More States Consider "Green" Legislation

In January NAIOP reported on legislation addressing green building standards in New Jersey and Michigan. New Jersey’s Senate Economic Growth Committee will hold hearings on some of the green building bills pending legislation this week. To date, Arizona, California, Colorado,Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia have joined the growing list of state
legislatures to take up this issue in 2007.
In Arizona, H.B. 2275 requires municipalities to adopt and annually update a building energy code for commercial construction. H.B. 2494 establishes an energy and water savings loan fund and allows the sate to provide competitive loans based on the energy and water savings merits of proposed projects.
California A.B. 35 requires the California Integrated Waste Management Board (CIWMB) to adopt regulations for sustainable building standards for the construction/renovation of state buildings. and requires state buildings for which development of capitol plans or renovation commences on or after July 1, 2010, be built, designed, and operated in accordance with those regulations.
Colorado H.B. 1146 requires every board of county commissioners and governing body of a municipality to adopt an energy code that meets or exceeds the standards in the 2003 international energy conservation code for the construction and renovation of commercial buildings. S.B. 51 requires the state agency that controls the renovation, design, or construction of state-assisted facilities to register with the U.S Green Building Council to declare its intent to
pursue LEED standard for projects, and requires the Department of Personnel and Administration to develop and issue guidelines for implementing LEED requirements.
Several bills in Connecticut relate to green building requirements for municipal buildings and schools. Hawaii H.B. 1880 and S.B. 1985 establish a tax credit for the acquisition of environmentally-friendly green technology facilities. S.B. 598 provides a general excise tax exemption for buildings or facilities in conformance with the LEED green building rating system.
Illinois H.B. 185 and S.B. 112 create the “pay as you save” program for renewable energy products, and directs the Illinois Commerce Commission to initiate the pilot project, and then determine the time frame and evaluate the project. The pay as you save program allows utility customers to purchase renewable energy products with no up front payments. The customers are allowed to then make payments for the purchase on their utility bill. Similar legislation has been
introduced in Vermont this legislative session as well.
Maryland S.B. 332 requires capital projects that include the construction of a building that is
5000 square feet or greater to be constructed to be a high performance building, defined as a building that: (1) achieves at least a silver LEED rating; (2) achieves at least a two globe rating according to the Green Globes Program as adopted by the Green Building Initiative; (3) achieves at least a comparable numeric rating according to a nationally recognized, accepted, and appropriate numeric sustainable development rating system, guideline, or standard; or (4) meets
nationally recognized, consensus-based, and accepted green building guidelines, standards, or systems approved by the State. It requires capital projects that include the major renovation of a building to be renovated to be a high performance building.
Massachusetts has several pre-filed bills for which text was not available at the time of this publication. Nevada also has a bill draft request, B.D.R. 945, which makes various changes regarding green building standards, energy efficiency and conservation. Its full text is not yet available.
New Mexico H.B. 269 allows counties, after review by appropriate state agencies, to permit specific rural areas as “sustainable development testing sites” in which concepts and inventions related to residential sustainable development, including energy, housing, water harvesting, sewage treatment, food production and bio-fuel production, can be tested to the point of failure
under conditions involving actual year-round inhabitants on the site, all of whom have signed an acknowledgment that they have read a disclosure statement about the sustainable development testing site. H.B. 534 and S.B. 543 create the sustainable building tax credit, available for the construction of a sustainable building or the renovation of an existing building into a sustainable
building. The amount of the credit will be calculated based on the certification level the building has achieved in the LEED green building rating system and the amount of qualified occupied square footage in the building. New York A.B. 569 requires municipalities to consider using alternative energy sources in the
construction of new municipal buildings. A.B. 906 and S.B. 291 require the purchase, repair, or remodeling of school buildings to meet New York state green buildings standards to promote energy efficiency and reduce pollution. A.B. 2005 requires new or substantially reconstructed agency buildings to comply with the LEED silver rating.
Pennsylvania H.B. 45 requires the design, construction and renovation of buildings that receive a state appropriation to comply with increased energy and environmental standards. H.B. 46 establishes a tax credit for high-performance buildings.
South Carolina H.B. 3034 requires the application of green building standards or measures of energy efficiency and energy conservation to buildings constructed on state property with construction budgets of more than $15 million, with exemptions for certain state-funded structures. S.B. 362 requires all public school projects to meet environmental standards set forth by the U.S.G.B.C. S.B. 376 requires all major facility projects in the State to be designed, constructed, and certified to at least the LEED Silver standard or the LEED for Existing
Buildings Silver standard. S.B. 377 stipulates that a resident taxpayer who constructs a commercial facility project in the state that is designed, constructed, and certified to at least the LEED Silver standard or the LEED for Existing Buildings Silver standard may receive a credit against income taxes.
Texas H.B. 467 requires an electric utility to establish a program enabling building owners and tenants to obtain and install energy efficiency products.
Virginia H.B. 2555 and S.B. 1273 require all major facility projects of state agencies to be constructed to meet the LEED silver standard unless granted an exemption by the Director of the Department of General Services. Its application is phased in over the next three years based on project square footage. H.B. 2656 requires all departments, agencies, and institutions to ensure that the design and construction of state-owned buildings complies with LEED silver standards
unless granted an exemption. H.J.R. 681 establishes a joint subcommittee to study the risks and opportunities in the Commonwealth as a result of climate change, and provides for a study of the means to minimize harmful impacts on the environment, including green building practices and
alternative fuels.