37-24-5. Administration and reports — Green buildings advisory committee.

(a) The department shall promulgate such regulations as are necessary to enforce this

section by January 1, 2023 . Effective July 1, 2026, the office of the state building code

commissioner will assume responsibility for promulgating the rules and regulations regarding the

green buildings advisory committee. The rules and regulations promulgated under title 220, chapter

70, subchapter 00, part 1 of the Rhode Island code of regulations will remain in full force and effect

and shall be enforced by the department of administration until such a time as the rules and

regulations are properly transferred to and promulgated by the office of the state building code

commissioner title within the Rhode Island code of regulations.

Those regulations shall include how the department will determine whether a project

qualifies for an exception from the LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES

certified or equivalent high-performance green building standard, and the green building standards

that may be imposed on projects that are granted exceptions.

(b) The department shall monitor and document ongoing operating savings that result from

major facility projects designed, constructed, and certified as meeting the LEED, LEED for

Neighborhood Development, and SITES certified standard annually publish a public report of

findings and recommended changes in policy. The report shall also include a description of projects

that were granted exceptions from the LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES

certified standard, the reasons for exception, and the lesser green building standards imposed.

26 (c) — (f) [Deleted by P.L. 2022, ch. 204, § 1 and P.L. 2022, ch. 205, § 1.]

(g) A green buildings advisory committee shall be created composed of nineteen (19)

members. The advisory committee shall have eleven (11) public members and eight (8) public

agency members. Five (5) of the public members shall be appointed by the governor; three (3) of

the public members shall be appointed by the president of the senate; and, three (3) of the public

members shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.

(1) The eleven (11) public members of the advisory committee shall be composed of nine

(9) representatives one from each of the following fields: architecture, engineering, landscape

architecture, energy, labor through the Rhode Island AFL-CIO, general construction contracting,

building product and building materials industries who are involved in, and have recognized

knowledge and accomplishment in their respective professions, of high-performance green

building standards, relating to the standards set forth in § 37-24-4; in addition to two (2) public

members, one representing an urban municipality from Providence, Cranston, Warwick,

Pawtucket, Woonsocket, or Newport, and one public member representing the other thirty-two (32)

municipalities in the state in order to ensure geographic diversity.

(2) The advisory committee shall have eight (8) public agency members representing

personnel from affected public agencies, and cities and towns, that oversee public works projects

and workforce development, who shall be appointed by the directors or chief executive officers of

the respective public agencies which shall include the department of administration; the department

of environmental management; the department of education; the department of transportation; the

department of labor and training; the office of the state building code commissioner; the Rhode

Island infrastructure bank, and the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns.

(3) The chairperson of the green buildings advisory committee shall be a public member

chosen by the green buildings advisory committee.

(4) Of the initial eleven (11) public members, six (6) shall serve three-year (3) terms and

five (5) shall have two-year (2) terms. Each appointing authority shall appoint two (2) public

members to three-year (3) terms with the remainder of the public member appointments serving

two-year terms. Thereafter, all public members shall be appointed to three-year (3) terms.

(h) The green buildings advisory committee shall:

(1) Make recommendations regarding an ongoing evaluation process of the green buildings

act to help the department and the executive climate change coordinating council implement this

chapter;

(2) Identify the needs, actions, and funding required to implement the requirements set

forth in this chapter, in achieving high-performance green building projects for our public

buildings, public structures, and our public real properties;

(3) Establish clear, measurable targets for implementing the standards, defined in this

chapter, for all public major facility projects including timeline, workforce needs, anticipated costs

and other measures identified by the green buildings advisory committee and required by chapter

6.2 of title 42 (“2021 act on climate”); and

(4) Identify ways to monitor and document ongoing operating savings and greenhouse gas

emission reductions that result from public major facility projects designed, constructed and

certified as meeting the LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, SITES certified standard,

Green Globes, Northeast Collaborative for High-Performance Schools Protocol, Version 1.1 or

above and annually publish a report to the general assembly and the executive climate change

coordinating council of findings and recommended changes in policy.

(i) All requests for proposals, requests for information, requests for bids, requests for

design/build, requests for construction managers, and any requests relating to obtaining the

professional services, pricing, and construction for major facility projects by a public agency for a

public facility, shall include the notice of the statutory requirements of this chapter (“the green

buildings act”).

(k) The department of administration shall commission a report to analyze the costs and/or

benefits of LEED certification compared to equivalent standards. This includes, but is not limited

to, the impact of obtaining formal LEED certification on project budget and timeline.

SECTION 2. Section 39-2.2-2 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-2.2 entitled "Rhode

Island Utility Fair Share Roadway Repair Act" is hereby amended to read as follows: