Solar Photovoltaics

Energy Efficiency and Green Building Standards for State Buildings

In March, 2006, Wisconsin enacted SB 459, the Energy Efficiency and Renewables Act. With respect to energy efficiency, this bill requires the Department of Administration (DOA) to prescribe and annually review energy efficiency standards for all equipment for heating, ventilation, air conditioning, water heating or cooling, lighting, refrigeration, or other function that consumes energy. These standards must meet or exceed federal EPA standards, federal energy management standards, and standards established by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers. The DOA will ensure that all buildings and equipment purchased for those buildings maximize energy efficiency to the extent technically

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Green Building and Energy Reduction Standards for State Agencies

Requirements

With the passage of Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5509 – Related to High Performance Green Building, State facilities in Washington must be designed and built to the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver standards. The bill has been transferred into statute at RCW 39.35.D. 

All new major facility project construction and renovation projects over 5,000 sq. ft., where the renovation costs exceed 50%, as defined in RCW 39.94.020, must be designed, constructed, and certified to at least the LEED Silver standard.

The Department of Enterprise Services (DES) was given

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Green Building Standards for State Facilities

In November 2009, Rhode Island enacted the Green Building Act (S.B. 232), this act was updated in June, 2022. The updated law requires that public building construction projects 10,000 square feet or larger and public building renovation projects 10,000 square feet or larger achieve constructed to at least the LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES certification, or equivalent, such as High Performance Schools Standards, Green Globes Certification, or the International Green Construction Code.* This requirement applies to all public buildings, including school district construction and renovations that receive state funding for such projects, that had not entered the design

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High Performance Schools Policy

In July 2002, New Jersey’s governor signed Executive Order No. 24 requiring all new school designs to incorporate LEED Version 2.0 guidelines in order to achieve maximum energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in school facilities.

The Executive Order also requires that the New Jersey Economic Development Authority establish a subsidiary corporation, The New Jersey Schools Construction Corporation (SCC), to be responsible for the school facilities project and the state’s compliance with the new order. The SCC was subsequently replaced by the New Jersey Schools Development Authority (SDA) in 2007. The SDA mandates that all projects must incorporate the guidelines developed

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Nevada State Energy Reduction Plan

As mandated by the Nevada statutes, the Nevada Energy Office prepared a state energy reduction plan which required state agencies, departments, and other entities in the Executive Branch to reduce grid-based energy purchases for state-owned buildings by 20% by 2015. The report suggests a series of immediate, short-term and long-term conservation measures to help the affected agencies meet their energy reduction goals. 

Senate Bill 395 of 2009 instructs the Chief of the Purchasing Division of the Department of Administration to establish standards that favor Energy Star products. The bill also puts the State Public Works Board in charge of adopting

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Building Energy Code

Much of the information presented in this summary is drawn from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program and the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP). For more detailed information about building energy codes, visit the DOE and BCAP websites.

Colorado is a home rule state, so no statewide energy code exists, although state government buildings do have specific requirements. Voluntary adoption of energy codes is encouraged and efforts through grants are directed toward informing local jurisdictions of the benefits of energy efficiency standards and providing materials and training to support code implementation

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Clean Energy Development Fund

Vermont's Clean Energy Development Fund (CEDF) was established in 2005 to promote the development and deployment of cost-effective and environmentally sustainable electric power and thermal resources -- primarily renewable energy and combined heat and power (CHP) technologies.

Funding Sources

From its establishment to 2012, the CEDF was supported via annual payments from Entergy (which owns the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant). In return, under terms of two memoranda of understanding between Entergy and the Vermont Department of Public Service (DPS) that expired in March 2012, Entergy was permitted to store its own spent nuclear fuel at the Vermont Yankee site

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Building Energy Code

Much of the information presented in this summary is drawn from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program and the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP). For more detailed information about building energy codes, visit the DOE and BCAP websites.

The Oregon Energy Code amendments were most recently updated for both residential and non-residential construction in 2017 and 2019, respectively. 

The Oregon Residential Specialty Code (ORSC), Chapter 11, contains energy efficiency requirements for one- and two-family dwelling construction. The Oregon Structural Specialty Code (OSSC), Chapter 13, contains energy conservation requirements for buildings other than one- and two-family dwellings

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Building Energy Code and Solar Requirement

Much of the information presented in this summary is drawn from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Building Energy Codes Program and the Building Codes Assistance Project (BCAP). For more detailed information about building energy codes, visit the DOE and BCAP websites.

The California Building Standards Commission (BSC) is responsible for administering California's building standards adoption, publication, and implementation. Since 1989, the BSC has published triennial editions of the code, commonly referred to as Title 24, in its entirety every three years. On July 17, 2008 the BSC unanimously approved the nation's first statewide voluntary green building code

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Energy Efficiency in State Buildings

Recent Measures (2020)

On September 23, 2020, Governor Gretchen Whitmer issued Executive Directive 2020-10 which increased the requirements of emissions and energy use reductions in Michigan state-owned buildings. As per this directive, The Department of Technology, Management, and Budget (DTMB) must investigate the cost effectiveness of energy efficiency opportunities when planning or renovating a building owned or operated by the state. DTMB must ensure that:

  • All new buildings and facilities owned and operated by the State, and all major renovations of such buildings and facilities, are carbon neutral by 2040; and
  • All existing buildings and facilities owned and operated by
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