SF 2637

as introduced - 91st Legislature (2019 - 2020) Posted on 03/21/2019 03:42pm

A bill for an act
relating to the state building code; requiring the establishment of a voluntary stretch
energy code; providing technical assistance for jurisdictions that adopt the voluntary
stretch energy code; amending Minnesota Statutes 2018, sections 216B.241,
subdivision 9; 326B.106, by adding a subdivision.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 216B.241, subdivision 9, is amended to read:

Subd. 9.

Building performance standards; Sustainable Building 2030.

(a) The purpose
of this subdivision is to establish cost-effective energy-efficiency performance standards
for new and substantially reconstructed commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings
that can significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions by lowering energy use in new and
substantially reconstructed buildings. For the purposes of this subdivision, the establishment
of these standards may be referred to as Sustainable Building 2030.

(b) The commissioner shall contract with the Center for Sustainable Building Research
at the University of Minnesota to coordinate development and implementation of
energy-efficiency performance standards, strategic planning, research, data analysis,
technology transfer, training, and other activities related to the purpose of Sustainable
Building 2030. The commissioner and the Center for Sustainable Building Research shall,
in consultation with utilities, builders, developers, building operators, and experts in building
design and technology, develop a Sustainable Building 2030 implementation plan that must
address, at a minimum, the following issues:

(1) training architects to incorporate the performance standards in building design;

(2) incorporating the performance standards in utility conservation improvement
programs; and

(3) developing procedures for ongoing monitoring of energy use in buildings that have
adopted the performance standards.

The plan must be submitted to the chairs and ranking minority members of the senate and
house of representatives committees with primary jurisdiction over energy policy by July
1, 2009.

(c) Sustainable Building 2030 energy-efficiency performance standards must be firm,
quantitative measures of total building energy use and associated carbon dioxide emissions
per square foot for different building types and uses, that allow for accurate determinations
of a building's conformance with a performance standard. Performance standards must
address energy use by electric vehicle charging infrastructure in or adjacent to buildings as
that infrastructure begins to be made widely available. The energy-efficiency performance
standards must be updated every three or five years to incorporate all cost-effective measures.
The performance standards must reflect the reductions in carbon dioxide emissions per
square foot resulting from actions taken by utilities to comply with the renewable energy
standards in section 216B.1691. The performance standards should be designed to achieve
reductions equivalent to the following reduction schedule, measured against energy
consumption by an average building in each applicable building sector in 2003: (1) 60
percent in 2010; (2) 70 percent in 2015; (3) 80 percent in 2020; and (4) 90 percent in 2025.
A performance standard must not be established or increased absent a conclusive engineering
analysis that it is cost-effective based upon established practices used in evaluating utility
conservation improvement programs.

(d) The annual amount of the contract with the Center for Sustainable Building Research
is up to $500,000. The Center for Sustainable Building Research shall expend no more than
$150,000 of this amount each year on administration, coordination, and oversight activities
related to Sustainable Building 2030. new text begin Up to an additional $150,000 of this amount may be
used by the Center for Sustainable Building Research to provide technical assistance to
local jurisdictions which adopt a voluntary stretch code, under section 326B.106, subdivision
16, that conforms to Sustainable Building 2030. new text end The balance of contract funds must be spent
on substantive programmatic activities allowed under this subdivision that may be conducted
by the Center for Sustainable Building Research and others, and for subcontracts with
not-for-profit energy organizations, architecture and engineering firms, and other qualified
entities to undertake technical projects and activities in support of Sustainable Building
2030. The primary work to be accomplished each year by qualified technical experts under
subcontracts is the development and thorough justification of recommendations for specific
energy-efficiency performance standards. Additional work may include:

(1) research, development, and demonstration of new energy-efficiency technologies
and techniques suitable for commercial, industrial, and institutional buildings;

(2) analysis and evaluation of practices in building design, construction, commissioning
and operations, and analysis and evaluation of energy use in the commercial, industrial, and
institutional sectors;

(3) analysis and evaluation of the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Sustainable
Building 2030 performance standards, conservation improvement programs, and building
energy codes;

(4) development and delivery of training programs for architects, engineers,
commissioning agents, technicians, contractors, equipment suppliers, developers, and others
in the building industries; and

(5) analysis and evaluation of the effect of building operations on energy use.

(e) The commissioner shall require utilities to develop and implement conservation
improvement programs that are expressly designed to achieve energy efficiency goals
consistent with the Sustainable Building 2030 performance standards. These programs must
include offerings of design assistance and modeling, financial incentives, and the verification
of the proper installation of energy-efficient design components in new and substantially
reconstructed buildings. new text begin These programs shall be available to customers in local jurisdictions
that adopt a voluntary stretch code under section 326B.106, subdivision 16. new text end A utility's design
assistance program must consider the strategic planting of trees and shrubs around buildings
as an energy conservation strategy for the designed project. A utility making an expenditure
under its conservation improvement program that results in a building meeting the Sustainable
Building 2030 performance standards may claim the energy savings toward its energy-savings
goal established in subdivision 1c.

(f) The commissioner shall report to the legislature every three years, beginning January
15, 2010, on the cost-effectiveness and progress of implementing the Sustainable Building
2030 performance standards and shall make recommendations on the need to continue the
program as described in this section.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2018, section 326B.106, is amended by adding a subdivision
to read:

new text begin Subd. 16. new text end

new text begin Voluntary adoption of stretch code. new text end

new text begin The Construction Codes Advisory
Council shall establish a voluntary code of standards for the construction, reconstruction,
and alteration of public and private commercial and multifamily residential buildings, as
an appendix of the State Building Code. This voluntary code of standards must conform to
Sustainable Building 2030 standards, as defined in section 216B.241, subdivision 9. The
code sections contained in this appendix may be adopted by a local jurisdiction at its election
and become an official addendum to the baseline energy code in the jurisdictions adopting
them. In adopting the code sections contained in this appendix, the local jurisdiction may
not amend them, but may specify a minimum size for the buildings this stretch code will
apply to. This minimum size must be no less than 10,000 square feet.
new text end