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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | 2023 -- S 0166 |
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| 6 | 6 | | ======== |
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| 7 | 7 | | LC001810 |
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| 8 | 8 | | ======== |
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| 9 | 9 | | S TATE OF RHODE IS LAND |
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| 10 | 10 | | IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 11 | 11 | | JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023 |
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| 12 | 12 | | ____________ |
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| 13 | 13 | | |
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| 14 | 14 | | A N A C T |
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| 15 | 15 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- THE GREEN BUILDINGS ACT |
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| 16 | 16 | | Introduced By: Senators Gu, Valverde, DiMario, Euer, Mack, Miller, Murray, Lauria, |
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| 17 | 17 | | and Ujifusa |
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| 18 | 18 | | Date Introduced: February 16, 2023 |
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| 19 | 19 | | Referred To: Senate Commerce |
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| 20 | 20 | | |
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| 21 | 21 | | |
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| 22 | 22 | | It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows: |
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| 23 | 23 | | SECTION 1. Section 37-24-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 37-24 entitled "The Green 1 |
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| 24 | 24 | | Buildings Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: 2 |
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| 25 | 25 | | 37-24-3. Definitions. 3 |
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| 26 | 26 | | For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply: 4 |
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| 27 | 27 | | (1) "Commercial building" means a building or multiple buildings on a parcel of which not 5 |
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| 28 | 28 | | less than fifty percent (50%) of the gross floor area, including hallways or other common space, 6 |
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| 29 | 29 | | but excluding parking, is used for commercial, retail, office, professional, educational or other 7 |
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| 30 | 30 | | nonresidential purposes, or any grouping of commercial buildings designated by the department or 8 |
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| 31 | 31 | | office as an appropriate reporting unit for the purposes of this section; provided, however, that 9 |
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| 32 | 32 | | "commercial building " shall not include a building owned or leased by a municipal or state agency. 10 |
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| 33 | 33 | | (1)(2) “Construction” means the process of building, altering, repairing, improving, or 11 |
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| 34 | 34 | | demolishing forty percent (40%) or more of any public structures, public buildings, public real 12 |
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| 35 | 35 | | property or other public improvements of any kind to any public structures, public buildings or 13 |
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| 36 | 36 | | public real property. 14 |
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| 37 | 37 | | (2)(3) “Department” means the department of administration. 15 |
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| 38 | 38 | | (4) "Energy " means electricity, natural gas, steam, hot or chilled water, heating oil, 16 |
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| 39 | 39 | | propane or other products designated by the office used for heating, cooling, lighting, or water 17 |
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| 40 | 40 | | heating, or for powering or fueling other end uses. 18 |
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| 41 | 41 | | (5) "Energy performance rating or assessment score" means a score assigned to a building 19 |
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| 42 | 42 | | |
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| 43 | 43 | | |
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| 44 | 44 | | LC001810 - Page 2 of 10 |
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| 45 | 45 | | based on how efficiently it uses energy relative to other buildings of the same type. The office shall 1 |
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| 46 | 46 | | promulgate regulations to establish the scoring system. 2 |
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| 47 | 47 | | (6) "Energy use benchmarking tool " means the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, an 3 |
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| 48 | 48 | | online energy use benchmarking tool used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency 4 |
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| 49 | 49 | | for reporting and managing the energy performance, water efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions 5 |
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| 50 | 50 | | of building, or a tool capable of: 6 |
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| 51 | 51 | | (i) Performing all the functions relevant to compliance with this section; 7 |
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| 52 | 52 | | (ii) Allowing for reporting by third parties, including, but not limited to, gas distribution 8 |
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| 53 | 53 | | and electric distribution companies; and 9 |
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| 54 | 54 | | (iii) Exchanging information and data with the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager. 10 |
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| 55 | 55 | | (3)(7) “Equivalent standard” means a high-performance green building standard, other than 11 |
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| 56 | 56 | | LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES, that provides an independent, third-12 |
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| 57 | 57 | | party verification and certification of a rating system or measurement tool, that, when used, leads 13 |
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| 58 | 58 | | to outcomes equivalent to, LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES outcomes, 14 |
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| 59 | 59 | | in terms of green building, green infrastructure, and green site performance; current accepted 15 |
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| 60 | 60 | | equivalent standards include green globes, Northeast collaborative high-performance schools 16 |
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| 61 | 61 | | protocol; or other equivalent high-performance green building, green infrastructure, and green site 17 |
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| 62 | 62 | | standards accepted by the department. 18 |
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| 63 | 63 | | (8) "kBTU" means one thousand (1,000) British thermal units. 19 |
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| 64 | 64 | | (9) "Large building " means a building that meets any of the following criteria: 20 |
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| 65 | 65 | | (i) Buildings owned or leased by a municipality, state agency, or other government or 21 |
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| 66 | 66 | | quasi-government entity consisting of not less than ten thousand square feet (10,000 sq. ft.) of gross 22 |
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| 67 | 67 | | floor area; 23 |
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| 68 | 68 | | (ii) As of January 1, 2023, residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than 24 |
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| 69 | 69 | | twenty five thousand square feet (25,000 sq. ft.) of gross floor area; 25 |
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| 70 | 70 | | (iii) As of January 1, 2026, residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than 26 |
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| 71 | 71 | | twenty thousand square feet (20,000 sq. ft.) of gross floor area; or 27 |
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| 72 | 72 | | (4) As of January 1, 2029, residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than 28 |
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| 73 | 73 | | fifteen thousand square feet (15,000 sq. ft.) of gross floor area. 29 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (4)(10) “LEED” also, “LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES certified 30 |
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| 75 | 75 | | standard” means the current version of the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and 31 |
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| 76 | 76 | | Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating standard referred to as LEED, LEED for 32 |
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| 77 | 77 | | Neighborhood Development, and SITES certified. SITES means the U.S. Green Building Council’s 33 |
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| 78 | 78 | | SITES — The Sustainable SITES Initiative. 34 |
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| 79 | 79 | | |
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| 80 | 80 | | |
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| 81 | 81 | | LC001810 - Page 3 of 10 |
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| 82 | 82 | | (11) "Office " means the office of energy resources. 1 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (12) "Owner " means the owner of record of a building, or a designated agent thereof, 2 |
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| 84 | 84 | | including, but not limited to, the association or organization of unit owners responsible for 3 |
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| 85 | 85 | | management in the case of a condominium, the board of directors in the case of a cooperative 4 |
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| 86 | 86 | | apartment corporation, and the net lessee in the case of a building subject to a net lease with a term 5 |
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| 87 | 87 | | of not less than forty-nine (49) years, inclusive of all renewal options. 6 |
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| 88 | 88 | | (5)(13) “Public agency” means every state or municipal office, board, commission, 7 |
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| 89 | 89 | | committee, bureau, department, or public institution of education, or any political subdivision 8 |
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| 90 | 90 | | thereof. 9 |
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| 91 | 91 | | (6)(14) “Public facility” means any public institution, public facility, public equipment, or 10 |
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| 92 | 92 | | any physical asset owned, including its public real-property site, leased or controlled in whole or 11 |
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| 93 | 93 | | in part by this state, a public agency, a municipality or a political subdivision, that is for public or 12 |
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| 94 | 94 | | government use. 13 |
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| 95 | 95 | | (7)(15) “Public major facility project” means: 14 |
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| 96 | 96 | | (i) A public facility building construction project larger than ten thousand (10,000) gross 15 |
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| 97 | 97 | | square feet of occupied or conditioned space, and its public real-property site; or 16 |
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| 98 | 98 | | (ii) A public facility building renovation project larger than ten thousand (10,000) gross 17 |
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| 99 | 99 | | square feet of occupied or conditioned space, and its public real-property site. 18 |
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| 100 | 100 | | (16) "Residential building " means a building or multiple buildings on a parcel of which 19 |
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| 101 | 101 | | not less than fifty percent (50%) of the gross floor area, including hallways and other common 20 |
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| 102 | 102 | | space serving residents, but excluding parking, is used for dwelling purposes, or any grouping of 21 |
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| 103 | 103 | | residential buildings designated by the office or a municipality as an appropriate reporting unit for 22 |
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| 104 | 104 | | the purposes of this chapter; provided, however, that "residential building " shall not include a 23 |
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| 105 | 105 | | building owned or leased by a municipal or state agency. 24 |
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| 106 | 106 | | (17) "Tenant" means any tenant, tenant-stockholder of a cooperative apartment 25 |
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| 107 | 107 | | corporation, or condominium unit owner. 26 |
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| 108 | 108 | | SECTION 2. Chapter 37-24 of the General Laws entitled "The Green Buildings Act" is 27 |
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| 109 | 109 | | hereby amended by adding thereto the following section: 28 |
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| 110 | 110 | | 37-24-7. Building performance standards act. 29 |
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| 111 | 111 | | (a) For large buildings, the office shall undertake energy use benchmarking to determine 30 |
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| 112 | 112 | | whether each building utilizes more or less energy, and emits more or less greenhouse gases, than 31 |
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| 113 | 113 | | buildings of comparable size, occupancies and uses, and to inform a statewide analysis of energy 32 |
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| 114 | 114 | | use trends and opportunities to increase energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. 33 |
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| 115 | 115 | | To conduct the benchmarking, the office shall create, procure, or designate an energy use 34 |
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| 116 | 116 | | |
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| 117 | 117 | | |
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| 118 | 118 | | LC001810 - Page 4 of 10 |
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| 119 | 119 | | benchmarking tool and shall provide technical support and assistance on the use of the 1 |
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| 120 | 120 | | benchmarking tool to the owners of buildings subject to this section. 2 |
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| 121 | 121 | | (b)(1) To administer this section, the office may designate subcategories within each 3 |
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| 122 | 122 | | building type and occupancy, and may establish different reporting requirements and energy 4 |
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| 123 | 123 | | performance standards for each subcategory. In establishing reporting requirements and energy 5 |
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| 124 | 124 | | performance standards, the office may consider whether tenant-occupied units or spaces are 6 |
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| 125 | 125 | | separately metered. 7 |
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| 126 | 126 | | (2) Not later than January 31 of each year, beginning in 2024, the owner of each large 8 |
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| 127 | 127 | | building shall report their energy use for the prior calendar year to the office. The office shall 9 |
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| 128 | 128 | | provide a paper form or online portal for the submission of this information. The office shall 10 |
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| 129 | 129 | | determine what information is necessary to request, and will request, at a minimum, the information 11 |
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| 130 | 130 | | listed in subsection (c) of this section. The owner of a building subject to this section may authorize 12 |
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| 131 | 131 | | a gas or electric distribution company or other third party to report building-specific data to the 13 |
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| 132 | 132 | | office, and the gas or electric distribution company shall report building-specific data to the office 14 |
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| 133 | 133 | | upon such authorization; provided, however, that such authorization shall not relieve an owner from 15 |
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| 134 | 134 | | compliance with this section. 16 |
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| 135 | 135 | | (3) Annually, an owner of a large building with separately-metered and tenant-occupied 17 |
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| 136 | 136 | | units or spaces shall request from each tenant of the building all information necessary to comply 18 |
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| 137 | 137 | | with the requirements of subsection (b)(2) of this section and each tenant shall report the required 19 |
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| 138 | 138 | | information to the owner. The owner of a large building may bypass individual authorization and 20 |
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| 139 | 139 | | request the electric and gas distribution companies to provide the aggregate energy consumption of 21 |
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| 140 | 140 | | all meters in the building, including tenant-occupied units and separately-metered units, and the 22 |
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| 141 | 141 | | electric and gas distribution companies shall provide the data to the building owner, separated by 23 |
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| 142 | 142 | | month and consumption by source. Failure of an owner to report energy use information to the 24 |
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| 143 | 143 | | office shall not impose liability on a tenant. 25 |
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| 144 | 144 | | (4) The office shall establish a deadline extension or hardship waiver process for owners 26 |
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| 145 | 145 | | who, in the judgment of the office, demonstrate cause for a deadline extension or hardship waiver. 27 |
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| 146 | 146 | | (5) If an occupied building subject to the requirements of this section is transferred, the 28 |
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| 147 | 147 | | buyer shall make reasonable efforts to report energy use information for the building for the entire 29 |
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| 148 | 148 | | calendar year, if practicable. 30 |
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| 149 | 149 | | (c)(1) Annually, not later than March 31, the office shall make available on its executive 31 |
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| 150 | 150 | | climate change website and dashboard required by § 42-6.2-3(13) energy use information and data 32 |
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| 151 | 151 | | for the preceding calendar year for each large building, on a building-by-building basis. For each 33 |
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| 152 | 152 | | building, the information made available shall include, but not be limited to: 34 |
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| 153 | 153 | | |
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| 154 | 154 | | |
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| 155 | 155 | | LC001810 - Page 5 of 10 |
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| 156 | 156 | | (i) The address of the building and the municipality in which the building is located; 1 |
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| 157 | 157 | | (ii) The owner of the building; 2 |
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| 158 | 158 | | (iii) The building’s total energy use in kBTU, total greenhouse gas emissions in pounds of 3 |
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| 159 | 159 | | carbon dioxide equivalent, total square footage, energy intensity in kBTU per square foot and 4 |
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| 160 | 160 | | greenhouse gas emissions per square foot in pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per square foot; 5 |
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| 161 | 161 | | (iv) The breakdown of the building’s energy use by electricity, gas, steam and other 6 |
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| 162 | 162 | | sources; and 7 |
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| 163 | 163 | | (v) An energy performance rating or assessment score. 8 |
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| 164 | 164 | | (2) The office shall utilize such practices as are necessary to prevent the public disclosure 9 |
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| 165 | 165 | | of personal information regarding owners and tenants, and maintain a quality assurance process to 10 |
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| 166 | 166 | | improve the accuracy and completeness of the available information. The office shall provide 11 |
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| 167 | 167 | | owners with the opportunity to submit contextual information related to energy use in their 12 |
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| 168 | 168 | | buildings and shall disclose such information on its website upon request by the owner. 13 |
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| 169 | 169 | | (d) The office shall make available to a regional planning agency, municipality or other 14 |
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| 170 | 170 | | public agency requesting such information any data set forth in this section. 15 |
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| 171 | 171 | | (e) The office shall prepare an annual comprehensive report on the energy performance of 16 |
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| 172 | 172 | | large buildings utilizing the information and data collected pursuant to this section. The report shall 17 |
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| 173 | 173 | | include, but not be limited to, an analysis of energy performance, greenhouse gas emissions, and 18 |
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| 174 | 174 | | energy sources by building size, occupancy, and use. The report shall also include, when available, 19 |
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| 175 | 175 | | energy performance and greenhouse gas emissions over time. The report shall be posted on the 20 |
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| 176 | 176 | | office’s website and sent to the house committee on environment and natural resources and the 21 |
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| 177 | 177 | | senate committee on environment and agriculture not later than March 31. 22 |
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| 178 | 178 | | (f) On the basis of the comprehensive reports prepared by the office pursuant to subsection 23 |
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| 179 | 179 | | (e) of this section and other information and data as deemed necessary by the commissioner of 24 |
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| 180 | 180 | | energy resources, the commissioner shall conduct an annual review of trends in the energy 25 |
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| 181 | 181 | | performance of large buildings and recommend changes to state laws, regulations, policies, and 26 |
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| 182 | 182 | | programs to achieve further energy reductions. 27 |
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| 183 | 183 | | (g) The office shall ensure that electric distribution companies provide owners of buildings 28 |
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| 184 | 184 | | subject to this section with up-to-date information about energy efficiency opportunities or actions 29 |
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| 185 | 185 | | available to increase energy efficiency, including incentives in utility-administered or other energy 30 |
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| 186 | 186 | | efficiency programs and changes in energy assessment technology. The office shall prioritize those 31 |
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| 187 | 187 | | buildings that have not demonstrated year-to-year improvement in their energy performance rating 32 |
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| 188 | 188 | | or assessment score. 33 |
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| 189 | 189 | | (h)(1) The office shall establish energy performance standards for each building type. The 34 |
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| 190 | 190 | | |
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| 191 | 191 | | |
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| 192 | 192 | | LC001810 - Page 6 of 10 |
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| 193 | 193 | | office shall establish these standards on the following schedule: 1 |
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| 194 | 194 | | (i) Buildings owned or leased by a municipality, state agency, or other government or 2 |
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| 195 | 195 | | quasi-government entity consisting of not less than ten thousand square feet (10,000 sq. ft.) of gross 3 |
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| 196 | 196 | | floor area, and residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than twenty-five thousand 4 |
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| 197 | 197 | | square feet (25,000 sq. ft.) of gross floor area: no later than December 31, 2024, and every five (5) 5 |
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| 198 | 198 | | years thereafter; 6 |
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| 199 | 199 | | (ii) Residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than twenty thousand square 7 |
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| 200 | 200 | | feet (20,000 sq. ft.) of gross floor area: no later than December 31, 2027, and every five (5) years 8 |
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| 201 | 201 | | thereafter; and 9 |
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| 202 | 202 | | (iii) Residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than fifteen thousand square 10 |
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| 203 | 203 | | feet (15,000 sq. ft.) of gross floor area: no later than December 31, 2030, and every five (5) years 11 |
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| 204 | 204 | | thereafter. 12 |
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| 205 | 205 | | (2) The office shall establish reporting and data verification requirements for each five (5) 13 |
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| 206 | 206 | | year compliance cycle. These standards shall apply only to large buildings. 14 |
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| 207 | 207 | | (3) In developing energy performance standards, the office shall maximize opportunities 15 |
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| 208 | 208 | | for the state to achieve the requirements of § 42-6.2-2, as well as other laws and policies related to 16 |
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| 209 | 209 | | climate change, emissions reductions, energy efficiency, and renewable energy. 17 |
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| 210 | 210 | | (4) The office may establish campus-wide energy performance standards for post-18 |
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| 211 | 211 | | secondary educational institutions and hospitals with multiple buildings in a single location that are 19 |
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| 212 | 212 | | owned by a single entity; provided that, the development of any standard by the office shall be 20 |
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| 213 | 213 | | based upon an analysis of the existing building efficiency of each campus and the compliance 21 |
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| 214 | 214 | | pathways shall achieve savings comparable to those outlined in subsection (i) of this section. 22 |
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| 215 | 215 | | (5) The office shall set energy performance standards that are at least as strong as the 23 |
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| 216 | 216 | | median energy performance rating or assessment score of large buildings of each building type. 24 |
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| 217 | 217 | | (i)(1) For the initial five (5) year compliance cycle, owners of large buildings with an 25 |
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| 218 | 218 | | energy performance rating or assessment score lower than the energy performance standard 26 |
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| 219 | 219 | | established by the office shall satisfy one of the following compliance pathways: 27 |
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| 220 | 220 | | (i) An energy performance pathway, which shall require a building to demonstrate a 28 |
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| 221 | 221 | | decrease in normalized site energy use averaged over the last two (2) years of the five (5) year 29 |
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| 222 | 222 | | compliance cycle, as compared to the normalized site energy use averaged over the last two (2) 30 |
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| 223 | 223 | | years preceding the first year of the five (5) year compliance cycle; or 31 |
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| 224 | 224 | | (ii) An emissions performance pathway, which shall require a building to demonstrate a 32 |
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| 225 | 225 | | decrease in normalized site greenhouse gas emissions over the last two (2) years of the five (5) year 33 |
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| 226 | 226 | | compliance cycle, as compared to the normalized site greenhouse gas emissions averaged over the 34 |
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| 227 | 227 | | |
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| 228 | 228 | | |
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| 229 | 229 | | LC001810 - Page 7 of 10 |
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| 230 | 230 | | two (2) years preceding the first year of the five (5) year compliance cycle; provided that, switching 1 |
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| 231 | 231 | | from oil or another fuel to natural gas for space heating or water heating shall not count toward a 2 |
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| 232 | 232 | | building’s compliance with this pathway. 3 |
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| 233 | 233 | | (iii) The office shall require large buildings subject to the requirements of this subsection 4 |
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| 234 | 234 | | to reduce normalized site energy use or greenhouse gas emissions by at least twenty percent (20%) 5 |
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| 235 | 235 | | over the initial five (5) year compliance cycle, and may require greater reductions if the office finds 6 |
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| 236 | 236 | | that it is feasible to do so and will help achieve the state’s enforceable greenhouse gas emissions 7 |
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| 237 | 237 | | targets under § 42-6.2-2. The office shall hold at least one public hearing before setting the required 8 |
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| 238 | 238 | | reduction in normalized site energy use or greenhouse gas emissions over the initial five (5) year 9 |
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| 239 | 239 | | compliance cycle. 10 |
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| 240 | 240 | | (2) For subsequent five (5) year compliance cycles, the office shall establish energy 11 |
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| 241 | 241 | | performance standards and compliance pathways designed to achieve emissions and energy 12 |
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| 242 | 242 | | reduction targets; provided that, the compliance pathways shall maximize the potential to reduce 13 |
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| 243 | 243 | | greenhouse gas emissions from large buildings by at least eighty percent (80%) by 2040, compared 14 |
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| 244 | 244 | | to the baseline level of emissions in 2023, and to achieve the state greenhouse gas emissions limits 15 |
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| 245 | 245 | | under the state’s enforceable greenhouse gas emissions targets under § 42-6.2-2. 16 |
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| 246 | 246 | | (j) The office shall establish exemption criteria for large buildings to delay compliance 17 |
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| 247 | 247 | | with the energy performance standards for up to three (3) years if the owner demonstrates, to the 18 |
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| 248 | 248 | | satisfaction of the office, financial distress, change of ownership, vacancy, major renovation, 19 |
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| 249 | 249 | | pending demolition, or other acceptable circumstances determined by the office by regulation. 20 |
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| 250 | 250 | | (k) The office shall coordinate with utility companies and the public utilities commission 21 |
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| 251 | 251 | | to establish incentive and financial assistance programs for owners to meet energy performance 22 |
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| 252 | 252 | | standards. 23 |
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| 253 | 253 | | (l)(1) Municipalities may establish and enforce energy use benchmarking programs or 24 |
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| 254 | 254 | | energy performance standards for buildings, in lieu of the programs and standards established by 25 |
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| 255 | 255 | | the office; provided that, the following conditions are met: 26 |
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| 256 | 256 | | (i) The municipality uses an energy use benchmarking tool that collects information similar 27 |
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| 257 | 257 | | to the energy use benchmarking tool used by the state; 28 |
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| 258 | 258 | | (ii) Annually, not later than July 1, the municipality collects and forwards to the office, on 29 |
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| 259 | 259 | | a building-by-building basis, the required energy use information from the previous calendar year, 30 |
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| 260 | 260 | | using standardized units of measure and formats established by the office; and 31 |
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| 261 | 261 | | (iii) Energy performance standards established by the municipality result in reductions in 32 |
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| 262 | 262 | | energy use and greenhouse gas emissions that are comparable to or greater than the standards 33 |
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| 263 | 263 | | established by the office. Municipalities may set lower gross floor area thresholds for buildings 34 |
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| 264 | 264 | | |
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| 265 | 265 | | |
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| 266 | 266 | | LC001810 - Page 8 of 10 |
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| 267 | 267 | | subject to their programs and standards. 1 |
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| 268 | 268 | | (2) The office shall review requests from municipalities to establish their own programs, 2 |
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| 269 | 269 | | and the office may deny requests if it is not satisfied that the conditions in subsection (1) of this 3 |
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| 270 | 270 | | section are met. The office shall evaluate any municipal programs established under this subsection 4 |
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| 271 | 271 | | at least once every five (5) years, and may withdraw its approval if municipal programs fail to 5 |
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| 272 | 272 | | comply with those conditions. 6 |
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| 273 | 273 | | (3) The office shall include data from all municipalities, including municipalities with their 7 |
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| 274 | 274 | | own energy use benchmarking programs or energy performance standards, in the website 8 |
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| 275 | 275 | | designated in subsection (c) of this section, in the report required under subsection (e) of this 9 |
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| 276 | 276 | | section, and in the review required under subsection (f) of this section. 10 |
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| 277 | 277 | | (m)(1) Owners of large buildings may pay an alternative compliance payment if their 11 |
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| 278 | 278 | | buildings fail to satisfy one of the compliance pathways established in subsection (i) of this section. 12 |
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| 279 | 279 | | The amount of the alternative compliance payment shall be set by the office and shall be assessed 13 |
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| 280 | 280 | | per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emissions, by which the building falls short of meeting 14 |
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| 281 | 281 | | the requirements of subsection (h) of this section. The alternative compliance payment shall be no 15 |
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| 282 | 282 | | less than two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225) per metric ton of carbon dioxide equivalent 16 |
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| 283 | 283 | | emissions, and shall be set at an amount ensuring that it is more cost-effective for the owners of the 17 |
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| 284 | 284 | | vast majority of large buildings to make the improvements necessary to meet the compliance 18 |
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| 285 | 285 | | pathways rather than pay the alternative compliance payment. The office shall revise the amount 19 |
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| 286 | 286 | | of the alternative compliance payment at least once every five (5) years. The alternative compliance 20 |
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| 287 | 287 | | payment shall be assessed in the final year of the five (5) year compliance period and in every 21 |
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| 288 | 288 | | subsequent year that a building fails to satisfy one of the compliance pathways. 22 |
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| 289 | 289 | | (2) Owners of large buildings failing to comply with the energy use reporting and 23 |
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| 290 | 290 | | benchmarking requirements of this section or knowingly providing false or incomplete information 24 |
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| 291 | 291 | | to the office shall be subject to a fine. Owners of large buildings failing to satisfy one of the 25 |
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| 292 | 292 | | compliance pathways established in subsection (i) of this section who do not pay an alternative 26 |
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| 293 | 293 | | compliance payment to the office, as described in subsection (1) of this section, shall also be subject 27 |
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| 294 | 294 | | to a fine. Fines shall be determined by the office and shall be assessed per day that a building owner 28 |
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| 295 | 295 | | is not in compliance with the requirements of this section. Fines shall be no less than five hundred 29 |
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| 296 | 296 | | dollars ($500) per day of noncompliance for buildings consisting of not less than twenty-five 30 |
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| 297 | 297 | | thousand square feet (25,000 sq. ft.) of gross floor area, three hundred fifty dollars( $350) per day 31 |
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| 298 | 298 | | of noncompliance for buildings consisting of not less than twenty thousand square feet (20,000 sq. 32 |
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| 299 | 299 | | ft.) and not greater than twenty-four thousand nine hundred ninety-nine square feet (24,999 sq. ft.) 33 |
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| 300 | 300 | | of gross floor area, and two hundred dollars ($200) per day of noncompliance for buildings 34 |
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| 301 | 301 | | |
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| 302 | 302 | | |
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| 303 | 303 | | LC001810 - Page 9 of 10 |
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| 304 | 304 | | consisting of less than twenty thousand square feet (20,000 sq. ft.) of gross floor area. The office 1 |
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| 305 | 305 | | may set different levels of fines for different violations of this section. 2 |
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| 306 | 306 | | (3) Alternative compliance payments and fines collected by the office shall be deposited 3 |
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| 307 | 307 | | into a separate account established by the office. Any funds collected shall be used first to pay for 4 |
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| 308 | 308 | | the costs incurred by the office in administering this section, and any remaining funds shall be used 5 |
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| 309 | 309 | | to further the objectives of this section, including deep energy retrofits of low-income and 6 |
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| 310 | 310 | | moderate-income housing. 7 |
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| 311 | 311 | | (4) The office shall take all reasonable steps to inform the owners of large buildings of their 8 |
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| 312 | 312 | | obligations under this section. 9 |
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| 313 | 313 | | (n) In municipalities that establish their own energy use benchmarking programs or energy 10 |
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| 314 | 314 | | performance standards, the municipality and not the office shall assess any alternative compliance 11 |
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| 315 | 315 | | payments or fines. Alternative compliance payments and fines assessed by municipalities shall be 12 |
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| 316 | 316 | | no less than those described under subsection (m) of this section. Funds collected through 13 |
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| 317 | 317 | | alternative compliance payments and fines assessed by a municipality shall be retained by the 14 |
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| 318 | 318 | | municipality. 15 |
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| 319 | 319 | | SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage. 16 |
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| 320 | 320 | | ======== |
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| 321 | 321 | | LC001810 |
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| 322 | 322 | | ======== |
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| 323 | 323 | | |
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| 324 | 324 | | |
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| 325 | 325 | | LC001810 - Page 10 of 10 |
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| 326 | 326 | | EXPLANATION |
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| 327 | 327 | | BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL |
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| 328 | 328 | | OF |
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| 329 | 329 | | A N A C T |
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| 330 | 330 | | RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- THE GREEN BUILDINGS ACT |
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| 331 | 331 | | *** |
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| 332 | 332 | | This act would create building energy performance standards based on the size of 1 |
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| 333 | 333 | | buildings, to achieve, by way of benchmarking and reporting, a statewide analysis of energy use 2 |
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| 334 | 334 | | and strategies to increase energy efficiency. 3 |
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| 335 | 335 | | This act would take effect upon passage. 4 |
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| 336 | 336 | | ======== |
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| 337 | 337 | | LC001810 |
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| 338 | 338 | | ======== |
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| 339 | 339 | | |
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