You asked for a brief description of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system and Connecticut's “green building” requirements. You also wanted to know whether the state provides any financial assistance to building owners who meet or exceed these requirements.

LEED STANDARDS

Buildings in the LEED rating system earn points toward levels of certification depending on how many green features are included in the building's design and construction. The basic level is called certification. New buildings with additional green features can earn ratings of silver, gold, or platinum. Among the measures that can earn points are enhanced energy efficiency, use of renewable energy, water conservation, environmentally sensitive site design, redevelopment of brownfields, and stormwater management. Buildings must be rated by an independent rater certified by the U. S. Green Building Council.

Most of the LEED standards apply to commercial buildings, with separate standards for new construction/major renovations, building interiors, and building core and shells. There are also standards for existing commercial buildings, which focus on building operations and maintenance, and new schools, health care facilities, and homes. OLR Report 2007-R-0562 describes the standards for new homes.

Among the buildings in Connecticut that have participated in the LEED system are the Mark Twain House and Museum Center, Hartford (certified), the Burton Complex and Shenkman Center at UConn (silver), Barnard Environmental Magnet School, New Haven (gold), and the Yale Sculpture Building (platinum). Further information about LEED is available at http: //www. usgbc. org/. There are several alternative building rating systems.

STATE REQUIREMENTS

PA 07-242 requires the state building inspector and the Codes and Standards Committee to amend the State Building Code to require (1) buildings costing $ 5 million or more built after January 1, 2009 and (2) renovations costing $ 2 million or more starting January 1, 2010 to meet the LEED silver standard or its equivalent. The requirements apply to private and public sector projects, other than residential buildings with up to four units. The act requires the inspector and the committee to waive these requirements if the Institute for Sustainable Energy finds that the cost of compliance significantly outweighs the benefits.

The act has additional provisions for state-funded buildings. Prior law required new state facilities costing $ 5 million or more, funded on or after January 1, 2007 (with exceptions for schools and structures such as maintenance garages) to meet the LEED silver standard or its equivalent. Starting January 1, 2008, PA 07-242 extends the requirements to the following types of projects with at least $ 2 million in state funding: (1) renovations to state facilities approved and funded on or after January 1, 2008, (2) new school construction projects authorized by the legislature on or after January 1, 2009 that cost $ 5 million or more, and (3) school renovation projects authorized by the legislature on or after January 1, 2009 costing at least $ 2 million. The act also requires all of these facilities to exceed the current building code energy efficiency standards by at least 20%.

The State Building Code requires that buildings and building elements be designed to provide optimum cost-effective energy efficiency over a building's life. The act requires the state building inspector and the committee to revise the code starting January 1, 2008, and specifically includes residential buildings in this mandate.

STATE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE

The state does not currently provide financial assistance for building owners or developers specifically to meet or exceed its green building requirements. The state does exempt various energy efficiency goods, such as furnaces that meet federal Energy Star standards and insulation, from the sales tax. It also requires municipalities to exempt several types of renewable energy systems from the property tax. Buildings that use renewable resources systems to generate electricity can also take advantage of the state's net metering law, which requires electric companies to buy the power produced by these systems, in effect running the electric meter backwards.

In addition, legislation has been proposed this session that would create a credit against the corporation tax and other business taxes for investments in green buildings. The building would have to meet specific energy efficiency standards as well as being certified under the LEED system. The amount of the credit would depend on the building's rating under the LEED system and would have to be claimed over a five year period. The bill would authorize a total of $ 50 million in credits starting in 2010; in the case of new buildings, the building would have had to obtained its certificate of occupancy no earlier than January 1 ,2009.

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