Chapter 212
2009 -- S 0232 SUBSTITUTE B
Enacted 11/09/09
A N A C T
RELATING TO PUBLIC PROPERTY AND WORKS -- ESTABLISHING A GREEN BUILDINGS ACT
Introduced By: Senators DiPalma, Felag, C Levesque, Connors, and DeVall
Date
Introduced: February 11, 2009
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Title 37 of the General Laws entitled
"PUBLIC PROPERTY AND
WORKS" is hereby
amended by adding thereto the following chapter:
CHAPTER
24
THE
GREEN BUILDINGS ACT
37-24-1.
Short title. – This act shall be known and may
be cited as "The Green Buildings
Act."
37-24-2.
Legislative findings. – It is hereby found and
declared as follows:
(1) Energy costs for
public buildings are skyrocketing and will likely continue to
increase.
(2) Energy use by
public buildings contributes substantially to the problems of pollution
and global warming.
(3) Public buildings
can be built and renovated using high-performance methods that save
energy, reduce water consumption, improve indoor air
quality, preserve the environment, and
make workers and students more productive.
(4) This law is
necessary to more efficiently spend public funds.
37-24-3.
Definitions. – For purposes of this chapter,
the following definitions shall
apply:
(1)
"Department" means the department of administration.
(2) "LEED
certified standard" means the current version of the
Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design green building rating standard
referred to as LEED certified.
(3) “Equivalent
standard” means a high-performance green building standard other than
LEED, which provides a rating system or measurement
tool, that, when used, leads to outcomes,
similar or equivalent to, LEED, outcomes, in terms of green
building performance; current
accepted equivalent standards include green globes, Northeast
collaborative high-performance
schools protocol; or other equivalent high-performance green
building standard accepted by the
department;
(4) “Construction”
means the process of building, altering, repairing, improving, or
demolishing forty percent (40%) or more of any public structures
or buildings, or other public
improvements of any kind to any public real property; and
(5) “Public facility”
means any public institution, public facility, public equipment, or
any physical asset owned, leased or controlled in
whole or in part by this state or any agency or
political subdivision thereof;
(6) "Major
facility project" means:
(i)
A building construction project larger than five thousand (5,000) gross square
feet of
occupied or conditioned space; or
(ii) A building
renovation project is larger than ten thousand (10,000) gross square feet of
occupied or conditioned space.
(7) "Public
agency" means every state office, board, commission, committee, bureau,
department or public institution of higher education.
37-24-4.
Green building standards. – (a) All major facility projects of public agencies
shall be designed and constructed to at least the LEED
certified or an equivalent high
performance green building standard. This provision applies to
major facility projects that have
not entered the design phase prior to January 1, 2010.
(b) All major
facility projects of a public school district, where the project receives any
funding from the state shall be designed, and constructed to
at least the LEED certified standard,
or the Northeast Collaborative for High-Performance
Schools Protocol, Version 1.1 or above.
This provision applies to major facility projects that
have not entered the design phase prior to
January 1, 2010.
(c) A major facility
project does not have to meet LEED certified standard or an
equivalent high-performance green building standard if:
(1) There is no
appropriate LEED standard or other high-performance green building
standard for that type of building or renovation project. In
such case, the department will set
lesser green building standards that are appropriate to the
project.
(2) There is no
practical way to apply the LEED standard or other high-performance
green building standard to a particular building or
renovation project. In such case, the
department will set lesser green building standards that are
appropriate to the project.
37-24-5.
Administration and reports. – (a) The department shall promulgate such
regulations as are necessary to enforce this section. Those regulations
shall include how the
department will determine whether a project qualifies for an
exception from the LEED certified
or equivalent high-performance green building standard,
and the lesser green building standards
that may be imposed on projects that are granted
exceptions.
(b) The department
shall monitor and document ongoing operating savings that result
from major facility projects designed, constructed and
certified as meeting the LEED certified
standard and annually publish a public report of findings and
recommended changes in policy.
The report shall also include a description of
projects that were granted exceptions from the
LEED certified standard, the reasons for exception,
and the lesser green building standards
imposed.
(c) The department
shall create a green buildings advisory committee
composed of
representatives from the design, construction, lumber and building
materials industries involved
in public works contracting, personnel from affected
public agencies and school boards that
oversee public works projects, and others at the department's
discretion to provide advice on
implementing this section. The advisory committee shall make
recommendations regarding an
education and training process and an ongoing evaluation or
feedback process to help the
department implement this section.
37-24-6.
Protection from liability. – No person,
corporation or entity shall be held liable
for the failure of a major facility project to meet the
LEED certified standard or other standards
established for the project as long as a good faith attempt was
made to achieve the standard set for
the project.
SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC00984/SUB B
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