BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE TRANSPORTATION & HOUSING COMMITTEE BILL NO: ab 930
SENATOR MARK DESAULNIER, CHAIRMAN AUTHOR: gordon
VERSION: 6/14/11
Analysis by: Mark Stivers FISCAL: yes
Hearing date: June 21, 2011
SUBJECT:
California Building Standards Commission membership
DESCRIPTION:
This bill requires that at least one of the public members of
the California Building Standards Commission be experienced and
knowledgeable in sustainable building, design, construction, and
operation.
ANALYSIS:
The California Building Standards Law establishes the California
Building Standards Commission (BSC) and the process for adopting
state building standards. Under this process, relevant state
agencies propose amendments to model building codes, which the
BSC must then adopt, modify, or reject. For example, the
Department of Housing and Community Development is the relevant
state agency for residential building standards. The Office of
Statewide Health Planning and Development is responsible for
hospitals and clinics, and the Division of the State Architect
is the relevant agency for schools and emergency service
buildings. Current law requires BSC to publish the California
Building Code in its entirety once every three years. At the
midpoint between each code adoption cycle, the law also requires
BSC to consider building standard updates proposed by state
agencies and to publish supplements to the code as necessary.
Under current law, the BSC is comprised of 11 members. The
Secretary of State and Consumer Services Agency sits as an
ex-oficio member, and the governor appoints the remaining ten
members subject to Senate confirmation. Members serve without
compensation for staggered four-year terms. The governor must
select his or her appointees in accordance with the following:
Four members from specified professions and industries
concerned with building construction, including an architect;
AB 930 (GORDON) Page 2
a mechanical, electrical, or fire protection engineer; a
structural engineer; and a licensed contractor.
Three members from among the general public, at least one of
whom shall be a person with physical disabilities.
One member from organized labor in the building trades.
One member who is a local building official.
One member who is a local fire official.
In addition to these professional affiliations or personal
characteristics, current law requires that the BSC maintain
certain types of experience. The governor must ensure that at
least one member of the BSC is experienced and knowledgeable in
barrier free architecture and sensitive to disabled access
issues and that at least one member of the BSC is experienced
and knowledgeable in building energy efficiency standards.
This bill adds an additional experience mandate by requiring
that at least one member of the BSC representing the general
public be experienced and knowledgeable in sustainable building,
design, construction, and operation.
COMMENTS:
1.Purpose of the bill . According to the sponsor, the BSC needs
resident expertise in sustainable design given green
building's critical role in the emerging California economy
and the associated benefits of energy efficiency,
environmental health, and job growth. The BSC's recent
implementation of the California Green Building Standards Code
makes the need for members of the BSC to have experience in
sustainable building, design, construction, and operation more
important than ever before. The author adds that while
current law prescribes various dedicated sectors from which
members of the BSC shall come, not one of the 11 members must
be experienced and knowledgeable in sustainable building,
design, construction, and operation.
2.Status of California green building standards . In July 2008
the BSC adopted the first set of green building standards for
California. Many of the standards, especially with respect to
non-residential construction, were voluntary. In January
2010, the BSC adopted the 2010 California Green Building
Standards Code, known as the CALGreen Code, which contains a
greater number of mandated building features, including:
Indoor air standards that will improve air quality and
AB 930 (GORDON) Page 3
limit volatile organic compounds, formaldehyde, and
moisture;
A 20 percent reduction in indoor water use;
A 50 percent reduction in construction waste;
Occupant recycling, maintenance and operation
information; and
A comprehensive appendix that contains measures local
government may use to go beyond the mandatory code minimum
in a uniform statewide manner.
The 2010 CALGreen Code took effect on January 1, 2011.
1.Experience requirement as an advocacy tool . Both current
law's BSC experience requirements and this bill's requirement
for a public member to have experience in green building are
vague. The law nowhere defines what constitutes experience.
Arguably, any person who has been involved with the
development of a building in the recent past has some
experience with these topics, even if they oppose the current
standards. As a result, the bill is not likely to give
proponents a legal tool to challenge an appointee who looks
disfavorably on green building standards, but it will likely
give proponents an advocacy tool to push a governor to appoint
a strong green building advocate or to influence the Senate
confirmation process.
2.Amendment requests . A coalition of building industry
organizations and rural counties points out that current law
requires one member of the BSC to have experience in energy
efficiency standards and states that energy efficiency was the
green building of the 1970s when the Legislature enacted this
provision. Because the concept of green building has expanded
significantly since that time, the coalition suggests that it
may be more appropriate to expand the current energy
efficiency expertise requirement to include green building
than to create a new and separate expertise requirement.
The California Municipal Utilities Association suggests that
the author define "sustainable" to eliminate possible
confusion about the range of expertise the appointee must
possess.
Assembly Votes:
Floor: 62-13
Appr: 12-5
B&P: 9-0
AB 930 (GORDON) Page 4
POSITIONS: (Communicated to the Committee before noon on
Wednesday,
June 15, 2011)
SUPPORT: United States Green Building Council California
Advisory Committee (sponsor)
Build It Green
California Municipal Utilities Association
Sierra Club California
StopWaste.Org
OPPOSED: None received.