Massachusetts 2023-2024 Regular Session

Massachusetts Senate Bill S2115 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	1 of 1
2	2	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1651 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
3	3	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2115
4	4	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
5	5	_________________
6	6	PRESENTED BY:
7	7	Lydia Edwards
8	8	_________________
9	9	To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
10	10	Court assembled:
11	11	The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
12	12	An Act relative to the electrification of new and substantially remodeled or rehabilitated
13	13	building.
14	14	_______________
15	15	PETITION OF:
16	16	NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :Lydia EdwardsThird SuffolkMichael O. MooreSecond Worcester2/15/2023 1 of 5
17	17	SENATE DOCKET, NO. 1651 FILED ON: 1/19/2023
18	18	SENATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 2115
19	19	By Ms. Edwards, a petition (accompanied by bill, Senate, No. 2115) of Lydia Edwards and
20	20	Michael O. Moore for legislation relative to the electrification of new and substantially
21	21	remodeled or rehabilitated building. Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.
22	22	The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
23	23	_______________
24	24	In the One Hundred and Ninety-Third General Court
25	25	(2023-2024)
26	26	_______________
27	27	An Act relative to the electrification of new and substantially remodeled or rehabilitated
28	28	building.
29	29	Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
30	30	of the same, as follows:
31	31	1 SECTION 1. Chapter 143 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after
32	32	2section 96 the following section:-
33	33	3 Section 96A. (a) As used in this section the following words shall, unless the context
34	34	4clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:-
35	35	5 “Biolab”, a newly constructed building or substantially remodeled or rehabilitated
36	36	6building or group of buildings having, or designed to have, a laboratory for biological research.
37	37	7 “Carbon Dioxide Equivalent” or “CO2e”, greenhouse gas emissions, including but not
38	38	8limited to carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide, which shall be calculated according to
39	39	9regional energy and greenhouse gas factors as set forth in the United States Environmental
40	40	10Protection Agency’s online tool for reporting and managing building energy data.
41	41	11 “Department”, the department of energy resources. 2 of 5
42	42	12 “Gross building floor area”, the floor area within the inside perimeter of the building’s
43	43	13exterior walls, without deduction for corridors, stairways, closets, the thickness of interior walls,
44	44	14columns or similar features.
45	45	15 “Hospital”, a newly constructed building or substantially remodeled or rehabilitated
46	46	16building or group of buildings having, or designed to have, an institution as defined in section 52
47	47	17of chapter 111.
48	48	18 “Newly constructed building”, a building that has never before been used or occupied for
49	49	19any purpose.
50	50	20 “Substantially remodeled or rehabilitated”, a renovation that affects 50 per cent or more
51	51	21of the gross building floor area.
52	52	22 (b) Except as provided in this section and notwithstanding any general or special law,
53	53	23code, appendix to any code, ordinance or bylaw or any rule or regulation to the contrary, all
54	54	24newly constructed commercial buildings and substantially remodeled or rehabilitated
55	55	25commercial buildings and newly constructed buildings and substantially remodeled or
56	56	26rehabilitated buildings containing a residential dwelling unit shall use electricity instead of fossil
57	57	27fuels for space heating and cooling; cooking; and clothes drying; and, in the case of hot water,
58	58	28including for pools and spas, shall use electricity or thermal solar.
59	59	29 (c) (1) A newly constructed or substantially remodeled or rehabilitated biolab or hospital,
60	60	30unless granted a waiver pursuant to this section, shall comply with the emissions standards set
61	61	31forth in this subsection. 3 of 5
62	62	32 (2) Any such biolab or hospital shall, not later than the year 2050, have net 0 CO2e
63	63	33emissions.
64	64	34 (3) Any such biolab shall require a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
65	65	35system with a first stage of heating that does not use on-site fossil fuel combustion and which has
66	66	36a minimum heating capacity of 5 British thermal units (Btu) per hour per gross square foot or
67	67	37equal to the building’s design heating load, whichever is lower. Any additional stage of heating
68	68	38capacity above 5 Btu per hour per gross square foot may utilize on-site combustion, but only if
69	69	39the HVAC and building management systems are designed and programmed such that normal
70	70	40operation relies on the non-combustion system to serve all building heating loads as the first
71	71	41stage before using any on-site combustion heating systems to supplement in a subsequent stage.
72	72	42 (4) Any such hospital shall: (i) from the years 2025 to 2029 have CO2e emissions of no
73	73	43greater than 15.4 kilograms of CO2e per square foot per year; (ii) from the years 2030 to 2034
74	74	44have CO2e emissions of no greater than 10.0 kilograms of CO2e per square foot per year; (iii)
75	75	45from the years 2035 to 2039 have CO2e emissions of no greater than 7.4 kilograms of CO2e per
76	76	46square foot per year; (iv) from the years 2040 to 2044 have CO2e emissions of no greater than
77	77	474.9 kilograms of CO2e per square foot per year; and (v) from the years 2045 to 2049 have CO2e
78	78	48emissions of no greater than 2.4 kilograms of CO2e per square foot per year.
79	79	49 (d) The Department shall promulgate regulations regarding implementation of and
80	80	50compliance with this section, including but not limited to the use of renewable energy credits for
81	81	51compliance purposes, and including but not limited to periodic updates of the 5 Btu per hour per
82	82	52gross square foot standard for biolabs. 4 of 5
83	83	53 (e) Nothing in this section shall prevent a municipality from adopting a bylaw or
84	84	54ordinance regarding the reporting and CO2e emissions reduction requirements for existing
85	85	55hospitals, biolabs or other facilities.
86	86	56 (f)The requirements of this section shall not apply to any of the following:
87	87	57 (i) freestanding cooking appliances that are not connected to the building’s natural gas or
88	88	58propane infrastructure;
89	89	59 (ii) freestanding outdoor heating appliances that are not connected to the building’s
90	90	60natural gas or propane infrastructure;
91	91	61 (iii) emergency generators, back-up and stand-by power;
92	92	62 (iv) appliances to produce potable or domestic hot water from centralized hot water
93	93	63systems in buildings with a gross building floor area of at least 10,000 square feet; provided, that
94	94	64the architect, engineer or general contractor on the project certifies by affidavit that no
95	95	65commercially available electric hot water heater exists that could meet the required hot water
96	96	66demand for less than 150 per cent of installation costs, compared to a fossil fuel hot water
97	97	67system.
98	98	68 (g) The department may grant a waiver from the provisions of this section in the event
99	99	69that compliance with this section makes a project impractical to implement or imposes
100	100	70extraordinary challenges. Waiver requests shall be supported by a detailed explanation of the
101	101	71justification for such request and by the applicant’s proposal for limiting emissions to levels
102	102	72consistent with the goals specified in chapter 8 of the acts of 2021. 5 of 5
103	103	73 Waivers may be subject to reasonable conditions. Where possible, waivers shall be issued
104	104	74for specific portions of a project that are impractical to implement or impose extraordinary
105	105	75challenges, rather than for entire projects.
106	106	76 (h) By local bylaw or ordinance, a municipality may impose reasonable penalties for
107	107	77violations of this section.
108	108	78 SECTION 2. The requirements of this act shall take effect on January 1, 2025.