Skip to main content

Congressman McCaul Introduces Green Energy Education Act

February 11, 2009
AUSTIN, TX – To answer the calls of many in the academic and business communities to recruit and develop scientific and engineering talent to work on solving problems of national need, Congressman Michael McCaul (R-TX 10) has reintroduced the Green Energy Education Act, H.R. 957. It passed unanimously in the House of Representatives last Congress but was not given a vote in the Senate.
“The goal of this initiative is to improve the ability of engineers and architects to design and construct buildings with improved energy efficiency, durability, and life-cycle performance and occupant productivity,” said Rep. McCaul.
The Act authorizes the Department of Energy to partner with the National Science Foundation in support of multidisciplinary graduate education and curriculum development activities that will advance the Department of Energy’s broad energy technology development mission. This bill will help develop the next generation of engineers and architects to work effectively together to produce buildings incorporating the latest in energy efficient technologies.
Today, energy efficient building practices are still at the fringes of the building sector, in part because of a lack of awareness about energy efficient technologies and design practices among building professionals. This bill would encourage energy efficient building practices by permitting the Department of Energy to launch high performance building technology programs to contribute to the National Science Foundation’s ongoing curriculum development activities.

Experience has shown that having energy efficiency as a design goal at the start of a project can drastically reduce the cost of meeting energy efficiency targets, and can often do so while enhancing aesthetic values. These programs would encourage instruction of both engineering and architectural considerations simultaneously. Increasing energy independence and decreasing the harmful effects of energy production and use are clearly areas of long-term national need.