Section 435.202 - Petition for downward adjustment(a)New Federal buildings major renovations of all Scope 1 fossil fuel-using systems, and major renovations of a Scope 1 fossil fuel-using building system or component in an EISA-subject building.(1) Upon petition by a Federal agency, the Director of FEMP may adjust the applicable maximum allowable Scope 1 fossil fuel energy consumption standard with respect to a specific building, upon written certification from the head of the agency designing the building, that the requested adjustment is the largest feasible reduction in Scope 1 fossil fuel energy consumption that can practicably be achieved in light of the specified functional needs for that building, as demonstrated by: (i) A statement from the Head of the Agency or their designee requesting the petition for downward adjustment for the building or renovation, that the building or renovation reduces consumption of Scope 1 fossil fuel energy consumption in accordance with the applicable energy performance standard to the maximum extent practicable and that each fossil fuel using product included in the proposed building that is of a product category covered by the ENERGY STAR program or FEMP for designated products is an ENERGY STAR product or a product meeting the FEMP designation criteria, as applicable;(ii) A description of the systems, technologies, and practices that were evaluated and unable to meet the required fossil fuel reduction including a justification of why achieving the Scope 1 fossil fuel-based energy consumption targets would be technically impracticable; and(iii) Any other information the agency determines would help explain its request.(2) The head of the agency designing the building, or their designee, must also include the following information in the petition:(i) A general description of the building or major renovation, including but not limited to location, use type, floor area, stories, expected number of occupants and occupant schedule, project type, project cost, and functional needs, mission critical activity, research, and national security operations as applicable;(ii) The maximum allowable Scope 1 fossil fuel energy consumption for the building from paragraphs (c) or (d) of this section;(iii) The estimated Scope 1 fossil fuel energy consumption of the proposed building; and(iv) A description of the proposed building's energy-related features, such as:(A) HVAC system or component type and configuration;(B) HVAC equipment sizes and efficiencies;(C) Ventilation systems or components (including outdoor air volume, controls technique, heat recovery systems, and economizers, if applicable);(D) Service water heating system or component configuration and equipment (including solar hot water, wastewater heat recovery, and controls for circulating hot water systems, if applicable);(E) Estimated industrial process loads; and(F) Any other on-site fossil fuel using equipment.(3)(i) Agencies may file one petition for a project with multiple buildings if the buildings are(A) Of the same building, building system, or component type and of similar size and location;(B) Are being designed and constructed to the same set of targets for fossil fuel-generated energy consumption reduction; and(C) Would require similar measures to reduce fossil fuel-generated energy consumption and similar adjustment to the numeric reduction requirement.(ii) The bundled petition must include the information in section (a) that pertains to all buildings, building systems or components included in the petition and an additional description of the differences between each of the buildings, building systems or components. The agency is only required to show work for adjustment once.(4) Petitions for downward adjustment should be submitted to cer-petition@hq.doe.gov, or to: U.S. Department of Energy, FEMP, Director, Clean Energy Reduction Petitions, EE-5F, 1000 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20585-0121.
(5) The Director will make a best effort to notify the requesting agency in writing whether the petition for downward adjustment to the numeric reduction requirement is approved or rejected, in 30 calendar days of submittal of a complete petition. If the Director rejects the petition or establishes a value other than that presented in the petition, the Director will forward the reasons for rejection to the petitioning agency.(b)Exclusions. The General Services Administration (GSA) may not submit petitions under paragraphs (a) of this section. Agencies that are tenants of GSA buildings for which the agency, not GSA, has significant design control may submit petitions in accordance with this section.