Chapter 25A of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2020 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting the following section:-

Section 21. Better Buildings Act. (a) For purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-

“Building”, a building or multiple buildings on a parcel, or any grouping of buildings designated by the department as an appropriate unit for the purposes of verifying compliance with building performance standards established under this section.

“Building energy reporting program,” requirements for the owners of large buildings to report building energy use on an annual basis and for the department to make this information publicly available, pursuant to section 20 of chapter 25A.

“Department”, the department of energy resources.

“Energy”, electricity, natural gas, steam, hot or chilled water, heating oil, propane or other products designated by the department that are used for heating, cooling, lighting, industrial and manufacturing processes, water heating, cooking, clothes drying or other purposes.

“Greenhouse gas emissions,” emissions of greenhouse gasses, as defined in chapter 21N, from the energy consumed annually at a large building, measured in metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent or similar units; provided, that greenhouse gas emissions shall not include emissions associated with separately-metered electricity used to charge vehicles or other energy uses determined by the department to be unrelated to the operation of the building.

“Gross floor area”, the total floor area contained within a building measured to the external face of the external walls.

“Large building”, a building with at least 20,000 square feet of gross floor area; provided, however, that the department may establish by regulation a lower threshold for a building to be considered a large building under this section.

“Normalized greenhouse gas emissions,” greenhouse gas emissions normalized for weather and other factors at the discretion of the department.

“Normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity,” normalized greenhouse gas emissions for a building divided by the gross floor area of the building.

“Normalized site energy use,” site energy use normalized for weather and other factors at the discretion of the department.

“Normalized site energy use intensity,” normalized site energy use for a building divided by the gross floor area of the building.

“Owner”, the owner of record of a building or a designated agent thereof including, but not limited to, an association or organization of unit owners responsible for management of a condominium, the board of directors of a cooperative apartment corporation or the net lessee of a building subject to a net lease with a term of not less than 30 years, inclusive of all renewal options.

“Site energy use,” the total energy consumed annually at a large building, measured in thousand British thermal units (kBTU) or similar units; provided, that site energy use shall not include separately-metered electricity used to charge vehicles or other energy uses determined by the department to be unrelated to the operation of the building.

(b) The department shall establish building performance standards for each large building type and occupancy. The department may designate subcategories within each building type and occupancy to establish building performance standards.

(c) For each building type and occupancy, and for any subcategories as designated by the department, the department shall establish a final building performance standard that shall apply in the year 2050 and each year thereafter. The department shall also establish interim building performance standards for each 5-year period beginning in 2025, and these standards shall apply in each year of the relevant 5-year period. For each building type and occupancy, and for any subcategories as designated by the department, final and interim building performance standards shall set either (1) the maximum normalized site energy use intensity, (2) the maximum normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity, or (3) both the maximum normalized site energy use intensity and maximum normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity.

(d) The department shall establish building performance standards at levels that are: (i) at least as stringent as the median normalized site energy use intensity or normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity of large buildings of each building type at the time, based on data collected through the building energy reporting program; and (ii) consistent with achieving the greenhouse gas emissions limits and sublimits established under chapter 21N. The department may revise building performance standards based on significant new information about building energy use, market conditions, and innovations in energy efficiency and electrification technologies.

(e) The department may establish an option for campus-wide performance standards for post-secondary educational institutions and hospitals with multiple buildings in a single location that have the same owner; provided, that such campus-wide performance standards shall require reductions in normalized site energy use intensity or normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity similar to those standards established for individual buildings under subsections (b) through (d).

(f) The department may, in coordination with utility companies and the department of public utilities, establish financial and technical assistance programs for owners to meet building performance standards. In establishing such programs, the department shall consider the financial need of owners and equitable access to programs and technologies, and may establish higher incentives for owners of buildings that achieve greater reductions in normalized site energy use intensity or normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity than required by the standards.

(g) The department shall establish criteria for owners facing extraordinary hardships to seek an extension of the deadline to meet building performance standards for one or more of their buildings. Upon application by an owner, the department may grant an extension of up to 3 years.

(h) If, due to unusual circumstances, an owner believes that a building cannot reasonably meet one or more of the applicable interim or final building performance standards, the owner may propose a building performance action plan for the department’s approval. Such a plan shall include proposed improvements to the building and a timeline for the implementation of these improvements, and shall be designed to achieve reductions in normalized site energy use intensity or normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity that are equivalent to or as close as practicable to the final building performance standard. Once a building performance action plan is approved by the department, a building shall be deemed to be in compliance with the requirements of this section as long as the terms of the building performance action plan are met on a timely basis. The department shall review building performance action plans at least once every 5 years, and may require modifications to these plans or rescind previously granted approval.

(i) An owner of a large building that fails to meet the applicable interim building performance standard may comply by paying an alternative compliance fee. Such fee shall be assessed annually for each year that a building fails to meet the standard. The department shall determine the amount of alternative compliance fees at least 12 months in advance of each compliance date, and such amounts shall be assessed on the basis of factors including the gross floor area and the amount by which the normalized site energy use intensity or normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity exceeds the interim standard. To the extent possible, the department shall set the amount of alternative compliance fees to incentivize building owners to meet the interim building performance standard rather than pay the alternative compliance fee.

(j) The department shall establish civil penalties for owners of buildings that fail to meet the applicable building performance standard and do not pay alternative compliance fees, and owners of buildings that fail to comply with the terms of their building performance action plans; provided, however, that no such penalty shall be assessed on or passed through to a lessee of a unit within a large building that comprises less than 5 per cent of the total gross floor area of the large building.

(k) Alternative compliance fees and civil penalties collected by the department shall be deposited into a separate account established by the department. Any funds collected shall be used first to pay for the costs incurred by the department in administering this section, and any remaining funds shall be used to assist owners of large buildings in meeting the requirements of this section and to support energy efficiency and electrification retrofits in low-income housing. The department shall appoint an advisory committee, consisting of community, municipal government, and industry representatives, to direct the expenditure of funds from this account. The department shall publish an annual report on its website listing disbursements from this account.

(l) Documents received, created, or maintained by the department under this section shall be public records.

(m) Nothing in this section shall prohibit municipalities from establishing and enforcing energy performance standards, greenhouse gas emission standards, or other environmental standards for buildings that exceed the requirements of this section. The department shall coordinate with municipal officials on the establishment and enforcement of building performance standards, and may establish a single process for owners to demonstrate compliance with both municipal and statewide building performance standards; provided, that such a compliance process shall require reductions in normalized site energy use intensity or normalized greenhouse gas emissions intensity that are at least as stringent as the statewide building performance standards established pursuant to this section.

(n) The department shall promulgate regulations to implement this section within one year of its effective date.