AB737: Bill Text

LRB-0972/1

JTK/RNK/MES/PG:cjs:ph

2011 - 2012 LEGISLATURE

2011 Assembly BILL 737

March 15, 2012 - Introduced by Representative Molepske Jr. Referred to Committee on Energy and Utilities.

AB737,1,11 An Act to renumber and amend 13.48 (15) and 101.025 (4); to amend 16.84 (5), 101.027 (2), 101.027 (3) (a) 1., 101.027 (3) (b) 1., 101.05 (1) and (3) and 119.04 (1); and to create 13.48 (2) (jm), 13.48 (15) (b), 16.85 (3m), 16.856, 66.0902, 101.02 (25), 101.025 (4) (ar), 101.028, 101.61 (1m), 101.63 (1g), 101.63 (1m), 120.24 and 145.133 of the statutes; relating to: energy conservation standards for the construction of certain buildings, energy and environmental design standards for state buildings, structures, and facilities, energy and environmental design standards for school district facilities and other local government buildings, leasing of state buildings, structures, and facilities, standards for the construction and use of graywater systems, and granting rule-making authority.

Analysis by the Legislative Reference Bureau

Currently, with certain exceptions, the Department of Administration (DOA) must ensure that the specifications for each state construction project require the use of recovered and recycled materials to the extent that such use is technically and economically feasible. With certain exceptions, DOA must also prescribe and enforce energy efficiency standards for energy consuming equipment that is installed in connection with state construction projects. The standards must meet or exceed specified statutory standards. The Building Commission must also apply these standards when entering into certain leases on behalf of the state. Current law also requires the commission to employ a design for cogeneration of steam and electricity in state-owned central steam generating facilities unless the commission determines that such a design is not cost-effective and technically feasible. Currently, the commission must also ensure that state-operated steam generating facilities are designed to allow the use of biomass fuels and refuse-derived fuels to the greatest extent cost-effective and technically feasible. In addition, under current law, the commission is prohibited from approving the construction or major remodeling of or addition to any state building or structure unless the building or structure makes maximum practical use of passive solar energy system design elements and, unless not technically or economically feasible, incorporates an active solar energy system or photovoltaic solar energy system or other renewable energy system.

This bill directs DOA and the Building Commission to ensure that the plans and specifications for each major state construction project (each project for the construction of any new state building, structure, or facility containing at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space, or for the repair, renewal, or renovation, of any existing building, structure, or facility for occupancy by any state entity if the building, structure, or facility contains at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space and the project affects more than 50 percent of the existing gross square feet of conditioned space in the building, structure, or facility, or for the expansion of an existing state building, structure, or facility to add at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space) conform at a minimum to the requirements under the LEED Green Building Rating System at the silver performance level, or an equivalent performance level under an equivalent rating system, as prescribed by the Department of Safety and Professional Services (DSPS) based upon the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council except that with respect to the use of wood-based materials and products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, American Tree Farm System, or Sustainable Forest Initiative programs, current certification is the equivalent of that performance level to the extent of any conflict. Upon completion of a major state construction project, the bill directs DOA to obtain certification by the U.S. Green Building Council that the project conforms at a minimum to the requirements for certification at the LEED silver level or its equivalent. The bill also directs DOA and the Building Commission to ensure that each such building, structure, or facility conforms to specific standards specified by DSPS that are derived from various national and international building codes for energy performance, ventilation components, indoor air quality performance, and water usage level. The bill also directs DOA and the commission to ensure that each project to construct such a building, structure, or facility for the state shall conform to specified requirements for recycling of construction waste and demolition materials. In addition, the bill directs the commission to enforce compliance with the bill's requirements with respect to all major construction projects whenever the buildings, structures, or facilities being constructed are purchased by the state under a purchase agreement or whenever construction, repair, renewal, renovation, or expansion of a building, structure, or facility is performed for the state under a lease agreement with option to purchase.

The bill also directs the Building Commission to apply moneys available for its use under the Authorized State Building Program to achieve certification as of January 1, 2017, by the U.S. Green Building Council for not less than 15 percent of the gross square footage of conditioned space owned or leased by state agencies, as determined by DOA, as conforming at a minimum to the LEED energy performance requirements for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings. In addition, the bill directs DOA to promulgate rules that require the Building Commission to continue to apply moneys available for its use under the Authorized State Building Program during the period from January 1, 2017, to January 1, 2032, to achieve certification by the U.S. Green Building Council for greater percentages of the gross square footage of conditioned space owned or leased by state agencies as meeting minimum LEED performance requirements for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings by specified dates. The bill does not specify the amount of money that the commission must use to achieve these requirements.

Currently, DOA has responsibility for the negotiation and administration of leases of real property by this state, except as otherwise provided by law. The Building Commission has authority to approve leases of real property by the state, except as otherwise provided by law. This bill directs DOA, before entering into any lease, or renewing or extending any lease, for improved real property to be used by a state agency, to require the prospective lessor to disclose the energy use intensity for the total property and the annual energy usage for the total property, calculated in accordance with Energy Star standards, as determined by DSPS, and to verify and forward that information to the Building Commission. The bill directs DOA to require other state agencies that have authority to enter into leases for improved real property to obtain and forward the same information to the Building Commission before entering into, or renewing or extending, any lease for real property. The bill then prohibits the Building Commission from approving any lease for improved real property to be used by this state containing at least 10,000 square feet of conditioned space unless DOA certifies to the commission that the energy use intensity for the total property and the annual energy usage for the total property conform to Energy Star standards at a level sufficient to conform at a minimum to the threshold for compliance with the LEED Green Building Rating System for existing buildings-operation and maintenance performance requirements, as determined by DSPS. The bill directs the Building Commission to obtain certification by the U.S. Green Building Council that any such property conforms at a minimum to the requirements for certification at the LEED silver level or its equivalent. The bill directs the Building Commission to require other state agencies that have authority to enter into leases for improved real property, to certify to the commission, before entering into, or renewing or extending, any lease for real property to be used by this state, that the energy use intensity for the total property and the annual energy usage for the total property conform to the same standards.

The bill also requires DOA, with limited exceptions, to ensure that major state buildings, structures, and facilities that are constructed by or for the state conform to specified energy performance standards at increasingly stringent levels by specified dates beginning on the first day of the 7th month beginning after the day the act resulting from the bill becomes law and ending on January 1, 2032, by which date all major state buildings, structures, and facilities that are constructed by or for the state must achieve a zero net energy level of energy performance. In addition, the bill directs DOA to report annually to the governor and the Building Commission concerning the percentage level of adherence to the requirements imposed upon DOA under the bill that become effective on a date later than the end of the preceding year and the percentage level of adherence to the requirement imposed upon the Building Commission to apply all moneys available to the commission to achieve certification for at least 15 percent of conditioned space in existing owned or leased state buildings, structures, or facilities as conforming at a minimum to the LEED energy performance standards or their equivalent specified in the bill.

Under current law, DSPS is required to promulgate an energy conservation code that sets design requirements for construction and equipment for the purpose of energy conservation in public buildings and places of employment. DSPS must consider incorporating into the energy conservation code design requirements from the most current national energy efficiency design standards, including the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) or another energy efficiency code that is generally accepted and used by engineers and the construction industry. Current law requires that DSPS review the code on a regular basis, including whenever there is a revision of the IECC, and update the code accordingly.

This bill requires DSPS to incorporate into the energy conservation code either the IECC design standards or a standard that is based upon a specific standard of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), whichever is more stringent. As with the revision requirements under current law, the bill requires DSPS to update the code whenever the relevant standard is revised.

Current law also requires DSPS to promulgate rules for ventilation systems in public buildings and places of employment. This bill requires DSPS to incorporate a specific ASHRAE standard into those rules and to update the rules when the standard is revised.

Under current law, DSPS is required to promulgate rules that establish standards for the construction and inspection of one- and 2-family dwellings. Current law requires that, where feasible, the standards used must be those that are nationally recognized. This bill requires DSPS to also promulgate rules that establish voluntary energy efficiency standards for the construction of one- and 2- family dwellings. The standards must provide at least a 30 percent better energy efficiency benefit than the construction and standards that DSPS is required to promulgate under current law.

This bill requires DSPS to promulgate rules that establish standards for the installation of graywater and rainwater systems and that authorize the use of graywater and rainwater within the building, or on the property surrounding the building, from which the graywater was generated or the rainwater was collected. Under the bill, graywater is defined as wastewater generated from the use of a clothes washer, sink, shower, or bathtub.

This bill also imposes on a political subdivision (any city, village, town, or county) certain requirements for a major construction project. Under the bill, a major construction project means a project for the construction of a public building by or for a political subdivision that will contain at least 10,000 gross square feet of office space, or for the renovation of an existing public building that contains such office space if the renovation affects more than 50 percent of the office space in the existing building, or for the expansion of, or addition to, an existing public building that adds office space that is equal in size to at least 50 percent of the gross square feet of the existing building. The requirements imposed on a political subdivision under the bill are based on the requirements that the bill imposes on DOA and the Building Commission for a major state construction project.

The bill requires a political subdivision to ensure that the plans and specifications for each major construction project conform at a minimum to the requirements for certification at the silver performance level under the LEED Green Building Rating System, or an equivalent performance level under an equivalent rating system, as prescribed by DSPS and based on the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council, and that the energy performance, use and disposal of construction and demolition materials, ventilation components, indoor air quality performance, and water usage level for each major construction project conform to the standards that apply to a major state construction project of DOA and the Building Commission.

This bill imposes similar requirements for major construction projects of school districts. Each school board must ensure that the plans and specifications for each major construction project conform at a minimum to the requirements of the LEED Green Building Rating System at the silver performance level or its equivalent, as prescribed by DSPS. The bill also directs each school board to ensure that the energy performance, use and disposal of construction and demolition materials, ventilation components, indoor air quality performance, and water usage level for each major construction project conform to standards specified by DSPS that are derived from various national and international building codes.

For further information see the state and local fiscal estimate, which will be printed as an appendix to this bill.

The people of the state of Wisconsin, represented in senate and assembly, do enact as follows:

AB737, s. 1 Section 1. 13.48 (2) (jm) of the statutes is created to read:

AB737,5,3 13.48 (2) (jm) 1. In this paragraph, "conditioned space" means space that is designed to have controlled environmental conditions.

AB737,6,12 2. The building commission shall not approve the design or construction of any project for the construction of any building, structure, or facility for a board, agency, officer, department, commission, or body corporate, if the building, structure, or facility after construction will contain at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space for occupancy by any such entity, or of any project for the repair, renewal, renovation, or expansion of any existing building, structure, or facility for occupancy by any such entity if the building, structure, or facility contains at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space and the project affects more than 50 percent of the existing gross square feet of conditioned space in the building, structure, or facility, regardless of the funding source of the project, unless the department of administration verifies and certifies to the commission, after reviewing the plans and specifications, all of the following:

AB737,6,15 a. That the project conforms at a minimum to the requirements under the LEED Green Building Rating System for certification at the silver level, as defined in s. 16.856 (1) (f), for construction projects.

AB737,6,21 b. That the energy performance for the project is at least 30 percent better than the performance standard prescribed by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028 based upon standard 90.1-2007 of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers or its most current equivalent, as documented by energy modeling and certified in writing by the chief engineer for the project.

AB737,6,25 c. That at least 75 percent of the construction materials delivered to the project site but not used in the project and the demolition materials from any demolition required to undertake the project are recycled in the project or transferred to a 3rd party for recycling.

AB737,7,6 d. That the ventilation components for the project are strictly in conformity with standards prescribed by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028 based upon standard 62.1-2004 of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air Conditioning Engineers, and the chief engineer for the project certifies in writing that no exemptions from strict conformity with that standard have been authorized.

AB737,7,17 e. That the project has an indoor air quality management plan that addresses adherence to the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning performance standards for the project, source control that ensures use of low emission materials and finishes, pathway interruption to prevent migration of contaminants during the construction process, housekeeping procedures to prevent the spread and growth of contaminants during the construction process, and construction activity scheduling to prevent cross contamination of materials used in the project during the construction process. The plan shall be consistent at a minimum with standards promulgated by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028 based upon indoor air quality guidelines for occupied building of the Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors' National Association, 2nd edition, 2007.

AB737,7,21 f. That the project upon completion will attain a maximum level of interior water use no greater than a level that is 70 percent of the interior water use baseline, as determined by the department of administration in accordance with the LEED Green Building Rating System, as defined in s. 16.856 (1) (e).

AB737,8,13 3. The building commission shall not enter into an agreement for the purchase of or for the lease of, or renewal of a lease of, with option to purchase, any building, structure, or facility that is constructed or to be constructed for occupancy by any board, agency, officer, department, commission, or body corporate, if the building, structure, or facility after construction will contain at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space for occupancy by any such entity, or any building, structure, or facility that is to be repaired, renewed, renovated, or expanded for occupancy by any such entity if the building, structure, or facility contains at least 10,000 gross square feet of conditioned space and the repair, renewal, renovation, or expansion affects more than 50 percent of the existing gross square feet of conditioned space in the building, structure, or facility, regardless of the funding source of the agreement, unless the department of administration verifies and certifies that the building, structure, or facility conforms or will after construction, repair, renewal, renovation or expansion conform to all of the standards specified in subd. 2. The building commission shall obtain certification by the U.S. Green Building Council that the building, structure, or facility conforms at a minimum to the requirements for certification at the LEED silver level.

AB737,8,21 4. The building commission shall apply moneys available for its use under the authorized state building program to achieve certification as of January 1, 2017, by the U.S. Green Building Council for not less than 15 percent of the total gross square footage of conditioned space in buildings, structures, and facilities that are owned or leased by agencies on that date, as determined by the department of administration under s. 16.856 (3), as conforming at a minimum to LEED performance requirements for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings, as defined in s. 16.856 (1) (h).

AB737,9,5 5. The building commission shall apply moneys available for its use under the authorized state building program to achieve certification by the dates specified by rule of the department of administration under s. 16.856 (6) by the U.S. Green Building Council for not less than the percentages specified by that rule of the total gross square footage of conditioned space in buildings, structures, and facilities that are owned or leased by agencies on the dates specified by that rule, as determined by the department of administration under s. 16.856 (3), for meeting at a minimum the LEED performance requirements for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings, as defined in s. 16.856 (1) (h).

AB737, s. 2 Section 2. 13.48 (15) of the statutes is renumbered 13.48 (15) (a) and amended to read:

AB737,9,10 13.48 (15) (a) Subject to the requirements of par. (b) and s. 20.924 (1) (i), the building commission shall have the authority to acquire leasehold interests in land and buildings where such authority is not otherwise provided to an agency by law.

AB737, s. 3 Section 3. 13.48 (15) (b) of the statutes is created to read:

AB737,9,23 13.48 (15) (b) The building commission shall not approve the leasing of, or the renewal or extension of any lease for, property for use by this state unless the department of administration has certified to the commission that the energy use intensity for the total property and the annual energy usage for the total property conform to standards promulgated by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028 based upon Energy Star standards consistent with the minimum LEED performance requirements for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings. The commission shall also require other agencies, as defined in s. 16.70 (1e), that have authority to lease improved real property, to certify to the commission, before entering into, or renewing or extending, any lease of real property, that the energy use intensity for the total property and the annual energy usage for the total property conform to the same standards.

AB737, s. 4 Section 4. 16.84 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

AB737,10,24 16.84 (5) Have responsibility, subject to approval of the governor, for all functions relating to the leasing, acquisition, allocation and utilization of all real property by the state, except where such responsibility is otherwise provided by the statutes. In this connection, the Prior to entering into any lease, or renewing or extending any lease, for property to be used by this state, the department shall require the prospective lessor to disclose the energy use intensity for the total property, measured on a square foot basis, and the annual energy usage for the total property, calculated in accordance with standards promulgated by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028 based upon Energy Star standards, as defined in s. 13.48 (15) (b), consistent with the minimum LEED performance requirements for the operation and maintenance of existing buildings, as defined in s. 16.856 (1) (h). The department shall verify and certify this information to the building commission before the commission considers approval of the lease, or the renewal or extension of the lease. The department shall also require other agencies, as defined in s. 16.70 (1e), that have authority to enter into leases for real property to obtain, verify, and certify the same information to the commission before entering into any lease, or renewing or extending any lease, for property to be used by those agencies. The department shall, with the governor's approval, require physical consolidation of office space utilized by any executive branch agency having fewer than 50 authorized full-time equivalent positions with office space utilized by another executive branch agency, whenever feasible. The department shall lease or acquire office space for legislative offices or legislative service agencies at the direction of the joint committee on legislative organization. In this subsection, "executive branch agency" has the meaning given in s. 16.70 (4).

AB737, s. 5 Section 5. 16.85 (3m) of the statutes is created to read:

AB737,11,2 16.85 (3m) To appoint or approve the appointment of a chief engineer for each major construction project, as defined in s. 16.856 (1) (g).

AB737, s. 6 Section 6. 16.856 of the statutes is created to read:

AB737,11,5 16.856 Energy and environmental design standards for certain state buildings, structures, and facilities. (1) In this section:

AB737,11,6 (a) "Agency" has the meaning given in s. 16.70 (1e).

AB737,11,11 (b) "ASHRAE standard" means the standard promulgated by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028 based upon standard 90.1-2007 of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers or its current equivalent as determined by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028.

AB737,11,13 (c) "Conditioned space" means space that is designed to have controlled environmental conditions.

AB737,11,18 (d) "IECC standards" means the energy efficiency design standards promulgated by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028 based upon the national energy efficiency design standards of the International Energy Conservation Code or their current equivalents as determined by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028.

AB737,11,22 (e) "LEED Green Building Rating System" means the green building rating system of the U.S. Green Building Council designated as the leadership in energy and environmental design system or its current equivalent as determined by the department of safety and professional services under s. 101.028.