BILL ANALYSIS
AB 210
SENATE COMMITTEE ON ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY
Senator S. Joseph Simitian, Chairman
2009-2010 Regular Session
BILL NO: AB 210
AUTHOR: Hayashi
AMENDED: As Introduced
FISCAL: No HEARING DATE: July 6, 2009
URGENCY: No CONSULTANT: Caroll
Mortensen
SUBJECT : "GREEN" BUILDING STANDARDS
SUMMARY :
Existing law :
1)Establishes the Building Standards Commission (BSC) within
the State and Consumer Services Agency.
2)Requires all state agencies that adopt or propose adoption
of any building standard under the California Building
Standards Code to submit the building standard to the
Commission for review and approval or adoption.
3)States that, if no state agency has authority or expertise
to propose green building standards applicable to a
particular occupancy, the BSC shall adopt, approve, codify,
update, and publish green building standards for those
occupancies.
4)Requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and
Development Commission (CEC) to prescribe building design
and construction standards as well as energy conservation
design standards that increase energy efficiency for new
residential and non-residential buildings.
5)Authorizes a local government to make changes or
modifications in building standards to provide for local
variances relating to local climatic, geological, or
topographical conditions, upon making certain findings and
filing those findings with the BSC.
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Executive Orders :
1)Establishes, pursuant to the Governor's Executive Order
S-20-04, The Green Building Initiative, and orders the state
to take specified actions, including: 1) Committing to
aggressive action to reduce state building electricity usage
by 20% in 2015, through cost-effective efficiency measures
and distributed generation technologies; and, 2) Siting,
constructing, and operating all new and renovated
state-owned facilities as LEED Silver or higher certified
buildings. (The Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S.
Green Building Council .)
2)Establishes, pursuant to the Governor's Executive Order
S-3-05, a program that 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
Governor established the Climate Action Team, headed by the
Secretary for Environmental Protection, to implement global
warming emission reduction programs and to report on the
progress made toward meeting the statewide greenhouse gas
targets that were established in the order.
This bill specifies that local governments may adopt changes
or modifications to green building standards in the Building
Standards Code in the same manner as they are authorized for
other building standards.
COMMENTS :
1)Purpose of Bill . According to the author, AB 210 makes it
clear that the same authority that allows local
jurisdictions to adopt building standards which are more
stringent than those adopted by the state also applies to
building standards related to green building design.
Such clarification in statute will significantly reduce the
need for legal review (and the related costs) on this issue
by local jurisdictions concerned that such authority may not
exist.
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2)What is "green" building ? With renewed emphasis on energy
and resource conservation and preserving the public and
environmental health, how buildings are designed and built
is changing to support those efforts. This is evident
through the efforts of the Administration with Executive
Orders requiring sustainable buildings and energy
conservation for state buildings and an increasing number of
local governments embracing green building. The terms
"green" and "sustainable" are used to describe these
buildings that are supposed to have a reduced environmental
and public health footprint. This green building movement
is growing rapidly and the general public has shown great
acceptance of it resulting in many more green buildings
being built. However, regulations or standards, as to what
a green or sustainable building is are not in place. It is
important to establish what a green building is to preserve
the integrity of the effort and ensure that they meet some
minimum criteria to be called "green". While frequently
used, there is no definition of the terms "green" building
or "green building standard" in state law. There are no
such definitions in this bill.
3)Green Building Regulation Development . The BSC, the
Department of Housing and Community Development, the
Division of the State Architect and the Office of Statewide
Health and Planning and Development developed a set of
standards for California buildings that they refer to as
their "green" building standards that were adopted in July
2008. Most of the standards, especially with respect to
non-residential construction, are voluntary. The mandatory
standards in some cases reflect existing mandates. In other
words, this first round of proposed standards is not strong.
The BSC states they intend to start work on a more
stringent set of standards to be adopted in 2010. Staff for
the BSC states that the second round will include a greater
number of mandated building features. It should be noted
that these regulations do not contain any criteria or
minimum requirements that a building would have to meet to
be called "green". This is an issue that concerns many,
including Legislators as reflected in a letter to BSC on
April 18, 2008, of misleading claims about green building.
By not establishing minimum requirements, buildings could be
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built with one of the proposed voluntary "requirements" and
could be called a "green building" in accordance with
California standards. This eliminates the incentive for
buildings that comply with more stringent standards, like
those in LEED or other similar systems.
4)Local Government Green Building Standards . This is an
emerging issue of concern as many local governments are
adopting or considering adoption of their own green building
standards. They have done so citing the need for local
variances by making findings relating to local climatic,
geological, or topographical conditions as allowed under
current law. However, while some are moving forward
concerns have been raised if using global climate change or
impending water shortages or other environmental factors
would withstand a legal challenge as a local climatic,
geological, or topographical condition. This bill attempts
to address this issue, however, without a definition of a
"green building standard", it is unclear if it addresses the
ambiguity. It would assist in policy development is these
terms were defined and/or more descriptive terms such as
"environmental performance standards" were established to
clarify the differences between "green" and traditional
building standards.
5)Related Legislation .
a) AB 2939 (Hancock) of 2008 authorizes a local entity to
implement stricter green building standards than Building
Standards Code. This bill was vetoed with the following
message: "This bill would authorize local jurisdictions
to impose more restrictive modifications to the
California Green Building Standards Code for both
residential and non-residential building" and is "both
unnecessary and far reaching."
b) SB 1473 (Calderon) Chapter 719, Statutes of 2008
requires the Building Standards Commission, by July 1,
2011, to adopt and publish green building standards for
both residential and non-residential construction. It
also imposes a fee to be used to assist with the
development of building standards, included green
building standards.
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c) AB 828 (Lieu) adds various state agencies to the list
of those that the BSC must consult with on the
development of building standards and authorizes the
California Energy Commission to adopt voluntary energy
standards. This bill is set for hearing in this
Committee on July 6, 2009.
SOURCE : California Building Industry Association
California State Council of Laborers
California State Pipe Trades Council
SUPPORT : American Council of Engineering Companies
American Federal of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
American Institute of Architects, CA Council
Associated General Contractors of California
California Apartment Association
California Association of Realtors
California Building Officials
California Business Properties Association
California Chamber of Commerce
California Forestry Association
California Homebuilders
California Manufacturers & Technology
Association
City of Palm Desert
Elevator Constructors Union
International Association of Plumbing and
Mechanical Officials (IAPMO)
Joint Labor Management Committee of the Forest
Products Industry
League of California Cities
South Bay Cities Council of Governments
State Association of Electrical Workers
Western States Council of Sheet Metal Workers
OPPOSITION : None on file