Pennsylvania House Passes Green Building Bill

HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania House of Representatives recently passed House Bill 34, which lays out the high-performance building standards for buildings owned or substantially leased by the state. If approved by the senate and the governor, the new law would require these buildings to achieve an Energy Star rating of 75 or better, which indicates top performance, while a score of 50 indicates average energy efficiency. The bill passed with an overwhelming majority, by a vote of 163-32.

A large amount of emphasis has been put on the energy-efficiency of buildings in recent years, after the subject was mostly avoided in favor of discussions that targeted automobile use. Structures account for approximately 41 percent of energy use in the United States, along with 71 percent of electricity consumption.

Rep. Kate Harper (R-Montgomery) introduced he legislation, arguing that government buildings were designed to last for decades, meaning the state would save a substantial amount of funding in the long run through increased energy efficiency and a corresponding drop in electricity bills.

The bill calls on all projects to be designed with a 10-year target window for the green building features to pay for themselves. Harper indicated that this wouldn’t be a problem, as privately owned structures often received payback on their energy-saving features within five to seven years.

The new law would only apply to buildings with floor plans larger than 20,000 square feet. Leased buildings would also be included in the legislation if they meet the minimum size requirement and if 90 percent of their space is occupied by the state. Renovation projects would also apply if at least 90 percent of the structure under consideration is being updated.

This isn’t the first rodeo for this type of bill; Harper noted that the House passed similar legislation previously, but was never acted on by the Senate. She added that Senator John Rafferty (also R-Montgomery) introduced a similar bill into the Senate and she hoped her colleagues in the opposite chamber would address one of the bills soon.