Amendment #59 to H4912

Building Energy Performance Standards

Ms. Robinson of Framingham moves to amend the bill, as amended, by adding the following section:

Section XX:

"Chapter 25A of the general laws is hereby further amended by inserting after section 17 the following section:-

Section 18. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following words shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-

“Energy”, electricity, natural gas, steam, hot or chilled water, heating oil, propane or other products designated by the department used for heating, cooling, lighting, or water heating, or for powering or fueling other end uses.

“Energy performance rating or assessment score,” a score assigned to a building based on how efficiently it uses energy relative to other buildings of the same type. The department may designate types of buildings based on factors including, but not limited to, classifications by region; status within a historic district established under chapter 40C and historic district commissions in the commonwealth established by a special act of the legislature; and size, occupancy, and use as defined by 780 CMR. The department shall promulgate regulations to establish the scoring system.

“Energy use benchmarking tool”, the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, an online energy use benchmarking tool used by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for reporting and managing the energy performance, water efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions of building, or a tool capable of: (i) performing all the functions relevant to compliance with this section; (ii) allowing for reporting by third parties, including, but not limited to, gas distribution and electric distribution companies; and (iii) exchanging information and data with the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager.

“Gross floor area”, as defined in 780 CMR.

“Large building,” a building that meets any of the following criteria: (1) buildings owned or leased by a municipal or state agency consisting of not less than 10,000 square feet of gross floor area; (2) as of January 1, 2022, residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than 25,000 square feet of gross floor area; (3) as of January 1, 2025, residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than 20,000 square feet of gross floor area; and (4) as of January 1, 2028, residential or commercial buildings consisting of not less than 15,000 square feet of gross floor area.

“Commercial building”,  a building or multiple buildings on a parcel of which not less than 50 per cent of the gross floor area, including hallways or other common space, but excluding parking, is used for commercial, retail, office, professional, educational or other nonresidential purposes, or any grouping of nonresidential buildings designated by the department as an appropriate reporting unit for the purposes of this chapter; provided, however, that “commercial building” shall not include a building owned or leased by a municipal or state agency.

“Owner,” the owner of record of a building, or a designated agent thereof, including, but not limited to, the association or organization of unit owners responsible for management in the case of a condominium, the board of directors in the case of a cooperative apartment corporation, and the net lessee in the case of a building subject to a net lease with a term of not less than 49 years, inclusive of all renewal options.

“Residential building”, a building or multiple buildings on a parcel of which not less than 50 per cent of the gross floor area, including hallways and other common space serving residents, but excluding parking, is used for dwelling purposes, or any grouping of residential buildings designated by the department or a municipality as an appropriate reporting unit for the purposes of this chapter; provided, however, that “residential building” shall not include a building owned or leased by a municipal or state agency.

“Tenant”, any tenant, tenant-stockholder of a cooperative apartment corporation, or condominium unit owner.

(b) For large buildings, the department shall undertake energy use benchmarking to determine whether the building utilizes more or less energy, and emits more or less greenhouse gases, than buildings of comparable size, occupancies and uses. To conduct the benchmarking, the department shall create, procure, or designate an energy use benchmarking tool and shall provide technical support and assistance on the use of the benchmarking tool to the owners of buildings subject to this section.

(c)(1)  To administer this section, the department may establish building types, including, but not limited to, classifications by region; status within a historic district established under chapter 40C and historic district commissions in the commonwealth established by a special act of the legislature; and size, occupancy, and use as defined by 780 CMR , including whether tenant-occupied units or spaces are separately metered. The department may establish varying reporting requirements for each type.

(2) Not later than May 1 of each year, the owner of each large building shall use the energy use benchmarking tool to accurately report to the department, or cause to be accurately reported to the department, the building’s energy use for the previous calendar year and any other building characteristics determined by the department to be necessary to establish the absolute and relative energy use of the building. The owner of a building subject to this section may authorize a gas or electric distribution company or other third party to report building-specific data to the department, and the gas or electric distribution company shall report building-specific data to the department upon such authorization; provided, however, that such authorization shall not relieve an owner from compliance with this section.

(3) Annually, an owner of a large building with separately-metered and tenant-occupied units or spaces shall request from each tenant of the building all information necessary to comply with the requirements of paragraph (2) and each tenant shall report the required information to the owner. The owner of a large building may bypass individual authorization and request the electric and gas distribution companies to provide the aggregate energy consumption of all meters in the building, including tenant-occupied units and separately-metered units, and the electric and gas distribution companies shall provide the data to the building owner, separated by month and consumption by source.  Failure of an owner to report energy use information to the department shall not impose liability on a tenant.

(4) The department shall establish a deadline extension or hardship waiver process for owners who, in the judgment of the department, demonstrate cause for a deadline extension or hardship waiver.

(5) If an occupied building subject to the requirements of this section is transferred, the buyer shall make reasonable efforts to report energy use information for the building for the entire calendar year, if practicable.

(6) The department shall allow a city or town to collect the energy use information required under paragraph (2) in lieu of collection by the department and to require owners of appropriate buildings within its borders to report the information to the city or town if the municipality: (i) notifies the department by October 31 that it will assume the reporting responsibilities required under this section; and (ii) utilizes an energy use benchmarking tool that collects information similar to the energy use benchmarking tool used by the state. Annually, not later than July 1 , a city or town that collects energy use information under this paragraph shall collect and forward to the department, on a building-by-building basis, the required energy use information from the previous calendar year. The department may designate standardized units of measure and standardized formats to be utilized by a city or town in the reporting and collection of building energy use information. The department shall make reasonable efforts to streamline reporting requirements in a city or town that collects energy use information under this paragraph.

(d) Annually, not later than October 1, the department shall make available on its website energy use information and data for the preceding calendar year for each large building, on a building-by-building basis . For each building, the information made available shall include, but not be limited to: (i) the municipality in which the building is located; (ii) the building’s total energy use in MMBTU, total greenhouse gas emissions in pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent, total square footage, energy intensity in kBTU per square foot and greenhouse gas emissions per square foot in pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per square foot; (iii) the breakdown of the building’s energy use by electricity, gas, steam and other sources; and (iv) an energy performance rating or assessment score. The department shall maintain a privacy and quality assurance process to improve the accuracy and completeness of the available information, including, but not limited to, an opportunity for the owner to review and comment on the information. The department shall provide owners with the opportunity to submit contextual information related to energy use in their buildings and shall disclose such information upon request by the owner.

(e) The department shall make available to a regional planning agency, municipality or other public agency requesting such information any data set forth in this section, utilizing such practices as are necessary to prevent the public disclosure of personal information regarding owners and tenants.

(f) The department shall prepare an annual comprehensive report on the energy performance of buildings utilizing the information and data collected pursuant to this section. The report shall include, but not be limited to, an analysis of energy performance and greenhouse gas emissions by building size, occupancy, and use as defined by 780 CMR , as well as by region of the commonwealth. The report shall also include energy sources and, when available, energy performance and greenhouse gas emissions over time. The report shall be posted on the department’s website and filed with the house and senate committees on ways and means and the joint committee on telecommunication, utilities and energy not later than December 31.

(g) On the basis of the comprehensive reports prepared by the department pursuant to subsection (f) and other information and data as deemed necessary by the secretary of energy and environmental affairs, the secretary shall conduct annual reviews of improvements or the lack thereof in the energy performance of large buildings. If the reviews indicate a lack of substantial improvement from year to year in the energy performance of large buildings, the secretary may recommend energy actions, assessments, and audits, and may establish performance standards to improve the energy performance of large buildings.

(h) The department shall ensure that electric distribution companies and municipal aggregators provide to owners subject to this section up-to-date information regarding energy efficiency opportunities or actions available to increase energy efficiency, including incentives in utility-administered or other energy efficiency programs and changes in energy assessment technology. The department shall prioritize those buildings that have not displayed improvement year-to-year in their energy performance rating or assessment score.

(i) Nothing in this section shall preempt a city or town from maintaining an energy use benchmarking program. A city or town may set and enforce energy performance standards for buildings within the municipality. Such performance standards may require building owners to reduce the energy use or greenhouse gas emissions associated with their buildings, or to complete a prescribed set of energy efficiency measures."

Additional co-sponsor(s) added to Amendment #59 to H4912

Building Energy Performance Standards