143-135.39. Guidelines for administering the Sustainable Energy-Efficient Buildings Program.

(a) Policies and Technical Guidelines. - The Department, in consultation with public agencies, shall develop and issue policies and technical guidelines to implement this Article for public agencies. The purpose of these policies and guidelines is to establish procedures and methods for complying with the energy-efficiency standard or the water use standard for major facility construction and renovation projects under G.S. 143-135.37.

(b) Preproposal Conference. - As provided in the request for proposals for construction services, the public agency may hold a preproposal conference for prospective bidders to discuss compliance with, and achievement of, the energy-efficiency standard or the water use standard required under G.S. 143-135.37 for prospective respondents.

(c) Advisory Committee. - The Department shall create a sustainable, energy-efficient buildings advisory committee comprised of representatives from the design and construction industry involved in public works contracting, personnel from the public agencies responsible for overseeing public works projects, and others at the Department's discretion to provide advice on implementing this Article. Among other duties, the advisory committee shall make recommendations regarding the education and training requirements under subsection (d) of this section, make recommendations regarding specific education and training criteria that are appropriate for the various roles with respect to, and levels of involvement in, a major facility construction or renovation project subject to this Article or the roles regarding the operation and maintenance of the facility, and make recommendations regarding developing a process whereby the Department receives ongoing evaluations and feedback to assist the Department in implementing this Article so as to effectuate the purpose of this Article. Further, the advisory committee may make recommendations to the Department regarding whether it is advisable to strengthen standards for energy efficiency or water use under this Article, whether it is advisable and feasible to add additional criteria to achieve greater sustainability in the construction and renovation of public buildings, or whether it is advisable and feasible to expand the scope of this Article to apply to additional types of publicly financed buildings or to smaller facility projects.

(d) Education and Training Requirements. - The Department shall review the advisory committee's recommendations under subsection (c) of this section regarding education and training. For each of the following, the Department shall develop education and training requirements that are consistent with the purpose of this Article and that are appropriate for the various roles with respect to, and level of involvement in, a major facility construction or renovation project or the roles regarding the operation and maintenance of the facility:

(1) The chief financial officers of public agencies.

(2) For each public agency that is responsible for the payment of the agency's utilities, the facility managers of these public agencies.

(3) The capital project coordinators of public agencies.

(4) Architects.

(5) Mechanical design engineers.

(e) Performance Review. - Annually the Department shall conduct a performance review of the Sustainable Energy-Efficient Buildings Program. The performance review shall include at least all of the following:

(1) Identification of the costs of implementing energy-efficiency and water use standards in the design and construction of major facility construction and renovation projects subject to this Article.

(2) Identification of operating savings attributable to the implementation of energy-efficiency and water use standards, including, but not limited to, savings in utility and maintenance costs.

(3) Identification of any impacts on employee productivity from using energy-efficiency and water use standards.

(4) Evaluation of the effectiveness of the energy-efficiency and water use standards established by this Article.

(5) Whether stricter standards or additional criteria for sustainable buildings should be used other than the standards under G.S. 143-135.37.

(6) Whether the Sustainable Energy-Efficient Buildings Program should be expanded to include additional public agencies, to include additional types of projects, or to include smaller major facility construction or renovation projects.

(7) Any recommendations for any other changes regarding sustainable, energy-efficient building standards that may be supported by the Department's findings.

(f), (g) Repealed by Session Laws 2017-10, s. 4.2(a), effective May 4, 2017.

(h) Authority to Adopt Rules or Architectural or Engineering Standards. - The Department may adopt rules to implement this Article. The Department may adopt architectural or engineering standards as needed to implement this Article.