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ASHRAE President to Testify Before Congress
ASHRAE President Kent Peterson, P.E., is slated to speak May 14 at a hearing, Building Green, Saving Green: Constructing Sustainable and Energy-Efficient Buildings, before the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming of the U.S. House of Representatives.
“As Congress examines all sources and causes of global warming emissions, it must consider how the buildings we work and live in can contribute to reduce the impact of climate change,” Rep. Edward Markey (Mass.), chair of the committee, said. “ASHRAE’s standards offer a foundation for energy-efficient buildings, and the Committee is interested in how building codes can be used to increase the number of green buildings throughout the nation.”
Peterson will talk about ASHRAE’s role in writing standards for adoption into building codes and its work in developing guidance that goes beyond minimum requirements in building codes. “Today’s buildings mortgage our energy and environmental future,” Kent Peterson, ASHRAE president, said. “In the past, Standard 90.1 and other guidance from ASHRAE focused on minimum requirements to save energy. Recognizing that we must do more, ASHRAE is looking ahead to producing advanced energy design guidance, with the goal of net-zero energy buildings. We welcome the opportunity to stress the need for a more energy efficient future before the House Committee.”
More details on the the hearing are available from the committee’s webpage: http://globalwarming.house.gov.
Los Angeles Approves an Aggressive Green Building Ordinance
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa signed a law on Earth Day that requires all new large building projects in the city to meet green building standards. Touted as the most aggressive green building plan of any big city in the United States, the new law requires any new building with more than 50,000 square feet of floor space or consisting of more than 50 units to meet the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) green building standard of the U.S. Green Building Council.
In exchange, the city will work with builders to speed up approvals and to remove obstacles in the municipal code for elements of sustainable building design, such as green rooftops, cisterns, and permeable pavement. Builders who go the extra step to pursue LEED Silver certification will benefit from expedited processing of their building applications. See the mayor's press release (http://www.lacity.org/mayor/myrpress/mayormyrpress27452348_04222008.pdf) and the city's green building Web page (http://mayor.lacity.org/greenbuilding.htm).
Maryland Approves Wide-Ranging Clean Energy Bills
Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley signed a package of energy bills that will set new renewable energy requirements for the state, institute utility energy efficiency programs, and offer new funding and incentives for clean energy. House Bill (HB) 375 more than doubles the state's requirements for renewable power, requiring 20% of the state's electricity to be produced from renewable energy by 2022. Compared to previous legislation, the new law slows the growth in the so-called renewable portfolio standard (RPS) over the next several years, then accelerates it starting in 2011. It still maintains a requirement for 2% of the state's power to come from solar energy by 2011.
On the energy efficiency side, HB 374 establishes a state goal of achieving a 15% reduction in per capita electricity use and peak demand by the end of 2015. The bill requires the state's utilities to implement energy efficiency programs and tasks the Maryland Public Service Commission with tracking progress toward the goal. In addition, HB 376 requires buildings constructed or renovated solely with state funds to meet tough green building standards, equivalent to a silver rating from the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system. The governor also approved HB 373, which encourages transit-oriented development.
In terms of funding and incentives, HB 368 establishes the Maryland Strategic Energy Investment Fund, which combines utility fees for non-compliance with the RPS along with proceeds from the sale of greenhouse gas allowances under the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative. The fund will invest in a wide range of clean energy projects and programs. HB 377 increases the grants under the Solar Energy Grant Program, which now offers grants of $2,500 per kilowatt of solar electric power, capped at $10,000, and 30% of the cost of solar water heating systems, capped at $3,000. It also enhances the Geothermal Heat Pump Grant Program, which now offers grants of $1,000 per ton of cooling capacity, capped at $3,000 for residential systems and $10,000 for non-residential systems. The bill also exempts solar energy equipment and geothermal heat pumps from sales and use taxes and exempts solar energy equipment from local property taxes. Finally, HB 117 creates easements for solar energy systems to prevent projects that would block the sunlight. It also prohibits unreasonable restrictions on solar energy systems, such as homeowner association covenants against their installation. See the governor's press release (http://www.governor.maryland.gov/pressreleases/080424.asp).
Ohio Requires 25% Renewable or Advanced Energy by 2025
Ohio Governor Ted Strickland approved a bill that will require the state's utilities to draw on renewable or advanced energy for 25% of their electricity supply by 2025. Senate Bill 221 requires renewable energy to meet at least half of that requirement, which starts at 0.5% by the end of 2009 and gradually ratchets up to 25% by the end of 2024. So the actual renewable energy requirement starts at 0.25% at the end of 2009 and increases to 12.5% by the end of 2024. The bill defines renewable energy as electricity produced from solar electric systems, wind power, geothermal energy, biomass energy, low-impact hydropower, and fuel cells, regardless of their type and the fuel they use. A small fraction of the renewable energy must come from solar energy, starting at 0.004% of all electricity sales by the end of 2009 and increasing to 0.5% of electricity sales by the end of 2024. At least half of the renewable energy facilities must be located within the state, and renewable energy credits may be used to meet the requirement.
The bill deviates from most state renewable energy requirements by allowing half of the 25% requirement to be met through demand-side management, energy efficiency improvements for customers, and efficiency improvements at existing power plants that increase the plants' generating capacity. It also allows for power produced from customer-located cogeneration systems, which produce both heat and electricity, and from "clean coal" power plants, advanced nuclear power plants, and advanced waste-to-energy plants. Utilities that fail to meet the requirements will have to make payments to the state's advanced energy fund, unless the utility can show that the electricity from renewable or advanced energy sources would cost at least 3% more than electricity from traditional energy sources. The bill also lifts some restrictions on net metering of customer-located power generators and lifts all restrictions on net metering of generators located at hospitals.
While allowing energy efficiency and demand-side management programs to meet a portion of the advanced energy requirement, the bill also establishes separate requirements for energy efficiency and demand-side management. Starting in 2009, utilities will have to implement energy efficiency programs that achieve annual energy savings equal to at least 0.3% of their electricity sales, gradually increasing to 1% of sales for 2014-2018, then doubling to 2% of their sales for 2019-2025. By 2025, this will achieve a cumulative energy savings greater than 22% of today's electricity sales. Utilities will also have to implement demand reduction programs designed to achieve a 1% reduction in peak demand in 2009 and an additional 0.75% reduction each year through 2018. To further encourage such programs, the state's utility commission may approve measures to decouple utility revenues from actual electricity sales, that is, if sales go down because of energy-saving programs, the utility's profits won't suffer. Such "revenue decoupling" measures may also be established for natural gas utilities. Utilities must also report on their greenhouse gas emissions and establish plans to control those emissions. See the governor's press release (http://governor.ohio.gov/Default.aspx?tabid=962) and the full text of the bill (http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/bills.cfm?ID=127_SB_221).
