BILL NUMBER: AB 1058 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2007
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 6, 2007
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 amend Sections 18909, 18917.2, 18927, and 18941.5 of, to
add Sections 18914.4 and 18918.4 to, and to add Chapter 4.7
(commencing with Section 18944.50) 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.
(1) Existing law sets forth various requirements for energy and
design efficiency in the construction and renovation of state
buildings.
This bill would require the Department of Housing and Community
Development, 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 green building standards for residential occupancies, and
submit them to the Building Standards Commission for review,
adoption, approval, and publication. The bill would require that the
green building standards 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 department, and other
specified entities, in developing and adopting the green building
standards, would be required to consider certain aspects of existing
relevant guidelines. The bill would require a state agency, on or
before July 1, 2009, to submit to the commission for review,
approval, and publication, all of the state agency's green building
standards that are existing on that date and that have not been
previously reviewed, approved, or adopted by the commission.
The bill would authorize the department and the commission, to the
extent feasible as allowed by existing resources, to develop
educational and technical assistance programs to inform local
entities of the benefits of green building, and encourage the use of
green building practices for residential occupancies, as well as
establish specified ongoing education and training programs.
The bill would require the commission, on or before July 1, 2010,
to publish approved green building standards in the California
Building Standards Code, after reviewing the green building
standards.
(2) The California Building Standards Law defines terms for its
purposes, including "building standard," and requires the governing
body of a city, county, or city and county that establishes more
restrictive building standards than those in the California Building
Standards Law to make specified findings.
The bill would include sustainable and green building standards in
that definition of "building standard," and would define
"sustainable building" and "green building" for purposes of the
California Building Standards Law. The bill also would require a
governing body that makes one of those findings to file with the
commission a copy of the finding, together with a copy of the
modified or changed language to which the finding refers.
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. Section 18909 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
18909. (a) "Building standard" means any rule, regulation,
order, or other requirement, including any amendment or repeal of
that requirement, that specifically regulates, requires, or forbids
the method of use, properties, performance, or types of materials
used in the construction, alteration, improvement, repair, or
rehabilitation of a building, structure, factory-built housing, or
other improvement to real property, including fixtures therein, and
as determined by the commission.
(b) Except as provided in subdivision (d), "building standard"
includes architectural and design functions of a building or
structure, including, but not limited to, number and location of
doors, windows, and other openings, stress or loading characteristics
of materials, and methods of fabrication, clearances, and other
functions. "Building standard" includes sustainable and green
building standards.
(c) "Building standard" includes a regulation or rule relating to
the implementation or enforcement of a building standard not
otherwise governed by statute, but does not include the adoption of
procedural ordinances by a city or other public agency relating to
civil, administrative, or criminal procedures and remedies available
for enforcing code violations.
(d) "Building standard" does not include any safety regulations
that any state agency is authorized to adopt relating to the
operation of machinery and equipment used in manufacturing,
processing, or fabricating, including, but not limited to,
warehousing and food processing operations, but not including safety
regulations relating to permanent appendages, accessories, apparatus,
appliances, and equipment attached to the building as a part
thereof, as determined by the commission.
(e) "Building standard" does not include temporary scaffolding and
similar temporary safety devices and procedures that are used in the
erection, demolition, moving, or alteration of buildings.
(f) "Building standard" does not include any regulation relating
to the internal management of a state agency.
(g) "Building standard" does not include any regulation, rule,
order, or standard that pertains to mobilehomes, manufactured homes,
commercial coaches, special purpose commercial coaches, or
recreational vehicles.
(h) "Building standard" does not include any regulation, rule, or
order or standard that pertains to a mobilehome park, as defined by
Section 18214, or special occupancy park, as defined by Section
18862.43, except that "building standard" includes the construction
of permanent buildings and plumbing, electrical, and fuel gas
equipment and installations within permanent buildings in a
mobilehome park or special occupancy park. For purposes of this
subdivision, "permanent building" means any permanent structure
constructed in the mobilehome park or special occupancy park that is
a permanent facility under the control and ownership of the park
operator.
(i) "Building standard" does not include any regulation, rule,
order, or standard that pertains to mausoleums regulated under Part 5
(commencing with Section 9501) of Division 8.
(j) "Building standard" does not include any regulation adopted by
the California Integrated Waste Management Board, the Department of
Toxic Substances Control, the Occupational Safety and Health
Standards Board, or the State Water Resources Control Board
concerning the discharge of waste to land or the treatment, transfer,
storage, resource recovery, disposal, or recycling of the waste.
SEC. 2. Section 18914.4 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
18914.4. "Green building" has the same meaning as "sustainable
building," as defined by Section 18918.4.
SEC. 3. Section 18917.2 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
18917.2. "Propose" refers, with respect to the procedure for
promulgation of a building standard, including a green building
standard, to the state agency that has the legislative authority and
responsibility to write proposed building standards, including green
building standards.
SEC. 4. Section 18918.4 is added to the Health and Safety Code, to
read:
18918.4. "Sustainable building" means a building 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.
SEC. 5. Section 18927 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to
read:
18927. The commission may appoint from the design professions,
the building and construction industry, the affected general public,
and interested governmental agencies, appropriate advisory panels to
advise the commission and its staff with respect to building
standards, including green building standards. The persons appointed
to the panels shall be specifically knowledgeable and qualified in
the type of work embraced by the building standards, including green
building standards, in question. These persons shall serve without
compensation, but may receive actual necessary travel expenses.
SEC. 6. Section 18941.5 of the Health and Safety Code is amended
to read:
18941.5. (a) (1) Amendments, additions, and deletions to the
California Building Standards Code adopted by a city, county, or city
and county pursuant to this section or pursuant to Section 17958.7,
together with all applicable portions of the California Building
Standards Code, shall become effective 180 days after publication of
the California Building Standards Code by the commission, or at a
later date after publication established by the commission.
(2) The publication date established by the commission shall be
no earlier than the date the California Building Standards Code is
available for purchase by the public.
(b) Neither the State Building Standards Law contained in this
part, nor the application of building standards contained in this
section, shall limit the authority of a city, county, or city and
county to establish more restrictive building standards reasonably
necessary because of local climatic, geological, or topographical
conditions. The governing body shall make the finding required by
Section 17958.7 and the other requirements imposed by Section 17958.7
shall apply to that finding. The governing body shall file with the
commission a copy of the findings, together with the modified or
changed language, that is expressly marked and identified, to which
each finding refers. Nothing in this section shall limit the
authority of fire protection districts pursuant to subdivision (a) of
Section 13869.7. Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision,
nothing in this section shall require findings required by Section
17958.7 beyond those currently required for more restrictive building
standards related to housing.
SEC. 7. Chapter 4.7 (commencing with Section 18944.50) is added to
Part 2.5 of Division 13 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:
CHAPTER 4.7. GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS
18944.50. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California 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 35,000,000 residents.
(b) Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of the carbon dioxide
emissions in the United States, more than any other sector.
(c) In 2006, the state had approximately 13,000,000 existing
housing units, and in 2003, construction investment in the state for
new residential housing totaled thirty-four billion dollars
($34,000,000,000).
(d) The building of a 2,000-square-foot home generates three to
five tons of construction waste. Cumulatively, California residences
use approximately 5,600,000 acre-feet of applied water annually, and
the residential sector accounts for roughly 31 percent of the
electricity consumed in the state.
(e) Transforming the building environment to be more energy
efficient and climate friendly is a vital tool in the fight against
global warming.
(f) Sustainable building practices utilize energy, water, and
materials efficiently throughout the building's life cycle; enhance
indoor air quality; improve health, comfort, and productivity;
incorporate environmentally preferable products, and thereby
substantially reduce the costs and environmental impacts associated
with long-term building operations, without compromising building
performance or the needs of future generations.
(g) The widespread implementation of sustainable building
standards would result in significant long-term benefits to the
California environment, including reduction of runoff of water
pollutants to surface water and groundwater sources, and reduction in
the demand for energy, water, and sewage treatment services, as well
as the fiscal and environmental impacts resulting from the expansion
of these infrastructures.
(h) A United Nations' study showed that better architecture and
energy savings in buildings could do more to fight global warming
than all the curbs on greenhouse gases agreed to under the United
Nations' Kyoto Protocol.
(i) In-depth studies of projects to analyze the cost of
sustainable buildings, using detailed cost estimates, demonstrate
that there may be no significant difference in the construction costs
for the United States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy
and Environmental Design (LEED) buildings versus non-LEED buildings
in any of the categories.
(j) A building's energy, water, and waste disposal costs are
computed over a 25-year period, or for the life of the building, and
can exceed the cost of design and construction.
18944.52. It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this
chapter, to recognize that no one set of existing sustainable
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 adopted
pursuant to this chapter recognize California's leadership in
environmental sustainability practices by including appropriately
rigorous measures and methods, and to ensure that the costs do not
unreasonably or unnecessarily impact the ability of Californians to
purchase or rent affordable housing based on the overall benefit
derived, while addressing the factors specified in subdivision (b) of
Section 18944.56.
18944.54. (a) Before state agencies may develop green building
standards, they shall have the authority and program expertise to do
so.
(b) On or before July 1, 2009, a state agency shall submit to the
commission for review, approval, and publication, all of the state
agency's green building standards that are existing on that date and
that have not been previously reviewed, approved, or adopted by the
commission.
18944.56. (a) On or before July 1, 2009, the Department of
Housing and Community Development shall develop green building
standards for residential occupancies and submit them to the
commission for review, adoption, approval, and publication.
(b) The green building standards developed pursuant to this
section shall include, but not be 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 process.
(6) Nonmotorized or public 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) To develop the green building standards pursuant to this
section, the Department of Housing and Community Development shall
coordinate a working group consisting of a multiagency effort,
including, but not limited to, all of the following state entities:
(1) The California Environmental Protection Agency.
(2) The California Integrated Waste Management Board.
(3) The State Energy Resources Conservation and Development
Commission.
(4) The State Air Resources Board.
(5) The Department of Water Resources.
(6) The Department of Housing and Community Development.
(7) The Department of General Services.
(8) The commission.
(9) The Office of the State Fire Marshal.
(d) The Department of Housing and Community Development and each
state entity specified in subdivision (c) shall also consult with
representatives from each of the following:
(1) The building design and construction industry.
(2) Recognized environmental and housing consumer advocacy groups.
(3) Interested local government entities.
(4) Interested public parties.
(e) Each state entity specified in subdivision (c) shall take the
lead in developing recommendations for green building standards
related to its particular area of expertise and may also review and
comment on proposed recommendations from other state entities in
order to ensure consistency with the missions, standards, and
regulations of its own entity. After the Department of Housing and
Community Development coordinates and considers the separate green
building standards recommended by the other state entities, the
Department of Housing and Community Development shall develop a set
of residential green building standards and propose those green
building standards to the commission.
(f) In developing and adopting green building standards pursuant
to this chapter, all entities involved shall consider those aspects
of existing relevant guidelines that maximize the measures and
methods identified in subdivision (b). The Department of Housing and
Community Development, in consultation with the commission, shall
request the appropriate state entities listed in subdivision (c) to
identify the relevant green building guidelines that further the
purposes of this chapter, which shall include, but not be limited to,
all of the following as long as they are in effect:
(1) The United States Green Building Council's Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes rating system.
(2) The 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).
(g) To the extent feasible as allowed by existing resources, the
Department of Housing and Community Development and the commission
may develop educational and technical assistance programs to inform
local entities of the benefits of green building, and encourage the
use of green building practices for residential occupancies, as well
as establish ongoing education and training programs for local code
enforcement officials, designers, and builders on the subject of
green building standards.
(h) On or before July 1, 2010, the commission shall publish
approved green building standards in accordance with Section 18944.60
and, to the extent practicable, shall schedule that publication to
coincide with the publication of the California Building Standards
Code.
(i) The Department of Housing and Community Development shall not
propose changes more than once per calendar year, and, to the extent
practicable, shall coincide those changes with the review of the
California Building Standards Code.
(j) Those entities specified in subdivision (c) with expertise
related to green building as identified in subdivision (e) may submit
to the Department of Housing and Community Development proposed
changes to building standards developed pursuant to subdivision (b)
of Section 18944.54 and this section, related to their area of
expertise. The proposed building standards shall not reduce the
environmental benefits or , environmental
efficiencies , or public health protections that
would have been achieved by the existing standards unless,
pursuant to Section 18931, the Department of Housing and Community
Development and the commission find that the existing standards were
infeasible and impose unreasonable costs on property owners,
homebuyers, or tenants . The commission shall consult with
appropriate agencies and departments on the proposed changes prior to
adoption.
(k) The commission may include in an appendix or as a separate
green building document or some combination thereof, voluntary
building standards or other related documents and materials that are
not appropriate for a mandate in the California Building Standards
Code.
(l) This section does not prohibit, limit, or supersede other
green building standards developed pursuant to existing authority.
18944.60. The commission shall do all of the following:
(a) In accordance with Section 18930, review the proposed green
building standards, approve them, or return them to the proposing
entities with recommended amendments. When green building standards
are returned for amendment, the commission shall inform the proposing
entity of the specific reasons for the recommended amendments,
citing the criteria required under Section 18930.
(b) Codify, including publish, all green building standards
adopted and certified by the commission into the applicable parts of
California Building Standards Code.
(c) Ensure consistency of format in the green building standards.
(d) Adopt any procedural regulations necessary to administer this
chapter.
18944.62. On or before January 1, 2013, the green building
standards adopted by the commission pursuant to this chapter shall
ensure that California homes constructed under the green building
standards in the California Building Standards Code are substantially
equivalent to, or exceed, homes constructed using other recognized
existing green building guidelines as identified in subdivision (f)
of Section 18944.56, that maximize the measures and methods
identified in subdivision (b) of Section 18944.56.
18944.64. The green building standards referred to in subdivision
(b) of Section 18944.60 shall indicate the state entity responsible
for the administration of each green building standard and any
affected occupancy.
18944.66. Each state entity that adopts or proposes green
building standards shall comply with Section 18931.5.
18944.68. Amendments, additions, and deletions to the green
building standards adopted by a city, county, or city and county
pursuant to Section 17958.7 or 18941.5, together with all applicable
portions of the green building standards document, shall meet the
requirements imposed by Section 18941.5.