Bill Text: HI SB2826 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating To Buildings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-24 - Referred to GVO/EET, WAM. [SB2826 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2826-Introduced.html
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THE SENATE |
S.B. NO. |
2826 |
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THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO BUILDINGS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
The legislature further finds that various state and local governments, including the city and county of Honolulu, have passed laws that require the measuring and tracking of greenhouse gas emissions, as well as energy and water consumption from buildings. All jurisdictions with benchmarking laws have specified the use of the United States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager measurement and tracking tool.
The ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager is available at no cost to users and can be used in a secure online environment. Forty per cent of commercial building spaces in the United States are already using ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, including thirty-five per cent of Fortune 500 corporations.
The purpose of this Act is to create a building benchmarking program that uses the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager to encourage state buildings to become more environmentally sustainable, particularly with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and energy and water consumption.
SECTION 2. Chapter 196, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new part to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:
"Part . BUILDING BENCHMARKING PROGRAM
§196-A Purpose. The legislature finds that there exists a worldwide climate emergency. Greenhouse gas emissions from all sources of human activity must be reduced dramatically to keep the earth livable. The legislature further finds that environmental sustainability also requires the efficient use of energy and water. The purpose of this part is to establish a building benchmarking program to make state buildings more environmentally sustainable, particularly with respect to greenhouse gas emissions and energy and water consumption.
§196-B Definitions. As used in this part, unless the context otherwise requires:
"Aggregated whole-building data" means energy or water data that has been summed for an entire property, which may include a single occupant or a group of separately metered tenants.
"Benchmark" means to input and submit the total energy and water consumed for a property for the previous calendar year and other descriptive information for the property as required by the benchmarking tool.
"Benchmarking tool" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, or any additional or alternative tool adopted by the Hawaii state energy office, used to benchmark, track, and assess the energy and water use of certain properties relative to similar properties.
"Chief energy officer" means the chief energy officer of the Hawaii state energy office.
"Covered property" means a property that exceeds ten thousand square feet in gross floor area and is owned, leased, or otherwise controlled by the State. "Covered property" does not include:
(1) Single family, duplex, triplex, and fourplex residential homes and related accessory structures, or any other residential building with fewer than five units;
(2) Any building with less than ten thousand square feet in gross floor area, that is not otherwise part of a campus as described in paragraph (3) of the definition for "property" for the purposes of benchmarking;
(3) Properties classified as industrial per designated Standard Industrial Classification codes 20 through 39;
(4) Properties owned by government bodies not subject to the authority of this part or governed by other chapters; and
(5) Other building types not meeting the purpose of this part, as determined by the chief energy officer.
"Energy" means electricity, natural gas, steam, or other product sold by a utility to a customer of a property, or renewable on-site electricity generation, for purposes of providing heating, cooling, lighting, or water heating, or for powering or fueling other end-uses as recorded in the benchmarking tool.
"ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager" means the tool developed and maintained by the United States Environmental Protection Agency to track and assess the relative energy performance of buildings.
"ENERGY STAR score" means the numeric rating generated by the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager as a measurement of a building's energy efficiency.
"Gross floor area" means the total property area, measured between the outside surfaces of the exterior walls of the building. "Gross floor area" includes all areas inside the building, including but not limited to lobbies, tenant areas, common areas, meeting rooms, break rooms, base level atriums, restrooms, elevator shafts, stairwells, mechanical equipment areas, basements, and storage rooms.
"Owner" means the state agency that owns, leases, or otherwise controls the covered property.
"Property" means:
(1) A single building;
(2) One or more buildings held in the condominium form of ownership and governed by a single board of directors; or
(3) A campus of two or more contiguous buildings that are owned and operated by the same owner, have a single shared primary function, and are:
(A) Behind a common utility meter or served by a common mechanical or electrical system, such as a chilled water loop, that would prevent the owner from being able to easily determine the energy use attributable to each of the individual buildings; or
(B) Used primarily for:
(i) A K-12 school;
(ii) A hospital;
(iii) A hotel;
(iv) Multifamily housing; or
(v) A senior care community.
"Shared benchmarking information" means information generated by the benchmarking tool and descriptive information about the physical property and its operational characteristics that is shared with the Hawaii state energy office. "Shared benchmarking information" includes but is not limited to:
(1) Descriptive information, such as:
(A) Property address;
(B) Primary use;
(C) Gross floor area;
(D) Number of floors;
(E) Number of building parking spaces or parking area in square feet;
(F) Number of years the property has been ENERGY STAR certified and the last approval date, if applicable; and
(G) Individual or entity responsible for the benchmarking submission; and
(2) Output information, such as:
(A) Site and source energy use intensity;
(B) Weather normalized site and source energy use intensity;
(C) The ENERGY STAR score, where available;
(D) Total annual greenhouse gas emissions;
(E) Monthly energy use by fuel type;
(F) Indoor water use and water use intensity, based on consumption per gross square foot;
(G) Outdoor water use, where available;
(H) Total water use;
(I) The ENERGY STAR Water Score, where available; and
(J) General comments section, if needed, to explain the building's ENERGY STAR scores.
"Tenant" means a person or entity occupying or holding possession of a building, part of a building, or premises pursuant to a rental or lease agreement or through ownership of a unit within, or portion of, the building.
§196-C Powers and duties of the Hawaii state energy office. The Hawaii state energy office shall:
(1) Receive, disburse, use, expend, and account for all funds that are made available by the United States and State for the purposes of this part;
(2) Provide support and assistance in the administration of the building benchmarking program;
(3) Review federal programs, federal permits, federal licenses, and federal development proposals for consistency with the building benchmarking program;
(4) Facilitate public participation in the building benchmarking program, including maintaining of a public advisory body to identify sustainable building problems and provide policy advice and assistance to the Hawaii state energy office;
(5) Prepare and periodically update a plan for use of building management funds to resolve problems and issues that are not adequately addressed by existing laws and rules;
(6) Advocate for agency compliance with this part;
(7) Monitor the enforcement activities of the state agencies responsible for the administration of the objectives and policies of this part;
(8) Prepare an annual report to the governor and legislature, including recommendations for any proposed legislation necessary to ensure agency compliance with the objectives and policies of this part and any guidelines enacted by the legislature; and
(9) Coordinate the implementation of the building benchmarking program.
§196-D Collecting and entering benchmarking data. (a) Each year, the owner of each covered property shall collect and enter all data needed to benchmark the entire property for the previous calendar year into the benchmarking tool in a manner that conforms to the latest guidance provided by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for use of the benchmarking tool. Aggregated whole-building data for the property's energy and water use shall be compiled using at least one of the following methods:
(1) Obtaining aggregated whole-building data from a utility;
(2) Collecting data from all tenants; or
(3) Reading a master meter.
(b) If the owner of a covered property does not have access to aggregated whole-building data, the owner shall request aggregated whole-building data from each utility that provides energy or water service to the property. When a utility does not provide aggregated whole-building data, the owner of a covered property shall request tenant energy and water data using a form provided by the Hawaii state energy office. Owners may request authorization from tenants for the utility to share their data in an aggregated format with the owner. Each utility that provides energy or water service to a property shall, upon request, provide aggregated whole-building data to the owner of the property.
(c) Each nonresidential tenant located in a covered property shall, within thirty days of a request by the owner, provide all information that cannot otherwise be acquired by the owner and that is needed by the owner to comply with the requirements of this part.
(d) Nothing in this part shall be construed to permit an owner to disclose or use tenant energy usage data for any purpose except compliance with the requirements of this part, nor shall the reporting requirements of this part be construed to excuse owners from compliance with federal or state laws governing direct access to tenant utility data from the responsible utility.
(e) If the tenant of a covered property fails to provide information to the owner as provided in this part, the owner shall be considered in compliance with the reporting requirements of this part with respect to the building if:
(1) The owner proves that the owner has requested the tenant to provide the information specified in this part in a format as required by the Hawaii state energy office; and
(2) The owner has used the benchmarking tool for the building using all information otherwise available to the owner.
The Hawaii state energy office may provide alternate values as established by the office.
§196-E Submitting a benchmarking report. (a) For every covered property subject to this part, the owner shall annually submit to the chief energy officer an energy and water benchmarking report in an electronic format by means of the benchmarking tool, by the date specified in section 196-F.
(b) The information included in the benchmarking report shall include the data entered in the benchmarking tool and shared benchmarking information.
(c) The owner of each covered property shall enter data into the benchmarking tool so that the energy and water benchmarking report shall be based on an assessment of the aggregated total energy and water consumed by the whole property for the entire calendar year being reported.
(d) Before submitting a benchmarking report, the owner shall run the data quality checker functions available within the benchmarking tool and verify that all data has been accurately entered into the tool. In order for the benchmarking report to be considered in compliance with this part, the owner shall correct all missing or incorrect information as identified by the data quality checker before submitting the benchmarking report to the chief energy officer.
(e) Once the owner learns that any information reported as part of the submission of the benchmarking report is inaccurate or incomplete, the owner shall amend the information reported within the benchmarking tool and provide the Hawaii state energy office with an updated benchmarking report within thirty days of learning of the inaccuracy.
§196-F Benchmarking schedule. (a) The owner of a covered property shall ensure that a benchmarking report for that property is generated, completed, and submitted to the Hawaii state energy office annually in accordance with the schedules and deadlines specified in this section.
(b) The initial benchmarking reports for each covered property shall be filed in accordance with subsection (e). Subsequent benchmarking reports for each covered property shall be due by June 1 of each year thereafter.
(c) Beginning no later than December 1, 2026, and every year thereafter, the Hawaii state energy office shall make available on a publicly accessible website an annual report based on the benchmarking reports received. The report shall include a summary of energy and water consumption statistics and an assessment of compliance rates, accuracy and issues affecting accuracy, changes across the portfolio over time, trends observed, and other information as determined by the chief energy officer.
(d) The Hawaii state energy office shall make a covered property's data transparency information available to the public beginning the year after the covered property is first required to submit a benchmarking report in accordance with the schedule pursuant to subsection (e). Subsequent data transparency information shall be made public each year thereafter.
(e) The initial reporting deadline shall be December 31, 2025, and the initial transparency year shall be 2026.
§196-G Benchmarking exemptions. (a) The owner of a covered property shall be exempt from the requirements of section 196-E if the owner submits documentation to the Hawaii state energy office, in a form and with certifications as required by the office, establishing that the covered property met at least one of the following conditions for the calendar year to be benchmarked:
(1) The property did not have a certificate of occupancy or temporary certificate of occupancy for that full calendar year;
(2) The property had a physical occupancy rate of less than fifty per cent over at least ten months of that calendar year;
(3) The property was in foreclosure;
(4) A demolition permit for the entire property was issued during that year; provided that demolition work commenced, and legal occupancy was no longer possible, prior to the end of that year; or
(5) The property or building is solely occupied by the owner of the property and:
(A) Is not offered for lease, rental, or similar commercial arrangement to any person or entity; or
(B) The only persons or entities permitted to lease or rent the buildings have the same owner as the owner of the property; provided that the owner shall certify to the Hawaii state energy office that the exception under this subparagraph applies.
(b) The covered property's data transparency information shall not be publicly available for the reporting year if the owner submits documentation to the Hawaii state energy office, in a form and with certifications as required by the office, establishing that, due to special circumstances unique to the property, strict compliance with the provisions of this part would not be in the public interest.
(c) Any owner requesting an exemption pursuant to subsection (a) or (b) shall, by March 1 in the year for which the exemption is being requested, submit to the Hawaii state energy office any documentation reasonably necessary to substantiate the request or otherwise assist the office in the exemption determination. Any exemption granted shall be limited to the submission of a benchmarking report or the public disclosure of data transparency information for which the request was made and shall not extend to past or future submittals.
§196-H Maintenance of records. (a) Owners shall maintain records as the Hawaii state energy office determines is necessary for carrying out the purposes of this part, including but not limited to the energy and water bills and reports or forms received from tenants or utilities. The records shall be retained for a period of three years. At the request of the Hawaii state energy office, the records shall be made available for inspection by the office.
(b) When a covered property is sold, the records and online benchmarking tool records shall be transferred to the new property owner, if the new property owner is another state agency.
(c) The Hawaii state energy office shall reserve the right to review records as the office deems necessary to evaluate the efficacy of this part. Records shall be provided to the chief energy officer upon request.
§196-I Compliance. All state agencies shall ensure that their rules comply with the objectives and policies of this part and any guidelines enacted by the legislature.
§196-J Rules. The Hawaii state energy office may adopt rules in accordance with chapter 91 to carry out the purposes of this part."
SECTION 3. Section 196-30, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:
"(a) By December 31, [2010,] 2025,
each state department with responsibilities for the design and construction of
public buildings and facilities shall benchmark every existing public building
that is [either] larger than [five] ten thousand square
feet [or uses more than eight thousand kilowatt-hours of electricity or
energy per year] and shall use the benchmark as a basis for determining the
State's investment in improving the efficiency of its own building stock. Benchmarking shall be conducted using the
ENERGY STAR portfolio [management] manager or equivalent
tool. The chief energy officer of the Hawaii
state energy office shall provide technical assistance and training to
affected departments on the ENERGY STAR portfolio [management] manager
or equivalent tool[.], as funding is made available to support this
effort."
SECTION 4. Section 196-31, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending its title and subsection (a) to read as follows:
"[[]§196-31[]] Energy
efficiency implementation for state facilities. (a) State facilities shall implement
cost-effective energy efficiency measures as follows:
(1) Beginning on January 1, 2024, for all state facilities that have not implemented section 36-41 since 2010; and
(2) Beginning on January 1, [2026,] 2027,
for all other state facilities;
[provided
that no entity shall claim tax credits or deductions, or depreciate assets
under title 14 for implementing energy efficiency measures pursuant to this
section;] provided [further] that nothing in this subsection shall
prohibit facilities from implementing energy efficiency measures sooner than
indicated under paragraph (1) or (2)."
SECTION 5. Section 196-71, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:
"(b) The Hawaii state energy office shall:
(1) Provide analysis and planning to actively develop and inform policies to achieve energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy resiliency, and clean transportation goals with the legislature, public utilities commission, state agencies, and other relevant stakeholders;
(2) Lead efforts to incorporate energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy resiliency, and clean transportation to reduce costs and achieve clean energy goals across all public facilities;
(3) Provide renewable energy, energy
efficiency, energy resiliency, and clean transportation project deployment
facilitation to assist private sector project completion when aligned with
state energy goals; [and]
(4) Engage the private sector to help lead
efforts to achieve renewable energy and clean transportation goals through the
Hawaii clean energy initiative[.]; and
(5) Carry out the responsibilities for the building benchmarking program, as specified in part ."
SECTION 6. In accordance with section 9 of article VII of the Hawaii State Constitution and sections 37-91 and 37-93, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the legislature has determined that the appropriations contained in Act 164, Regular Session of 2023, and this Act will cause the state general fund expenditure ceiling for fiscal year 2024-2025 to be exceeded by $ or per cent. This current declaration takes into account general fund appropriations authorized for fiscal year 2024-2025 in Act 164, Regular Session of 2023, and this Act only. The reasons for exceeding the general fund expenditure ceiling are that:
(1) The appropriation made in this Act is necessary to serve the public interest; and
(2) The appropriation made in this Act meets the needs addressed by this Act.
SECTION 7. There is appropriated out of the general revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $ or so much thereof as may be necessary for fiscal year 2024-2025 for the building benchmarking program established by section 2 of this Act.
The sum appropriated shall be expended by the department of business, economic development, and tourism for the purposes of this Act.
SECTION 8. If any provision of this Act, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held invalid, the invalidity does not affect other provisions or applications of the Act that can be given effect without the invalid provision or application, and to this end the provisions of this Act are severable.
SECTION 9. In codifying the new sections added by section 2 of this Act, the revisor of statutes shall substitute appropriate section numbers for the letters used in designating the new sections in this Act.
SECTION 10. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 11. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2024.
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INTRODUCED BY: |
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Report Title:
State Buildings; Hawaii State Energy Office; ENERGY STAR; Building Benchmarking Program; Benchmarking Data; Reporting; Expenditure Ceiling; Appropriation
Description:
Requires state agencies to process the aggregated energy and water data of certain properties through the federal Energy Star Portfolio Manager and submit the benchmarking data to the Hawaii State Energy Office. Declares that the general fund expenditure ceiling is exceeded. Makes an appropriation.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.
