143-64.12. Authority and duties of the Department; State agencies and State institutions of higher learning.

(a) The Department of Environmental Quality through the State Energy Office shall develop a comprehensive program to manage energy, water, and other utility use for State agencies and State institutions of higher learning and shall update this program annually. Each State agency and State institution of higher learning shall develop and implement a management plan that is consistent with the State's comprehensive program under this subsection to manage energy, water, and other utility use, and that addresses any findings or recommendations resulting from the energy audit required by subsection (b1) of this section. The energy consumption per gross square foot for all State buildings in total shall be reduced by twenty percent (20%) by 2010 and thirty percent (30%) by 2015 based on energy consumption for the 2002-2003 fiscal year. Each State agency and State institution of higher learning shall update its management plan biennially and include strategies for supporting the energy consumption reduction requirements under this subsection. Each community college shall submit to the State Energy Office a biennial written report of utility consumption and costs. Management plans submitted biennially by State institutions of higher learning shall include all of the following:

(1) Estimates of all costs associated with implementing energy conservation measures, including pre-installation and post-installation costs.

(2) The cost of analyzing the projected energy savings.

(3) Design costs, engineering costs, pre-installation costs, post-installation costs, debt service, and any costs for converting to an alternative energy source.

(4) An analysis that identifies projected annual energy savings and estimated payback periods.

(a1) State agencies and State institutions of higher learning shall carry out the construction and renovation of facilities in such a manner as to further the policy set forth under this section and to ensure the use of life-cycle cost analyses and practices to conserve energy, water, and other utilities.

(b) The Department of Administration shall develop and implement policies, procedures, and standards to ensure that State purchasing practices improve efficiency regarding energy, water, and other utility use and take the cost of the product over the economic life of the product into consideration. The Department of Administration shall adopt and implement Building Energy Design Guidelines. These guidelines shall include energy-use goals and standards, economic assumptions for life-cycle cost analysis, and other criteria on building systems and technologies. The Department of Administration shall modify the design criteria for construction and renovation of facilities of State buildings and State institutions of higher learning buildings to require that a life-cycle cost analysis be conducted pursuant to G.S. 143-64.15.

(b1) The Department of Administration, as part of the Facilities Condition and Assessment Program, shall identify and recommend energy conservation maintenance and operating procedures that are designed to reduce energy consumption within the facility of a State agency or a State institution of higher learning and that require no significant expenditure of funds. Every State agency or State institution of higher learning shall implement these recommendations. Where energy management equipment is proposed for any facility of a State agency or of a State institution of higher learning, the maximum interchangeability and compatibility of equipment components shall be required. As part of the Facilities Condition and Assessment Program under this section, the Department of Administration, in consultation with the State Energy Office, shall develop an energy audit and a procedure for conducting energy audits. Every five years the Department shall conduct an energy audit for each State agency or State institution of higher learning, and the energy audits conducted shall serve as a preliminary energy survey. The State Energy Office shall be responsible for system-level detailed surveys.

(b2) The Department of Administration shall submit a report of the energy audit required by subsection (b1) of this section to the affected State agency or State institution of higher learning and to the State Energy Office. The State Energy Office shall review each audit and, in consultation with the affected State agency or State institution of higher learning, incorporate the audit findings and recommendations into the management plan required by subsection (a) of this section.

(c) through (g) Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 334, s. 4.

(h) When conducting a facilities condition and assessment under this section, the Department of Administration shall identify and recommend to the State Energy Office any facility of a State agency or State institution of higher learning as suitable for building commissioning to reduce energy consumption within the facility or as suitable for installing an energy savings measure pursuant to a guaranteed energy savings contract under Part 2 of this Article.

(i) Consistent with G.S. 150B-2(8a)h., the Department of Administration may adopt architectural and engineering standards to implement this section.

(j) The State Energy Office shall submit a report by December 1 of every odd-numbered year to the Joint Legislative Energy Policy Commission, the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee on Agriculture and Natural and Economic Resources, and the Fiscal Research Division describing the comprehensive program to manage energy, water, and other utility use for State agencies and State institutions of higher learning required by subsection (a) of this section. The report shall also contain the following:

(1) A comprehensive overview of how State agencies and State institutions of higher learning are managing energy, water, and other utility use and achieving efficiency gains.

(2) Any new measures that could be taken by State agencies and State institutions of higher learning to achieve greater efficiency gains, including any changes in general law that might be needed.

(3) A summary of the State agency and State institutions of higher learning management plans required by subsection (a) of this section and the energy audits required by subsection (b1) of this section.

(4) A list of the State agencies and State institutions of higher learning that did and did not submit management plans required by subsection (a) of this section and a list of the State agencies and State institutions of higher learning that received an energy audit.

(5) Any recommendations on how management plans can be better managed and implemented.