BILL NUMBER: AB 888 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 25, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 11, 2007
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 9, 2007
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Members Lieu and Laird
( Coauthor: Assembly Member
Torrico )
FEBRUARY 22, 2007
An act to add Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 71350) to Division
34 of the Public Resources Code, relating to building standards.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 888, as amended, Lieu. Green building standards.
Existing law sets forth various requirements for energy and design
efficiency in the construction of nonresidential buildings. Existing
law authorizes state agencies to submit, and requires the Building
Standards Commission to receive and review, proposed building
standards for adoption, approval, publication, and codification.
This bill would require the California Environmental Protection
Agency (Cal-EPA), by July 1, 2009, in conjunction with a 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 minimum green building
standards for specified nonresidential commercial buildings. The
standards would have to meet and encompass, at a minimum, the United
States Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) gold rating for new construction and
major renovation. The California Building Standards Commission would
be required to review these standards to ensure that they exceed and
are not in conflict with the existing standards in the California
Building Standards Code. Before adopting the set of minimum green
building standards, Cal-EPA would be required to hold 2 public
workshops.
The bill would require Cal-EPA, on or before July 1, 2010, to
submit the set of minimum green building standards to the California
Building Standards Commission for adoption by that commission in the
California Building Standards Code. The commission would be
prohibited from reducing the minimum standards proposed by the agency
but would be authorized to revise those standards. New commercial
buildings constructed on or after July 1, 2012, that are 50,000
square feet or greater would be required to meet the minimum
standards that are adopted by the California Building Standards
Commission. A new commercial building constructed on or
after July 1, 2012, that is less than 50,000 square feet or greater
would be required to meet the adopted standards unless the owner of
the building meets criteria, based on economic considerations,
developed by CAL-EPA for granting a waiver.
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. Part 4.5 (commencing with Section 71350) is added to
Division 34 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
PART 4.5. GREEN BUILDING STANDARDS FOR NONRESIDENTIAL
BUILDINGS
71350. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of the carbon dioxide
emissions in the United States, more than any other sector.
(b) Transforming the building environment to be more energy
efficient and climate friendly is a vital tool in the fight against
global warming and toward reducing dependence on foreign oil.
(c) 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.
(d) 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.
(e) The widespread adoption of green building principles 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.
(f) Green buildings enhance indoor air quality, incorporate
environmentally preferable products, and protect the building
occupants' health.
(g) In depth studies of projects to analyze the cost of green
buildings, using detailed cost estimates, demonstrate that there is
no significant difference in the construction costs for the United
States Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) buildings versus nonLEED
non-LEED buildings in any of the categories.
(h) More than a decade of results has proven that green buildings
save money and typically pay back any additional first costs in
operational savings within their first year of occupancy.
71351. It is the intent of the Legislature, in enacting this
part, 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 minimum standards adopted pursuant to
this part recognize California's leadership in environmental
sustainability practices and include the most rigorous measures and
methods possible with regard to the factors specified in subdivision
(d) (e) of Section 71352.
71352. For the purposes of this part, the following terms
means mean the following:
(a) "Agency" means the California Environmental Protection Agency.
(b) "Commercial building" means a building or structure that is in
occupancy Group B as specified in Section 304 of Title 24 of the
California Code of Regulations. Commercial building does not include
an eating establishment or a building owned or leased by the Regents
of the University of California.
(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.
(d) "LEED gold rating" means the United States Green Building
Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
(LEED) gold rating for new construction and major renovation, as set
forth in "Version 2.2" of LEED, as published by the USGBC in November
of 2005.
(e) "Minimum green building standards" means green building
standards for commercial buildings that meet and encompass, at a
minimum, the LEED gold rating or equivalent, and include, but are not
limited to, all of the following:
(1) Sustainability of the site.
(2) Water efficiency.
(3) Energy and atmosphere.
(4) Material Materials and resources
and sustainable wood.
(5) Indoor environmental quality.
(6) Innovation and design process.
(7) Nonmotorized transportation.
(8) A method for determining life-cycle cost, including evaluating
the relative effectiveness, cost, and life-cycle savings, if any, by
the use of individual or multiple green building measures specified
in this part.
71353. (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 minimum green building
standards.
(b) (1) To develop the minimum green building standards pursuant
to subdivision (a), 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.
(H) The Office of Environmental Health Hazards
Hazard Assessment.
(I) The State Department of Public Health.
(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) shall take the
lead in developing standards related to its particular area of
expertise and shall ensure that the standards developed are at least
equal to the LEED gold rating level.
(d) The agency shall be responsible for coordinating the
integration of the separate aspects provided by each state entity
into the minimum green building standards. The agency shall
consult with the California Building Standards Commission to ensure
that the standards developed pursuant to this section are not in
conflict with the California Building Standards Code (Title 24 of the
California Code of Regulations).
(e) The minimum standards shall include a system for the
certification of building projects based on attaining credits by
complying with specified prerequisites.
(f) With respect to materials and resources and sustainable wood,
the standards shall provide credits to those projects that use wood
products that have a credible third party sustainable forest
certification, as determined by the agency.
(f) Notwithstanding subdivision (c) of this section and
subdivision (e) of Section 71352, with respect to materials and
resources and sustainable wood, the standards shall require, for
purposes of ensuring equivalency with the LEED gold rating level,
that credits be provided to those projects that use wood products
with a credible third party sustainable forest certification, as
determined by the agency.
(g) Following the agency's coordination efforts, and prior to
final adoption of minimum green building standards, the agency
shall submit the minimum green building standards to the California
Building Standards Commission. Upon receipt of those standards,
the California Building Standards Commission shall review all
aspects of the minimum green building standards to ensure all aspects
of these standards exceed, and are not in conflict with, the
existing standards in the California Building Standards Code (Title
24 of the California Code of Regulations). The California
Building Standards Commission shall preliminarily approve or return
for amendment the standards. If the standards are returned for
amendment, the California Building Standards Commission shall inform
the agency of the specific reasons for the recommended changes.
(h) Prior to the adoption of the set of minimum green building
standards pursuant to subdivision (a), the agency shall hold at least
two public workshops to discuss the standards and gather input from
interested parties.
(i) As a part of the minimum green building standards adopted
pursuant to subdivision (a), the agency shall adopt criteria, based
on economic considerations, for determining the granting of a waiver
pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 71355.
71354. On or before July 1, 2010, the agency shall submit the set
of minimum green building standards adopted pursuant to subdivision
(a) of Section 71353 to the California Building Standards Commission
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 revise but shall not reduce the
minimum standards submitted by the agency.
71355. (a) On and after
July 1, 2012, a new commercial building that is 50,000 square feet or
greater shall be constructed to meet the minimum green building
standards adopted pursuant to Section 71354.
(b) On and after July 1, 2012, a new commercial building that is
less than 50,000 square feet shall be constructed to meet the minimum
green building standards adopted pursuant to Section 71354 unless
the owner of the building or his or her agent obtains a waiver by
demonstrating compliance with the criteria developed pursuant to
subdivision (i) of Section 71533.