Energy efficient buildings bill passed

New building codes that will save the state money and lower its carbon footprint are the goal of a bill passed 109-20 by the House on April 30.

HF3401/SF2706*, sponsored by Rep. Bill Hilty (DFL-Finlayson) and Sen. Yvonne Prettner Solon (DFL-Duluth), would require the Commerce Department to contract with the University of Minnesota’s Center for Sustainable Building Research to develop cost-effective energy efficiency standards for all new and substantially reconstructed commercial, industrial and institutional buildings.

The bill would lay the groundwork for the development of the building codes only; it would not actually implement them. The codes would also have the goal of reducing per-square-foot carbon emissions by 60 percent in 2010, 70 percent in 2015, 80 percent in 2020 and 90 percent in 2025. Reductions would be measured against 2003 average levels.

In addition, the bill would require the Commerce and Administration departments to work together to develop new sustainable building guidelines by Feb. 1, 2009, for all major renovations of state buildings. “Major renovations” would include only those involving a minimum 10,000 square feet of space. The goal is to exceed the state energy code by 30 percent.

Hilty said the Minnesota Climate Change Advisory Group recommended the building code changes as the single largest energy- and cost-saving measure the state could take.

The bill now goes back to the Senate, where a different version passed 47-13 on March 31.