislation and policies that protect life and property, promote innovative building technologies, enhance U.S. economic competitiveness, increase energy and water efficiency in the built-environment, advance sustainable and resilient communities, and support the development of private sector standards, codes and guidelines that address these concerns.

Build Back Better with High Performance Buildings

  • Promote the growth of skilled trades and workers with Federal assistance to address significant workforce shortages.

  • Support grid-interactive buildings and security measures to accelerate smart buildings and improve building-grid integration.

  • Employ resilient/sustainable construction standards for federal infrastructure investment so that Federal buildings are resilient, efficient, and built to last.

  • Modernize construction practices to promote affordable, high-performance buildings by helping the industry transition to digital systems for permitting and other administrative responsibilities.

Create Savings Through Increased Efficiency & Performance in Federal Buildings

  • Set higher efficiency and performance requirements for Federal government buildings.

  • Improve indoor environmental quality and promote healthy buildings to ensure the health and well-being of Federal workers.

  • Support research on the impact of workforce training on building performance.

  • Improve Federal leased space performance.

  • Extend flood risk standards for non-defense buildings and infrastructure.

Encourage High Performance Homes and Commercial Buildings

  • Pass enhanced provisions that incorporate energy efficiency improvements in the underwriting for home mortgages

  • Support adoption and effective implementation of current resilient, sustainable, and energy conserving building standards and codes.

  • Promote inclusive/universal design through legislation so that buildings can be used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of age, size, ability, or disability.

  • Direct the EPA and DOE to conduct demand-side water research.

Leverage Tax Incentives and Provide Market Certainty

  • Reauthorize and extend the Residential Energy-efficiency Tax Credit for homeowners.

  • Reauthorize and extend the Energy Efficient New Home Tax Credit for home builders.

  • Eliminate the ramp down of the 30 percent Investment Tax Credit for still maturing technologies like solar thermal, and the 10 percent ITC for qualified microturbine, combined heat and power system, and thermal energy property.

  • Ensure the equal treatment of water efficiency rebates under tax law.

  • Incentivize resilient construction and retrofits.

Support the Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards

  • Support the effective implementation of OMB Circular No. A-119 by ensuring that federal agencies continue to leverage private sector testing, inspection, and certification, and by supporting federal participation the code and standard development process through basic and applied research and code and standards recommendations.

  • Copyright protection for codes and standards must be maintained.