READ FIRST TIME 02/01/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to defining a green home and an energy efficient home; adding a new section to chapter 19.27 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The state building code council shall:
     (a) Review local and nationally recognized green building and energy efficiency programs, standards, and codes currently in use or being developed for use by 2012 that: (i) Establish criteria for energy efficiency, indoor air quality, environmental responsibility, and resource efficiency, including a life cycle assessment of building products; (ii) provides for varying levels of certified green homes; and (iii) establishes energy efficiency levels;
     (b) Review local or national green building and energy efficiency programs, standards, and codes establishing national accreditation or certification criteria for third-party inspection agencies and firms conducting plan review and inspection services as a method to verify compliance with the green building or energy efficiency program, standard, or code;
     (c) Evaluate the feasibility of creating a residential energy code appendix that is consistent with the state energy code adopted under chapter 19.27A RCW and RCW 19.27A.015 for local jurisdictions to adopt by reference; and
     (d) Identify and evaluate the impacts to local jurisdictions required to implement this act.
     (2)(a) The state building code council shall conduct the study required under subsection (1) of this section in collaboration with interested stakeholders including representatives of the department of commerce, the Washington State University extension energy office, the Washington association of realtors, the Washington association of building officials, the building industry association of Washington, local master builder association green programs, the appraiser coalition of Washington, and the American institute of architects, Washington council.
     (b) The state building code council shall provide a report of its findings to the legislature by December 1, 2011. The report must include recommendations for the expected percent of energy efficiency gains that may be achieved above national model energy codes; provide recommendations to facilitate implementation by local jurisdictions of the definitions for energy efficient home and green home; recommendations for consideration of the embodied energy consumption in differing types of construction materials; and identify impacts to the housing market.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 19.27 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By December 1, 2012, the state building code council shall adopt rules, in conformity with chapter 34.05 RCW, to define: (a) Green home; and (b) energy efficient home for: (i) A group R-3 single-family dwelling unit; and (ii) a duplex residential dwelling unit or a townhouse residential dwelling unit constructed under the provisions of the international residential code or group R-2 apartment houses with residential dwelling units, as defined in section 310 of the 2009 international building code. The rules must be developed in consideration of the information and recommendations developed from the review of local and national energy efficient and green home criteria as required under section 1 of this act and in collaboration with interested stakeholders identified in section 1(2)(a) of this act.
     (2) The state building code council must:
     (a) Review the rules every three years coinciding with the reviews and updates to the Washington state energy code as required in chapter 423, Laws of 2009. The review of the definitions of green home and energy efficient home must be included as an element of the Washington state energy code progress report as required in chapter 423, Laws of 2009;
     (b) Review the definitions of green home and energy efficient home in 2030. The definitions developed under subsection (1) of this section expire July 1, 2031, unless extended by the legislature; and
     (c) Provide energy efficient home compliance methods that are consistent with the mandatory sections of the Washington state energy code, including a method to show compliance using the prescriptive, the component performance, or the systems analysis approaches, and prescribe labels for an energy efficient home that are consistent with energy efficiency labeling required by the energy code.
     (3) The state building code council, after considering the feasibility of creating a residential energy code appendix, may publish an appendix of the requirements for an energy efficient home for each revised edition of the Washington state energy code.
     (4) A local building department or a third-party inspector approved by a local building department may provide plan review and inspections for energy efficient homes.