As used in this chapter:

(a) “Allocation” means a loan of funds by the commission pursuant to the procedures specified in this chapter.

(b) “Building” means any existing or planned structure that includes a heating or cooling system, or both. Additions to an original building shall be considered part of that building rather than a separate building.

(c) “Eligible institution” means a school, hospital, public care institution, or a unit of local government.

(d) “Energy audit” means a determination of the energy consumption characteristics of a building or facility that does all of the following:

(1) Identifies the type, size, and energy use level of the building or facility and the major energy using systems of the building or facility.

(2) Determines appropriate energy conservation maintenance and operating procedures.

(3) Indicates the need, if any, for the acquisition and installation of energy conservation measures.

(e) “Energy conservation maintenance and operating procedure” means a modification or modifications in the maintenance and operations of a building or facility, and any installations therein (based on the use time schedule of the building or facility), which are designed to reduce energy consumption in the building or facility and that require no significant expenditure of funds.

(f) “Energy conservation measure” means an installation or modification of an installation in a building or facility that is primarily intended to reduce energy consumption or peak electricity demand, or allow the use of a more desirable energy source.

(g) “Energy conservation project” means an undertaking to acquire and to install one or more energy conservation measures in a building or facility, and technical assistance in connection with that undertaking.

(h) “Facility” means any major energy using system of an eligible institution whether or not housed in a building.

(i) “Hospital” means a public or nonprofit institution that is both of the following:

(1) A general hospital, tuberculosis hospital, or any other type of hospital, other than a hospital furnishing primarily domiciliary care.

(2) Duly authorized to provide hospital services under the laws of this state.

(j) “Hospital building” means a building housing a hospital and related operations, including laboratories, laundries, outpatient departments, nurses’ home and training activities, and central service operations in connection with a hospital, and also includes a building housing education or training activities for health professions personnel operated as an integral part of a hospital.

(k) “Local government building” means a building that is primarily occupied by offices or agencies of a unit of local government or by a public care institution.

(l) “Project” means a purpose for which an allocation may be requested and made under this chapter. Those purposes shall include energy audits, energy conservation and operating procedures, and energy conservation measures in existing and planned buildings and facilities, energy conservation projects, and technical assistance programs.

(m) “Public care institution” means a public or nonprofit institution that owns:

(1) A long-term care institution.

(2) A rehabilitation institution.

(3) An institution for the provision of public health services, including related publicly owned services such as laboratories, clinics, and administrative offices operated in connection with the institution.

(4) A residential child care center.

(n) “Public or nonprofit institution” means an institution owned and operated by:

(1) The state, a political subdivision of the state, or an agency or instrumentality of either.

(2) An organization exempt from income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

(3) In the case of public care institutions, an organization also exempt from income tax under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

(o) “School” means a public or nonprofit institution, including a local educational agency, which:

(1) Provides, and is legally authorized to provide, elementary education or secondary education, or both, on a day or residential basis.

(2) Provides, and is legally authorized to provide, a program of education beyond secondary education, on a day or residential basis and meets all of the following requirements:

(A) Admits as students only persons having a certificate of graduation from a school providing secondary education, or the recognized equivalent of that certificate.

(B) Is accredited by a nationally recognized accrediting agency or association.

(C) Provides an education program for which it awards a bachelor’s degree or higher degree or provides not less than a two-year program that is acceptable for full credit toward a degree at any institution that meets the requirements of subparagraphs (A) and (B) and provides that program.

(3) Provides not less than a one-year program of training to prepare students for gainful employment in a recognized occupation and that meets the provisions of paragraph (2).

(p) “School building” means a building housing classrooms, laboratories, dormitories, athletic facilities, or related facilities operated in connection with a school.

(q) “Technical assistance costs” means costs incurred for the use of existing personnel or the temporary employment of other qualified personnel, or both, necessary for providing technical assistance.

(r) “Technical assistance program” means assistance to schools, hospitals, local government, and public care institutions and includes, but is not limited to:

(1) Conducting specialized studies identifying and specifying energy savings and related cost savings that are likely to be realized as a result of:

(A) Modification of maintenance and operating procedures in a building or facility, in addition to those modifications implemented after the preliminary energy audit, or

(B) Acquisition and installation of one or more specified energy conservation measures in the building or facility, or as a result of both.

(C) New construction activities.

(2) Planning of specific remodeling, renovation, repair, replacement, or insulation projects related to the installation of energy conservation measures in the building or facility.

(3) Developing and evaluating alternative project implementation methods and proposals.

(s) “Unit of local government” means a unit of general purpose government below the state, a special district, or any combination of that unit and special district formed for the joint exercise of power.

(Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 615, Sec. 1. (SB 1268) Effective January 1, 2013. Repealed as of January 1, 2028, pursuant to Section 25421.)