Enrolled Bill Summary

House Bill 51	House Author:  Lucio III et al.
Effective:  9-1-11	Senate Sponsor:  Hinojosa

            House Bill 51 amends the Government Code to require a new state building or a major renovation project to be designed and constructed or renovated so that the building achieves certification under any high-performance design evaluation system that is approved by the State Energy Conservation Office and that meets certain requirements.  The bill requires the office to appoint an advisory committee to advise the office in selecting one or more systems for approval and establishes provisions regarding the composition and appointment of the committee's members. The bill revises the required criteria for the energy and water conservation design standards established by the office for each new state building or major renovation project.

            House Bill 51 amends the Education Code to require the construction or renovation of certain buildings, structures, or other facilities of an institution of higher education to be designed and constructed or renovated so that the facility complies with high-performance building standards that are approved by the institution's board of regents and that provide minimum requirements for energy use, natural resources use, and indoor air quality. In approving those standards, a board of regents is required to consider the high-performance building evaluation system approved by the State Energy Conservation Office and is authorized to solicit and consider recommendations from the advisory committee appointed by that office.  The bill requires such a facility to be designed and constructed or renovated to comply with the applicable energy and water conservation design standards established by the office unless the institution constructing the building determines that compliance is impractical.

            House Bill 51 amends the Health and Safety Code to require a municipality to track and report to the State Energy Conservation Office on implementation of the International Residential Code for single-family residential construction in Texas and the International Energy Conservation Code for all other residential, commercial, and industrial construction in Texas.  The bill authorizes the Energy Systems Laboratory at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University System to conduct outreach to the real estate industry on the value of energy code compliance and verified, above-code, high-performance construction.