House File 309 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 309 BY KELLEY A BILL FOR An Act relating to the attainment of high-performance 1 certification applicable to elementary and secondary public 2 school buildings. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2407YH (2) 86 rn/sc

H.F. 309 Section 1. NEW SECTION . 297.7A High-performance 1 certification. 2 1. A school district commencing the design or construction 3 of, or commencing the substantial renovation of, an elementary 4 or secondary public school building on or after July 1, 2015, 5 shall apply for certification of the construction or renovation 6 project pursuant to the United States green building council’s 7 leadership in energy and environmental design program. The 8 application shall be submitted under either the rating system 9 applicable for schools or for new construction, as determined 10 most appropriate by the school district. The school district 11 shall undertake a good-faith effort to meet the minimum 12 standards applicable for achievement of the program’s silver 13 certification level and is encouraged to seek certification 14 qualifying for the gold or platinum certification levels. 15 A school district may apply for certification under an 16 alternative high-performance energy certification program, 17 instead of applying for certification pursuant to the United 18 States green building council’s leadership in energy and 19 environmental design program, provided the alternative program 20 incorporates comparable certification standards applicable to 21 new building construction or substantial renovation. 22 2. In addition to the requirement in subsection 1, a 23 school district shall register all existing elementary or 24 secondary public school buildings for certification pursuant 25 to the United States green building council’s leadership in 26 energy and environmental design existing buildings operation 27 and maintenance program, and pursue certification for 28 each school building to the extent practicable. A school 29 district may apply for certification under an alternative 30 high-performance energy certification program, instead of 31 applying for certification pursuant to the United States green 32 building council’s leadership in energy and environmental 33 design program, provided the alternative program incorporates 34 comparable certification standards applicable to existing 35 -1- LSB 2407YH (2) 86 rn/sc 1/ 3

H.F. 309 building operation and maintenance. 1 3. Each school district shall notify the department of 2 education by September 15 annually regarding the number of 3 projects or buildings for which certification was sought, if 4 any, and the results and level of certification achieved. 5 The department shall submit a report to the general assembly 6 summarizing the information provided by January 1 annually. 7 EXPLANATION 8 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 9 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 10 This bill requires a school district commencing the design 11 or construction of, or commencing the substantial renovation 12 of, an elementary or secondary public school building on or 13 after July 1, 2015, to apply for certification of the building 14 or project pursuant to the United States green building 15 council’s leadership in energy and environmental design 16 program. The school district may submit the application under 17 either the program’s rating system applicable for schools or 18 for new construction, as determined most appropriate by the 19 school district. The bill provides that the school district 20 shall undertake a good-faith effort to meet the minimum 21 standards applicable for achievement of the program’s silver 22 certification level and is encouraged to seek certification 23 qualifying for the gold or platinum certification levels. 24 The bill also requires a school district to register all 25 existing elementary or secondary public school buildings for 26 certification pursuant to the United States green building 27 council’s leadership in energy and environmental design 28 existing buildings operation and maintenance program, and 29 pursue certification for each school building to the extent 30 practicable. 31 The bill provides that a school district may apply for 32 certification under an alternative high-performance energy 33 certification program, instead of applying for certification 34 pursuant to the United States green building council’s 35 -2- LSB 2407YH (2) 86 rn/sc 2/ 3

H.F. 309 leadership in energy and environmental design program, 1 provided the alternative program incorporates comparable 2 certification standards applicable to new building construction 3 or substantial renovation and existing building operation and 4 maintenance. 5 The bill requires each school district to notify the 6 department of education by September 15 annually regarding the 7 number of projects or buildings for which certification was 8 sought, if any, and the results and level of certification 9 achieved. The department shall submit a report to the general 10 assembly summarizing the information provided by January 1 11 annually. 12 -3- LSB 2407YH (2) 86 rn/sc 3/ 3