Congressional Caucus Focused on Green Building Legislation

Green building has a new voice in Washington: the High-Performance Buildings Congressional Caucus and Coalition. The caucus consists of members of Congress, led by cochairs Russ Carnahan of Missouri and Judy Biggert of Illinois, interested in green building legislative issues; the group hosts briefings and communicates its findings to other members of Congress.

The coalition is made up of several private-sector organizations that support the caucus with research and technical advice as well as event hosting. For its first order of business, the caucus attended a briefing on a report crafted by the National Institute of Building Sciences, among other organizations, in response to requirements laid out in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (see

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Vol. 14, No. 9). Among other findings, the report recommends that Congress establish metrics and verification methods for buildings’ energy efficiency, occupant productivity, durability, and ability to function after a disaster. More information on the caucus, as well as the full report, is available at www.hpbccc.org.