READ FIRST TIME 02/16/11.   

     AN ACT Relating to maximizing the use of our state's natural resources; and creating new sections.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature finds that research has shown the importance of reducing environmental impacts through building design. The primary focus on building designs has been an attempt to reduce energy requirements, primarily heating and cooling, over the course of a building's lifetime. However, what has been overlooked are opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts at earlier stages in the building and construction design process. The selection of building materials and products, such as using wood and wood products in the design stage, provides substantial opportunities to reduce lifetime greenhouse gas emissions. A key component of life-cycle cost analysis is the energy expended in the extraction, transportation, manufacturing, and production of the building materials being considered in the construction of buildings.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   (1) The University of Washington, in conjunction with a nonprofit consortium involved in research on renewable industrial materials, in consultation with the state building code council, shall conduct a review of other states' existing codes, international standards, and literature on life-cycle assessment, embodied energy, and embodied carbon in building materials.
     (2) By July 2012, the University of Washington, in conjunction with a nonprofit consortium involved in research on renewable industrial materials, shall make recommendations to the legislature for methodologies to: (1) Conduct an assessment and determine the amount of embodied energy and carbon in building materials or greenhouse gas emissions avoided by using building materials with low-embodied energy or carbon; and (2) develop a comprehensive guideline using a common and consistent metric for the embodied energy and carbon in building materials. The University of Washington, in conjunction with a nonprofit consortium involved in research on renewable industrial materials, shall seek input from building materials industries and other interested parties when developing its recommendations. The department of general administration shall make recommendations for streamlining current statutory requirements for life-cycle cost analysis, energy conservation in design, and high performance of public buildings.