The Energy Savings and Industrial Competitiveness Act, a bipartisan U.S. Senate bill, would strengthen model building codes to make new homes and commercial buildings more energy efficient. It also would make these codes and the code-writing process more transparent, say Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio). It would also require the Department of Energy to work more closely with manufacturers to spur research and development of new, practical, energy-efficient techniques.
(http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/making-shaheen-portman-energy-efficiency-94875.html)
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