2009 North Carolina Code
Chapter 143 - State Departments, Institutions, and Commissions.
§ 143-64.12. Authority and duties of the Department; State agencies and State institutions of higher learning.

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

(a)        The Department of Commerce 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. 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 annually and include strategies for supporting the energy consumption reduction requirements under this subsection. Each community college shall submit to the State Energy Office an annual written report of utility consumption and costs.

(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 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.

(c) through (g) Repealed by Session Laws 1993, c. 334, s. 4.

(h)        When conducting an energy audit under this section, the Department of Administration shall identify and recommend 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.  (1975, c. 434, s. 3; 1993, c. 334, s. 4; 2000‑140, s. 76(f); 2001‑415, s. 3; 2006‑190, s. 12; 2007‑546, s. 3.1(a); 2008‑198, s. 11.1; 2009‑446, s. 1(e).)