2126) is a bill that would amend federal law aimed at improving the energy efficiency of commercial office buildings.

[3] The Better Buildings Act of 2013 would require the Administrator of General Services (GSA) to develop and publish model leasing provisions for use in leasing documents that designate a federal agency as a landlord or tenant to encourage building owners and tenants to invest in cost-effective energy efficiency measures.

[3] The bill would require the Administrator to: (1) develop policies and best practices to implement such measures for the realty services provided by the Administrator to federal agencies, including periodic training of federal employees and contractors on how to identify and evaluate such measures; and (2) make available such model leasing provisions and best practices to state, county, and municipal governments that manage owned and leased building space to encourage investment in such energy efficiency measures.

[3] The bill would require the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop a voluntary Tenant Star program within the ENERGY STAR program to recognize tenants in commercial buildings that voluntarily achieve high levels of energy efficiency in separate spaces.

Prohibits the impact on climate change from being a factor in determining energy efficiency of commercial building tenants.

The legislation would require the General Services Administration (GSA) to develop model leasing provisions to encourage energy efficiency in privately owned buildings with federal tenants.

Optimizing the use of energy conservation measures in buildings leased by the government could eventually reduce federal spending by lowering occupancy costs, but CBO does not expect agencies would realize any significant savings from such efforts during the next few years.