HF3737

Purpose

• Expand and strengthen sustainability requirements for state buildings and government operations.
• Increase use of renewable energy and water/energy efficiency to meet newer standards, while creating ongoing reporting, planning, and funding mechanisms to drive progress.

Key Provisions and What They Do

• Section 1: Building standards and energy sources

  • If cost-effective energy efficiency alone cannot meet Sustainable Building 2030 energy performance standards, state buildings must deploy cost-effective renewable energy sources or solar thermal energy systems, or both, to reach those standards.
  • The administrations of the Office of Administration and the Department of Commerce must review building designs/plans for compliance with the Sustainable Building 2030 standards and recommend changes to ensure the standards are met.
  • Defines important terms used in this section, including energy, energy efficiency, renewable energy (including hydrogen produced from wind, solar, or hydro), solar thermal energy systems, energy conservation, water conservation, and related concepts.

• Section 2: Shared savings program for energy improvements

  • Creates a shared-savings program for energy conservation improvements in state-owned and wholly state-leased buildings, run by the Office of Administration in collaboration with the Department of Commerce and one or more public utilities or energy services providers.
  • The contractor must implement energy efficiency improvements with a payback period of ten years or less.
  • Repayment to the contractor comes only from the realized energy cost savings and must be at most the amount of those savings; repayments are to be interest-free.
  • The program aims to prove that energy use per square foot can be reduced by at least 30% beyond current energy codes.
  • Agencies must regularly report energy use, building schedules, and energy-using equipment data to help manage the program.

• Section 3: Energy and water data collection

  • Agencies responsible for facilities must report energy and water consumption and related costs to the commissioner on a schedule the commissioner sets.

• Section 4: Energy and water goals and improvement plans

  • Agencies must maintain benchmarks and goals for energy and water use, created with input from the commissioner.
  • Agencies must have plans to implement energy and water conservation improvements in existing buildings with a simple payback period of up to 15 years.

• Section 5: Enterprise Sustainability Office

  • Establishes the Office of Enterprise Sustainability to help all state agencies improve sustainability, reduce environmental impact and waste, protect public funds, and drive innovation.
  • Duties include creating tools, sharing best practices, helping agencies plan and implement improvements, and monitoring progress.
  • Specific duties also include:
  • Managing a sustainability metrics and reporting system with enterprise-wide goals and a public progress dashboard updated annually.
  • Assisting agencies in developing and executing sustainability plans.
  • Implementing a state building energy conservation improvement revolving loan program (referencing existing statutes).

• Section 6: Revisor instruction

  • directs a terminology update to the statute heading related to energy and water use.

What Changes in Law This Creates

• Adds a mandates-based trigger to install renewable energy or solar thermal sources if energy efficiency alone cannot meet energy performance standards for state buildings.
• Establishes a formal shared-savings model for funding energy improvements, with strict payment terms (ten-year payback, payment from energy savings only, no interest).
• Widens data collection and transparency through mandatory energy and water data reporting and a public dashboard.
• Requires ongoing planning for energy and water conservation with defined payback periods (up to 15 years) for improvements.
• Creates an Office of Enterprise Sustainability to coordinate metrics, reporting, planning, and funding related to sustainability across all state agencies, including a revolving loan program for energy conservation improvements.
• Updates the statutory language to reflect a broader focus on energy and water use in state operations.

Significant Changes to Public Policy or Practice

• Shifts more state building projects toward renewable energy deployment when efficiency alone isn’t enough.
• Moves toward measurable, public-facing accountability through dashboards and enterprise-wide goals.
• Encourages collaboration with utilities and private providers to finance and execute energy improvements on public buildings.
• Elevates a centralized office to drive consistency, innovation, and progress in sustainability across all state agencies.

Relevant Terms - Sustainable Building 2030 energy performance standards - energy efficiency - renewable energy (including hydrogen from wind/solar/hydro) - solar thermal energy systems - energy conservation - energy conservation improvement - energy - energy efficiency goals and benchmarks - water conservation - water conservation improvement - water efficiency - shared-savings program - cost payback (ten years) - energy cost savings - public utilities - energy services provider - energy data collection - building dashboard (public) - Office of Enterprise Sustainability - revolving loan program (state building energy conservation improvement) - energy benchmarking - energy use per square foot (reduction target: at least 30%) - simple payback (up to 15 years)