Federal Programs Relating to Buildings


Department of Energy Programs


Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Building Technologies Program

Appliances & Commercial Equipment Standards: The U.S. Department of Energy's Appliances and Commercial Equipment Standards Program develops test procedures and minimum efficiency standards for residential appliances and commercial equipment.

Building America: Building America forms research partnerships with all facets of the residential building industry to improve the quality and energy efficiency of homes.

Building Energy Codes: This initiative works with other government agencies, state and local jurisdictions, national code organizations, and industry to help develop improved national model energy codes.

Energy Star: Energy Star is a voluntary labeling and recognition program sponsored by the DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that seeks to accelerate the adoption of clean and efficient domestic energy technologies.

High Performance Commercial Buildings: The High Performance Commercial Buildings program works to improve the energy efficiency of commercial buildings by creating private-public partnerships and offering resources such as the High Performance Buildings Database.

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Federal Energy Management Program
The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) promotes the adoption of energy efficiency and renewable energy at federal sites to leadership with responsible, cleaner energy choices. The FEMP provides informational resources on equipment procurement, building design, operations, and utility management.

Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy: Weatherization Assistance Program
The Weatherization Assistance Program reduces energy costs for low-income households by increasing the energy efficiency of their homes while ensuring their health and safety. DOE provides funding to states, which manage the day-to-day details of the program.


Environmental Protection Agency Programs


Energy Star: Energy Star is a voluntary labeling and recognition program sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and the EPA that seeks to accelerate the adoption of clean and efficient domestic energy technologies.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing: Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) presents informational resources to help the federal government and consumers "buy green".

eeBuildings: eeBuildings helps building owners, managers, and tenants improve the energy efficiency of their buildings worldwide. eeBuildings provides technical resources and forms partnerships with organizations such as multinational corporations, local businesses and NGOs, and government agencies that share eeBuildings' goal of improving energy efficiency to save energy and money.

Healthy School Environments: Healthy School Environment Resources provides on-line resources and an environmental assessment tool for facility managers, school administrators, architects, design engineers, school nurses, parents, teachers and staff address environmental health issues in schools.

Green Indoor Environments: EPA’s Indoor Environments program promotes the use of integrated, whole building approaches to protect occupant health while saving energy and money. The program offers technical resources as well as assessment tools to improve indoor air quality in offices, institutional buildings, schools, and homes.


Department of Commerce Programs


National Institute of Standards and Technology: Building and Fire Research Laboratory

High Performance Construction Materials & Systems: Develops world-class science based tools to enhance global competitiveness of U.S. industry and the safety and sustainability of the Nation’s buildings and physical infrastructure.

Enhanced Building Performance: Develops measurement methods, fundamental data, simulation models, and life cycle environmental and economic analysis tools to support Healthy and Sustainable Buildings. Also develops, tests, integrates, and demonstrates open Cybernetic Building Systems. A Cybernetic Building System involves energy management, fire detection, security, transport systems, energy providers, one or more utilities, an aggregator, and numerous service providers, and information handling and complex control at many different levels.


Department of Housing and Urban Development Programs


Energy Efficient Mortgages Program
The Energy Efficient Mortgages Program (EEM) helps homebuyers or homeowners save money on utility bills by enabling them to finance the cost of adding energy-efficiency features to new or existing housing as part of their FHA-insured home purchase or refinancing mortgage. EEM is one of many FHA programs that insure mortgage loans--and thus encourage lenders to make mortgage credit available to borrowers who would not otherwise qualify for conventional loans on affordable terms (such as first-time homebuyers) and to residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods (where mortgages may be hard to get).