|
Home >
Legislative Tracker
> Energy Conservation in State Buildings
Energy:
Energy Conservation in State Buildings
Our Position: support
Bill Number: S668
Sponsor: Sen. Janet Cowell (D-Wake)
Legislative Session: 2007
The goal of this bill is to reduce energy and water consumption in state government buildings. The bill is far-reaching, mandating a standard for all new state agency building and public university construction. It also funds, with a $5 million appropriation, retrofitting of existing public buildings.
The bill gives the State Office of Construction and the State Energy office additional tools to expand the scope of the work they already do evaluating the energy performance of buildings. The bill requires the State to conduct energy audits every three years and requires a life-cycle analysis of new construction.
The green building movement has exploded in recent years, particularly in the private sector. But there is huge opportunity in the public sector, too, and the investments are cost-effective. While the costs of construction may be higher to accommodate new energy saving technologies, the cost-avoidance for building maintenance makes up for the initial outlay many times over.
Status
This bill became one of the most popular energy bills of the session, and easily passed both chambers overwhelmingly with bipartisan support.
Action Needed
Background
Requires new and renovated state-owned buildings (including universities and community colleges) to be constructed to meet high performance building standards and reduce water consumption. The bill requires the State to conduct energy audits every 5 years, and requires life-cycle cost analysis for state building projects. Life-cycle analyses take into account all costs of a project over its lifetime as opposed to just initial costs, helping decision- makers select the most economical proposals for new and renovated buildings.
The state can recover higher initial construction costs – if any exist – through life-cycle costs efficiencies and other savings over time.
A $5 million appropriation will pay for energy efficiency retrofits in existing state buildings.
This legislation will take a significant bite out of the state’s annual $300 million utility bill, with savings of at least $150 million through 2020. The bills creates new links between the Department of Administration, responsible for financing operational costs in the state’s building stock, and the Department of Construction, which finances new buildings.
Worker productivity increase, and absenteeism and health-care costs decrease, with clean and healthy building construction.
This legislation decreases government spending on building utility costs, saves taxpayer dollars and curbs pollution. And, communities value government and businesses that follow environmentally friendly practices.
|
