(1) The Department of Finance and Administration shall adopt rules and regulations which:

(a) Optimize the energy performance of state-funded buildings throughout the state;

(b) Increase the demand for building and construction materials, finishes, furnishings and other products made in or incorporating materials produced in Mississippi;

(c) Improve environmental quality in this state by decreasing the discharge of pollutants from state-funded buildings;

(d) Conserve energy and utilize local and renewable energy sources;

(e) Protect and restore this state’s natural resources by avoiding development of inappropriate state-funded building sites;

(f) Reduce the burden on public water supply and treatment by reducing potable water consumption; and

(g) Encourage obtaining ENERGY STAR designation from the United States Environmental Protection Agency to further demonstrate a building project’s energy independence.

(2) Except as otherwise provided in Section 39-25-1, each major facility project shall be designed and constructed to meet or exceed the requirements of ASHRAE 90.1-2010 or any more stringent code adopted by the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property Management and the Department of Finance and Administration.

(3) In order to achieve sustainable building standards, construction projects may utilize a nationally recognized high performance environmental building rating system; provided, however, that any such rating system that uses a material or product-based credit system which is disadvantageous to materials or products manufactured or produced in Mississippi shall not be utilized. Additionally, such rating systems shall not exclude certificate credits for forest products certified by the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, Forest Stewardship Council or the American Tree Farm System. The Department of Finance and Administration shall designate rating systems which meet these criteria and may establish its own rating system.

(4) A nationally certified commissioning authority professional shall certify that the major facility project’s systems for heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, energy conservation and water conservation are installed and working properly to ensure that each major facility project performs according to the major facility project’s overall environmental design intent and operational objectives.

(5) For purposes of this section, a major facility project shall mean either:

(a) A state-funded new construction building project which is:

(i) From July 1 through December 31, 2009, the project shall be larger than twenty thousand (20,000) gross square feet;

(ii) From January 1, 2010, through December 31, 2010, the project shall be larger than fifteen thousand (15,000) gross square feet;

(iii) From January 1, 2011, through December 31, 2011, the project shall be larger than ten thousand (10,000) gross square feet; and

(iv) From January 1, 2012, and thereafter, the project shall be larger than five thousand (5,000) gross square feet.

(b) A state-funded renovation project which involves more than fifty percent (50%) of the replacement value of the facility where compliance is cost-effective and practical.

(6) A major facility project shall not mean a building, regardless of size, which does not have conditioned space as defined by Standard 90.1 of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers.

(7) For purposes of this section, a “major facility project” shall include, but not be limited to, the construction or renovation of buildings that are financed, in whole or in part, through the use of a Community Development Block Grant.