BILL NUMBER: AB 1058 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 17, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE JULY 2, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 29, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Laird and Lieu
FEBRUARY 23, 2007
An act to add Chapter 4.7 (commencing with Section 18944.43) to
Part 2.5 of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to
environmental protection.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1058, as amended, Laird. Green building construction: best
practices.
Existing law sets forth various requirements for energy and design
efficiency in the construction and renovation of state buildings.
This bill would require the California Environmental Protection
Agency, by July 1, 2009, in conjunction with a specified working
group of certain state entities that it would coordinate, and, in
consultation with specified public and private sector organizations,
to develop, adopt, and make available a set of voluntary best
practices for residential home construction that include measures
regarding energy, water, materials, and resources efficiency, indoor
environmental quality, innovation and design process, nonmotorized
transportation, and a method for determining life-cycle cost. The
agency, and other specified entities, in developing and adopting the
best practices, would be required to consider certain aspects of
existing relevant guidelines.
The bill would require the agency to develop an education program
to inform local entities of the benefits of green building, and to
encourage the use of the best practices.
The bill would require the agency, beginning July 1, 2011, to
conduct a public review to determine the level of use and the
effectiveness of the best practices in a representative sampling of
home construction. The agency would be authorized to amend the best
practices, as deemed necessary, based on this review.
The bill would require the agency, on or before July 1, 2012, to
reconvene the working group to develop a comprehensive set of
proposed building standards for green buildings and to submit the set
of standards to the California Building Standards Commission for
adoption by that commission in the California Building Standards
Code. The commission would be authorized to revise those standards as
long as the modifications do not reduce the environmental benefits
or efficiencies that would be achieved by the proposed standards. If
the commission fails to adopt standards proposed by the agency, all
residential occupancies for which a project application is deemed
complete by a local government on or after July 1, 2013, would be
required to comply with the standards proposed by the agency until
the commission adopts standards proposed by the agency.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 4.7 (commencing with Section 18944.43) is added
to Part 2.5 of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 4.7. GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS
18944.43. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) In 2006, the state had approximately 13 million existing
housing units, and in 2003, construction investment in the state for
new residential housing totaled thirty-four billion dollars
($34,000,000,000).
(b) The building of a 2,000 square foot home generates three to
five tons of construction waste. Cumulatively, California residences
use approximately 5.6 million acre-feet of applied water annually,
and the residential sector accounts for roughly 31 percent of the
electricity consumed in the state.
(c) The state is committed to providing leadership on energy,
environmental, and public health issues by implementing innovative
and resource-efficient building design practices and other programs
that improve the lives of the state's 34.5 million residents.
(d) Green building practices utilize energy, water, and materials
efficiently throughout the building life cycle, enhance indoor air
quality, incorporate environmentally preferable products, and protect
the building occupants' health.
(e) The widespread implementation of green building standards
would result in significant long-term benefits to the state's
environment, including reduction in the demand for energy, water, and
waste stream services, and the fiscal and environmental impacts
resulting from the expansion of these infrastructures.
18944.43.1. It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this
chapter, to recognize that no one set of existing green building
practices may encompass the state's unique economic and natural
resources-related environment. It is further the intent of the
Legislature to ensure that the building standards and best practices
adopted pursuant to this chapter recognize California's leadership in
environmental sustainability practices and include the most rigorous
measures and methods possible.
18944.43.2. For purposes of this chapter, the following
definitions apply:
(a) "Agency" means the California Environmental Protection Agency.
(b) "Best practices" means green building best practices for
residential home construction that include, but are not limited to,
all of the following:
(1) Energy efficiency, conservation, or renewable generation
measures.
(2) Water efficiency, conservation, and reuse measures.
(3) Materials and resources efficiency, conservation, and reuse
measures.
(4) Indoor environmental quality measures, including indoor air
quality.
(5) Innovation and design processes.
(6) Nonmotorized transportation.
(7) A method for determining life-cycle cost, including evaluating
the relative effectiveness, cost, and life-cycle savings, if any, by
the use of the individual or multiple green building measures
specified in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive.
(c) "Green building" means a project designed to reduce both
direct and indirect environmental consequences associated with its
construction, use, operation, maintenance, and eventual
decommissioning, the design of which is evaluated for cost,
quality-of-life impacts, future flexibility, ease of maintenance,
energy and resource efficiency, and overall environmental impact,
with an emphasis on life-cycle cost analysis.
18944.43.3. (a) On or before July 1, 2009, the agency, with the
working group that it coordinates pursuant to subdivision (b), shall
develop, adopt, and make available, a set of voluntary best
practices.
(b) (1) To develop the voluntary best practices pursuant to this
part, the agency shall coordinate a working group consisting of a
multiagency effort, including, but not limited to, all of the
following state entities:
(A) The California Integrated Waste Management Board.
(B) The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission.
(C) The State Air Resources Board.
(D) The Department of Water Resources.
(E) The Department of Housing and Community Development.
(F) The Department of General Services.
(G) The California Building Standards Commission.
(2) The agency and each state entity specified in paragraph (1)
shall also consult with representatives from each of the following:
(A) The building construction industry.
(B) Recognized environmental advocacy groups.
(C) Interested local government entities.
(D) Interested public parties.
(c) Each state entity specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision
(b) shall take the lead in developing the best practices related to
its particular area of expertise. The agency shall be responsible for
coordinating the integration of the separate aspects provided by
each state entity into the best practices.
(d) (1) Following the agency's coordination efforts, and prior to
final adoption of the best practices, the California Building
Standards Commission shall review all aspects of the best practices
to ensure that nothing falls below or conflicts with the standards
required in the California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the
California Code of Regulations).
(2) If the California Building Standards Commission identifies
conflicts with the California Building Standards Code, the agency
shall revise its best practices to be in conformance with the
California Building Standards Code.
(3) Each state entity specified in paragraph (1) of subdivision
(b) shall provide to the California Building Standards Commission and
the agency an analysis of its proposed best practices that include
all of the following:
(A) Potential overlap with other agencies' jurisdiction.
(B) Assurance that all aspects exceed existing standards in the
California Building Standards Code.
(C) Justification of the best practices developed pursuant to this
section.
(e) In developing and adopting the voluntary best practices
pursuant to this chapter, all entities involved shall consider those
aspects of existing relevant guidelines that maximize the benefits
described in subdivision (b) of Section 18944.43.2. These existing
relevant guidelines shall include, but are not limited to, all of the
following:
(1) The United States Green Building Council's Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for homes rating system.
(2) The 2005 Build It Green "New Home Construction Green Building
Guidelines."
(3) The EarthCraft House program of Atlanta, Georgia.
(4) The Built Green Program of the Seattle Master Builders.
(5) The Model Green Home Building Guidelines of the National
Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
(f) The agency shall develop an education program to inform local
entities of the benefits of green building, and encourage the use of
the best practices for residential occupancies. The education program
shall include information on how to best utilize the best practices
for new construction as well as existing homes.
18944.43.4. (a) Beginning July 1, 2011, the agency shall conduct
a public review of the best practices developed pursuant to Section
18944.43.3 with representatives from the state entities set forth in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 18944.43.3 and
from , the residential construction industry
, and local governmental entities to determine the level
of use and effectiveness of the best practices in a representative
sampling of residential construction. The agency may amend the best
practices, as deemed necessary, based on the review.
(b) The agency shall reconvene the working group prescribed in
subdivision (b) of Section 18944.43.3 to develop proposed building
standards for green building. Each state entity specified in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (b) of Section 18944.43.3 shall develop
proposed building standards related to its area of expertise. The
agency shall be responsible for coordinating the proposed building
standards and submitting a comprehensive set of proposed building
standards to the California Building Standards Commission on or
before July 1, 2012, for adoption by that commission in the
California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the California Code
of Regulations) pursuant to the State Building Standards Law (Part
2.5 (commencing with Section 18901) of Division 13 of the Health and
Safety Code). The California Building Standards Commission may modify
the proposed building standards as long as the modifications do not
reduce the environmental benefits or efficiencies that would have
been achieved by the proposed standards.
(c) If the California Building Standards Commission rejects the
proposed building standards for green buildings submitted by the
agency pursuant to subdivision (b), then all residential occupancies
for which a project application is deemed complete by the local
government on or after July 1, 2013, shall comply with the building
standards proposed by the agency pursuant to subdivision (b) until
the date that agency-proposed building standards adopted by the
California Building Standards Commission take effect.