BILL ANALYSIS
AB 35
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Date of Hearing: April 24, 2007
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONS
Mike Eng, Chair
AB 35 (Ruskin) - As Amended: March 28, 2007
SUBJECT : Environment: state buildings: sustainable building
standards.
SUMMARY : Requires the State Public Works Board (SPWB) to adopt
regulations establishing green building standards for the
construction and renovation of state buildings, as specified.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Requires SPWB to adopt regulations on or before July 1, 2009,
for sustainable building standards for the construction and
renovation of state buildings that incorporate, at a minimum,
the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Silver rating.
2)Requires the regulations to consider other relevant
guidelines, as specified, and to be consistent with
California's building standards, provide credits for projects
that use wood products with a "credible third party
sustainable forest certification" and to projects that use
California based products and materials.
3)Requires the regulations to be developed by SPWB, State Energy
Commission, California Integrated Waste Management Board, and
Department of General Services, and in consultation with the
building and construction industry; the building and
construction supplies industry; environmental groups;
sustainable building groups; other interested organizations;
and the public.
4)Requires SPWB to consult with the Building Standards
Commission to ensure that the regulations are consistent with
the California Building Standards Code, but specifically
exempts the regulations from compliance with building
standards codes promulgated by the California Building
Standards Commission.
5)Requires that any state building for which development of
capital plans or renovations begins on or after July 1, 2010,
be built, designed, and operated in accordance with the
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regulations adopted by SPWB.
EXISTING LAW authorizes SPWB to approve energy conservation
measures and energy service contracts for existing state
buildings if cost savings will be realized. Existing law also
requires new public buildings and publicly funded schools to be
models of energy efficiency and be designed, constructed, and
equipped with all energy efficiency measures, materials, and
devices, if feasible.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown
COMMENTS :
Purpose of this bill . According to the author's office:
"Despite many executive orders dealing with sustainable building
and energy conservation, there is no statutory mandate to direct
the state to build in a sustainable manner. AB 35 seeks to
ensure that these efforts continue by codifying these practices
in a fair and flexible manner.
"According to the US Green Building Council, in the United
States, buildings account for:
1) 36% of total energy use/65% of electricity
consumption
2) 30% of greenhouse gas emissions
3) 30% of raw materials use
4) 30% of waste output/136 million tons annually
5) 12% of potable water consumption
"The inclusion of green building principles substantially
reduces the costs and environmental impacts associated with
long-term building operations, without compromising building
performance or the needs of future generations. The State has
success stories in this area including the East End Project and
the CalEPA Building. The CalEPA building came in under budget
for their retrofits. They spent between $3-6 million for their
green features; and within 5 years they saved $8 million in
energy, water, and waste alone."
Background . The US Green Building Council (USGBC) is a national
non-profit organization comprised of more than 7,500 member
organizations and 75 regional chapters working toward the goal
of transforming the building industry to sustainability by
establishing a voluntary, consensus-based national rating system
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for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings. USGBC's
members, representing every sector of the building industry,
developed and continue to refine Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design to address all building types including new
construction, commercial interiors, core and shell, operations
and maintenance, homes, neighborhoods, and specific applications
such as retail, multiple buildings/campuses, schools,
healthcare, laboratories and lodging. LEED emphasizes state of
the art strategies for sustainable site development, water
savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor
environmental quality. LEED promotes expertise in green
building through a comprehensive system offering project
certification, professional accreditation, training and
practical resources.
Executive Order S-20-04 of 2004 established the Green Building
Initiative, which ordered the state to take specified actions
relative to improving energy efficiency in buildings, including
designing, constructing and operating all new and renovated
state-owned facilities paid for with state funds as "LEED
Silver" or higher certified buildings, encouraging state
agencies to reduce energy purchases from state-owned buildings
by 20% by 2015, urging the State Architect to adopt energy
efficiency guidelines for new schools, and requiring the
California Energy Commission to take all actions within its
authority to increase energy efficiency within non-residential
buildings by 20% by 2015. The Executive Order also directed the
state to identify the most appropriate financing and project
delivery mechanisms to achieve these goals.
Executive Order S-3-05 calls for a reduction of greenhouse gas
emissions to 2000 levels by 2010; to 1990 levels by 2020; and to
80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050. The Climate Action Team
Report to the Governor and the Legislature identifies strategies
to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that include continued
implementation of the Green Building Initiative and energy
efficiency standards for state buildings.
Previous legislation . The author introduced a similar measure
in 2005 that was vetoed in 2006 (AB 1337). The Governor's veto
message of that bill is provided below. It is notable that the
author appears to have partially addressed the basis for the
Governor's veto by no longer requiring the California Integrated
Waste Management Board to be develop the green building
standards. However, the Governor's veto message suggests the
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Building Standards Commission would be the appropriate entity to
develop the standards, and this still differs from that
suggestion by requiring SWPB to perform the task of developing
green building regulations. The Governor's veto message states:
"In California, building standards are developed by the
California Building Standards Commission. They prescribe how
State building standards are written and promulgated in a public
and participatory manner. The California Integrated Waste
Management Board expertise is in waste management and reduction
and they have done excellent work in identifying new uses in
building products for recycled material. However, the Board
does not have the expertise in building standards, public
safety, building design and construction, fire codes and public
process to ensure the standards are developed in an appropriate
manner."
Support . The American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME) writes: "Green building guidelines would be a
tremendous asset to the State. Costs for energy, water and
waste disposal during the life of a building far exceed the cost
of the building itself. These guidelines will substantially
reduce these operational costs by reducing consumption of
energy. In addition, this measure will help to reduce harmful
carbon emissions by helping to build a new generation of more
energy efficient facilities.
"The building guidelines proposed by the legislation are both
practical and achievable, given the materials and technology
available due to California's rapidly expanding clean technology
sector. AFSCME supports this effort to build more efficient
State facilities and to reduce energy consumption."
The California League of Conservation Voters writes: "AB 35
builds upon the Governor's 2004 Executive Order on green
buildings, which directs state agencies to implement measures to
reduce energy consumption in state buildings by 20% by 2015.
With the aggressive AB 32 [(Nunez), Chapter 488, Statutes of
2006] goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now in statute,
California will need to take all reasonable steps to achieve
emissions reductions."
Opposition . The Forest Products Industry National Labor
Management Committee writes: "We have specific concerns that the
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measure establishes the LEED "silver rating" as the base model
to be used by the various agencies charged with developing the
individual "sustainable building standard" components. The
provisions of other "green building" programs can be considered
only if they offer a more stringent level of compliance than the
related provisions offered in the LEED "silver rating" program.
In effect, these provisions would render the other standards
meaningless because it first says that the LEED silver standard
must be adopted at a minimum."
The remaining opposition - California Building Industry
Association, California Forestry Association, Green Diamond
Resources, and Lumber Association of California & Nevada - have
written a joint letter that contains many arguments that are
consistent with the Forest Products Industry National Labor
Management Committee's arguments against establishing the LEED
silver rating as the minimum standard for construction of state
buildings. They also assert: "The bill specifically excludes
the "sustainable building standards" from having to comply with
the Building Standards Commission's administrative review and
adoption process that all other state building standards are
subject to (and have been for the last 30 years). This means
that the "sustainable building standards" would not be required
to meet any of the criteria required of all other building
standards, including the criteria related to "cost impact."
While we support sustainable building practices, we feel these
proposals should be considered within the same administrative
process that was established for the review and approval of
building standards related to energy efficiency, fire safety,
structural and seismic safety and disabled accessibility."
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
(AFSCME)
California League of Conservation Voters
California State Employees Association
Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District
Sierra Club of California
450 Architects, Inc.
Opposition
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California Building Industry Association
California Forestry Association
California State University Office of The Chancellor
Forest Products Industry National Labor Management Committee
Green Diamond Resources
Lumber Association of California & Nevada
Analysis Prepared by : Ross Warren / B. & P. / (916) 319-3301