It is the public policy of the state to ensure that energy conservation practices and renewable energy systems are employed in the design of major publicly owned or leased facilities and that the use of at least one renewable energy or combined heat and power system is considered.
Whenever a public agency determines that any major facility or a critical governmental facility is to be constructed or renovated, the agency must include a life-cycle cost analysis in the design phase. The Department of Enterprise Services is responsible for developing guidelines to define a procedure and method for the performance of life-cycle cost analyses to promote the selection of low life-cycle cost alternatives. At a minimum, the guidelines must contain provisions that:
"Energy-consumption analysis" means the evaluation of all energy systems and components by demand and type of energy, including the internal energy load imposed on a major facility or a critical governmental facility by its occupants, equipment, and components, and the external energy load imposed on a major facility or a critical governmental facility by the climatic conditions of its location.
An energy-consumption analysis must include certain elements, including the comparison of three or more system alternatives, at least one of which must include renewable energy systems, and one of which must comply at a minimum with the sustainable design guidelines of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver standard.
It is the public policy of the state to ensure that greenhouse gas emissions reduction practices are included in the design of major publicly owned or leased facilities, and that the use of all-electric energy systems and at least one renewable energy or combined heat and power system is considered.
The life-cycle cost analysis guidelines developed by the Department of Enterprise Services must include provisions that identify all-electric energy systems as a system alternative.
The definition of "energy-consumption analysis" is amended to remove and replace the reference to a system alternative that complies with the sustainable design guidelines of the LEED silver standard with a system alternative that includes all-electric energy systems.
(In support) The increasingly clean electric grid gives the state a chance to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the buildings sector by transitioning the building stock to all-electric energy systems. This bill takes one small step in building sector decarbonization. This bill does not add new requirements, but rather changes the alternatives that have to be considered under existing requirements. The LEED silver standard was an aspirational standard in the early 2000s, and is now considered among the default building standards. This bill does not require public agencies to build one way or another. Better information can lead to better designs and better public facilities. Current statutory requirements do not directly address greenhouse gas emissions or the associated costs. This bill aligns with the work the State Efficiency and Environmental Performance program is doing by requiring the consideration of greenhouse gas emissions reductions in the design phase of constructing public facilities. This bill aligns with recommendations in the 2021 State Energy Strategy, which identifies public capital projects as an opportunity for the state to lead by example.
(Opposed) None.