What does the US climate bill mean for construction there?

Two US green building websites - Green Building Law and Green Building Law Update - have trudged through the climate bill that's moving through the US congress to tease out what it means for construction standards in the US. Treehugger synopsises their points here. In essence, the bill:

Establishes a national energy efficiency code for both residental and commerical buildings. 

Mandates an immediate 30 per cent reduction in building energy demand for new build, and a 50 per cent reduction in five years. From reading Treehugger's report, it's not clear if this refers to heating energy demand or overall demand.

Increases funding for national Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) programs, which assist building retrofits designed to improve energy and water efficiency.

TreeHugger believes some of the measures will face considerable opposition: 

There is a reason that building and planning codes are local: the real estate industry is the biggest financial contributor to the election campaigns of local politicians, and the builders get what they want in the regulations. Federalizing the code will be fought tooth and nail by local and state politicians who will see it as a direct attack on their biggest source of income. At the local and state level they are concerned about Bob the Builder making houses and keeping Larry the Lumber Guy selling 2x4s, not about global climate change. But climate change is a global and national issue, and has to be dealt with at that level.