OLYMPIA – A bill to require the consideration of greenhouse gas emission reduction and all-electric facilities in the design of major publicly owned or leased facilities is one step closer to the Governor’s desk. House Bill 1280, sponsored by Rep. Alex Ramel (D-Bellingham) passed the state House today with a vote of 57-39.
Washington State requires energy conservation practices and renewable energy systems to be considered in the design of major public facilities. Whenever a new public facility is constructed or renovated the agency involved must complete a life-cycle cost analysis that includes an energy consumption analysis in the design phase of the project. Currently, the energy consumption analysis requires the comparison of three or more system alternatives including a renewable energy system and one which complies with the sustainable guidelines of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver standard.
“The LEED Silver standard was aspirational in the early 2000’s, commonplace a decade ago, and now it is baked into our building practices,” said Ramel. “It is a success story of our building industry steadily improving. We should be proud of this success, but it is time to raise the bar as we look to the future.”
HB 1280 replaces the requirement to consider a system that complies with the LEED silver standard with a requirement to consider an all-electric building alternative. The bill does not require the use of all-electric buildings, simply that they are considered.
“In the past year, I have heard of two schools that were built using all-electric technology after local activists pushed the school districts to evaluate it,” said Ramel. “It won’t always make economic sense, but by considering these alternatives we can make better decisions and build better public facilities.”
The bill also amends the guidelines for design to ensure greenhouse gas emissions reductions practices are considered in the design of buildings. The Department of Enterprise Services is responsible for developing guidelines for life cycle analyses.
The bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.