Energy conservation standards for the construction of certain buildings, energy and environmental design standards for state buildings, structures, and facilities, energy and environmental design standards for school district facilities and other local government buildings, leasing of state buildings, structures, and facilities, standards for the construction and use of graywater systems, granting rule-making authority, and making an appropriation

This bill directs DOA and the Building Commission to ensure that the plans and specifications for each major state construction project (each project for the construction of any new state building, structure, or facility containing at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space, or for the repair, renewal, or renovation, of any existing building, structure, or facility for occupancy by any state entity if the building, structure, or facility contains at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space and the project affects more than 50 percent of the existing gross square feet of conditioned space in the building, structure, or facility, or for the expansion of an existing state building, structure, or facility to add at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space) conform at a minimum to the requirements under the LEED Green Building Rating System at the silver performance level, as prescribed by the Department of Commerce (Commerce) based upon the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council. Upon completion of a major state construction project, the bill directs DOA to obtain certification by the U.S. Green Building Council that the project conforms at a minimum to the requirements for certification at the LEED silver level. The bill also directs DOA and the Building Commission to ensure that each such building, structure, or facility conforms to specific standards specified by Commerce that are derived from various national and international building codes for energy performance, ventilation components, indoor air quality performance, and water usage level. The bill also directs DOA and the commission to ensure that each project to construct such a building, structure, or facility for the state shall conform to specified requirements for recycling of construction waste and demolition materials. In addition, the bill directs the commission to enforce compliance with the bill's requirements with respect to all major construction projects whenever the buildings, structures, or facilities being constructed are purchased by the state under a purchase agreement or whenever construction, repair, renewal, renovation, or expansion of a building, structure, or facility is performed for the state under a lease agreement with option to purchase.

The bill also directs the Building Commission to apply all moneys available for its use under the Authorized State Building Program to achieve certification as of January 1, 2015, by the U.S. Green Building Council for not less than 15 percent of the gross square footage of conditioned space owned or leased by state agencies, as determined by DOA, as conforming at a minimum to the LEED energy performance requirements for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings. In addition, the bill directs DOA to promulgate rules that require the Building Commission to continue to apply all moneys available for its use under the Authorized State Building Program during the period from January 1, 2015, to January 1, 2030, to achieve certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for greater percentages of the gross square footage of conditioned space owned or leased by state agencies as meeting minimum LEED performance requirements for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings by specified dates.

Currently, DOA has responsibility for the negotiation and administration of leases of real property by this state, except as otherwise provided by law. The Building Commission has authority to approve leases of real property by the state, except as otherwise provided by law. This bill directs DOA, before entering into any lease, or renewing or extending any lease, for improved real property to be used by a state agency, to require the prospective lessor to disclose the energy use intensity for the total property and the annual energy usage for the total property, calculated in accordance with Energy Star standards, as determined by Commerce, and to verify and forward that information to the Building Commission. The bill directs DOA to require other state agencies that have authority to enter into leases for improved real property to obtain and forward the same information to the Building Commission before entering into, or renewing or extending, any lease for real property. The bill then prohibits the Building Commission from approving any lease for improved real property to be used by this state containing at least 10,000 square feet of conditioned space unless DOA certifies to the commission that the energy use intensity for the total property and the annual energy usage for the total property conform to Energy Star standards at a level sufficient to conform at a minimum to the threshold for compliance with the LEED Green Building Rating System for existing buildings-operation and maintenance performance requirements, as determined by Commerce. The bill directs the Building Commission to obtain certification by the U.S. Green Building Council that any such property conforms at a minimum to the requirements for certification at the LEED silver level. The bill directs the Building Commission to require other state agencies that have authority to enter into leases for improved real property, to certify to the commission, before entering into, or renewing or extending, any lease for real property to be used by this state, that the energy use intensity for the total property and the annual energy usage for the total property conform to the same standards.

The bill also requires DOA, with limited exceptions, to ensure that major state buildings, structures, and facilities that are constructed by or for the state conform to specified energy performance standards at increasingly stringent levels by specified dates beginning on the first day of the 7th month beginning after the day the act resulting from the bill becomes law and ending on January 1, 2030, by which date all major state buildings, structures, and facilities that are constructed by or for the state must achieve a zero net energy level of energy performance. In addition, the bill directs DOA to report annually to the governor and the Building Commission concerning the percentage level of adherence to the requirements imposed upon DOA under the bill that become effective on a date later than the end of the preceding year and the percentage level of adherence to the requirement imposed upon the Building Commission to apply all moneys available to the commission to achieve certification for at least 15 percent of conditioned space in existing owned or leased state buildings, structures, or facilities as conforming at a minimum to the LEED energy performance standards specified in the bill.

Under current law, Commerce is required to promulgate an energy conservation code that sets design requirements for construction and equipment for the purpose of energy conservation in public buildings and places of employment.

Commerce must consider incorporating into the energy conservation code design requirements from the most current national energy efficiency design standards, including the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) or another energy efficiency code that is generally accepted and used by engineers and the construction industry. Current law requires that Commerce review the code on a regular basis, including whenever there is a revision of the IECC, and update the code accordingly.

This bill requires Commerce to incorporate into the energy conservation code a standard that is based upon a specific standard of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) and eliminates the requirement to use other standards specified under current law. As with the revision requirements under current law, the bill requires Commerce to update the code whenever the ASHRAE standard is revised.

Current law also requires Commerce to promulgate rules for ventilation systems in public buildings and places of employment. This bill requires Commerce to incorporate a specific ASHRAE standard into those rules and to update the rules when the standard is revised.

Under current law, a city, village, town, or county may exercise jurisdiction over the construction of new dwellings by passing an ordinance, provided that the ordinance meets the requirements of the one- and two-family dwelling code under current law, this bill provides that such an ordinance may exceed the requirements of that code as they relate to energy conservation in the construction of new dwellings.

This bill authorizes Commerce to promulgate rules that establish standards for the installation of graywater and rainwater systems and that authorize the reuse of graywater and rainwater within the building, or on the property surrounding the building, from which the graywater or rainwater was generated. Under the bill, graywater is defined as wastewater generated from the use of a clothes washer, sink, shower, or bathtub.

This bill also imposes on a political subdivision (any city, village, town, or county) certain requirements for a major construction project. Under the bill, a major construction project means a project for the construction of a public building by or for a political subdivision that will contain at least 10,000 gross square feet of office space, or for the repair, renewal, or renovation of an existing public building that contains such space if the repair, renewal, renovation, or expansion affects more than 50 percent of the existing building, or for the expansion of an existing public building that adds at least 10,000 gross square feet of such space. The requirements imposed on a political subdivision under the bill are based on the requirements that the bill imposes on DOA and the Building Commission for a major state construction project.

The bill requires a political subdivision to ensure that the plans and specifications for each major construction project conform at a minimum to the requirements for certification at the silver performance level under the LEED Green Building Rating System, as prescribed by Commerce and based on the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council, and that the energy performance, use and disposal of construction and demolition materials, ventilation components, indoor air quality performance, and water usage level for each major construction project conform to the standards that apply to a major state construction project of DOA and the Building Commission. Upon completion of a major construction project, the bill requires a political subdivision to obtain certification from the U.S. Green Building Council that the project meets at least the minimum standards for certification at the LEED silver level.

This bill imposes similar requirements for major construction projects of school districts. Each school board must ensure that the plans and specifications for each major construction project conform at a minimum to the requirements of the LEED Green Building Rating System at the silver performance level, as prescribed by Commerce. Upon the request of a school district, the state must pay all necessary LEED registration and certification fees on behalf of the school district. Upon completion of a major construction project, a school district must obtain certification from the U.S. Green Building Council that the project conforms at a minimum to the standards for certification at the LEED silver level. The bill also directs each school board to ensure that the energy performance, use and disposal of construction and demolition materials, ventilation components, indoor air quality performance, and water usage level for each major construction project conform to standards specified by Commerce that are derived from various national and international building codes.