Amendment ID: S2819-8

Amendment 8

Large Building Energy Performance Standards

Ms. Rausch, Ms. Jehlen, Mr. Eldridge, Ms. Chang-Diaz, Ms. Edwards, Mr. Pacheco, Ms. Moran, Ms. Comerford, Messrs. Lewis, Lesser and Hinds move that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after Section 25 the following new section:-

"SECTION 25A. Said chapter 25A is hereby further amended by inserting the following section:-

Section 20. (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.

“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 used for heating, cooling, lighting, or water heating, or for powering or fueling other end uses.

“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 25,000 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.

“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 30 years, inclusive of all renewal options.

(b) The department shall establish large building energy performance standards, including without limitation greenhouse gas emissions from and energy use, for each large building type and occupancy. The department may designate subcategories within each building type and occupancy to establish such performance standards. The department shall establish these standards at levels: (i) at least as strong as the median energy or greenhouse gas emissions performance rating of large buildings of each building type, based on current green energy industry accepted data; and (ii) that require the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from large buildings at a pace consistent with achieving the emissions limits and sublimits established under chapter 21N. The department shall update and revise these large building energy performance standards at least once every 5 years.

(c) The department may establish campus-wide building energy performance standards for post-secondary educational institutions and hospitals with multiple buildings in a single location that are owned by a single entity.

(d) The department shall require the owners of large buildings that fail to meet the applicable building performance standard to demonstrate improvement over a 5-year compliance cycle. Building owners may demonstrate improvement by reducing their building’s greenhouse gas emissions or energy use by an amount designated by the department.

(e) The department may, in coordination with utility companies and the department of public utilities, establish incentive and financial assistance programs for owners to meet building performance standards.

(f) The department shall establish a deadline extension or alternative compliance pathway for owners who, in the judgment of the department, demonstrate cause for a deadline extension or alternative compliance pathway.

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

(h) The department may establish civil penalties for failure to comply with the requirements of this section; 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.

(i) Nothing in this section shall prohibit municipalities from establishing and enforcing building energy performance standards that exceed the requirements established pursuant to this section.

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

And further amended by inserting at the end thereof the following new section:-

"SECTION XX. Section 25A shall take effect on January 1, 2025."