A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to promote energy efficiency in public school buildings and to encourage public school participation in the sustainable energy‑efficient buildings program, to create and appropriate funds to the Green School COnstruction Loan Fund, and to make conforming changes.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.  G.S. 115C‑47 is amended by adding a new subdivision to read:
"(28b)	To Participate in the Sustainable Energy‑Efficient Buildings Program. – Local boards may comply with the design and construction requirements established by the Sustainable Energy‑Efficient Buildings Program pursuant to Article 8C of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes."
SECTION 2.  Article 31 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C‑426.3.  Monitor and report utility consumption by local school administrative units.
Each local school administrative unit that participates in the Sustainable Energy‑Efficient Buildings Program under Article 8C of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes shall monitor and report utility consumption for purposes of reporting to the Office of State Construction as provided in G.S. 143‑135.37."SECTION 3.  G.S. 115C‑521 reads as rewritten:
"§ 115C‑521.  Erection of school buildings.
(a)	It shall be the duty of local boards of education to provide classroom facilities adequate to meet the requirements of G.S. 115C‑47(10) and 115C‑301. Local boards of education shall submit their long‑range plans for meeting school facility needs to the State Board of Education by January 1, 1988, and every five years thereafter. In developing these plans, local boards of education shall consider:
(1)	The costs and feasibility of renovating old school buildings instead of replacing them.
(2)	The feasibility and costs of commissioning old school buildings that are renovated for the purpose of reducing energy and water use. This consideration shall employ life‑cycle cost analysis as defined in G.S. 143‑64.11.
(b)	It shall be the duty of the boards of education of the several local school administrative school units of the State to make provisions for the public school term by providing adequate school buildings equipped with suitable school furniture and apparatus. The needs and the cost of those buildings, equipment, and apparatus, shall be presented each year when the school budget is submitted to the respective tax‑levying authorities. The boards of commissioners shall be given a reasonable time to provide the funds which they, upon investigation, shall find to be necessary for providing their respective units with buildings suitably equipped, and it shall be the duty of the several boards of county commissioners to provide funds for the same.
Upon determination by a local board of education that the existing permanent school building does not have sufficient classrooms to house the pupil enrollment anticipated for the school, the local board of education may acquire and use as temporary classrooms for the operation of the school, relocatable or mobile classroom units, whether built on the lot or not, which units and method of use shall meet the approval of the School Planning Division of the State Board of Education, and which units shall comply with all applicable requirements of the North Carolina State Building Code and of the local building and electrical codes applicable to the area in which the school is located. These units shall also be anchored in a manner required to assure their structural safety in severe weather. The acquisition and installation of these units shall be subject in all respects to the provisions of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes. A life‑cycle cost analysis as defined in G.S. 143‑64.11 shall be conducted for the acquisition and installation of these units. The provisions of Chapter 87, Article 1, of the General Statutes, shall not apply to persons, firms or corporations engaged in the sale or furnishing to local boards of education and the delivery and installation upon school sites of classroom trailers as a single building unit or of relocatable or mobile classrooms delivered in less than four units or sections.
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(e)	The State Board of Education shall establish within the Department of Public Instruction a central clearinghouse for access by local boards of education that may want to use a prototype design in the construction of school facilities. The State Board shall compile necessary publications and a computer database to distribute information on prototype designs to local school administrative units. A prototype design of a new school facility that is designed to at least the standards for energy efficiency and water use under G.S. 143‑135.37 shall be included in this computer database. All architects and engineers registered in North Carolina may submit plans for inclusion in the computer database and these plans may be accessed by any person. The original architect of record or engineer of record shall retain ownership and liability for a prototype design. The State Board may adopt rules it considers necessary to implement this subsection."
SECTION 4.  G.S. 115C‑521(c) reads as rewritten:
"(c)	The building of all new school buildings and the repairing of all old school buildings shall be under the control and direction of, and by contract with, the board of education for which the building and repairing is done. If a board of education is considering building a new school building to replace an existing school building, the board shall not invest any construction money in the new building unless it submits to the State Superintendent and the State Superintendent submits to the North Carolina Historical Commission an analysis that compares the costs and feasibility of building the new building and of renovating the existing building and that clearly indicates the desirability of building the new building. No board of education shall invest any money in any new building until it has (i) developed plans based upon a consideration of the State Board's facilities guidelines and consideration of ways to minimize the new building's use of energy and water, (ii) submitted these plans to the State Board for its review and comments, and (iii) reviewed the plans based upon a consideration of the comments it receives from the State Board. No local board of education shall contract for more money than is made available for the erection of a new building; however, any money obtained as no‑interest loans under G.S. 115C‑521.2 shall be included as available money. However, this subsection shall not be construed so as to prevent boards of education from investing any money in buildings that are being constructed pursuant to a continuing contract of construction as provided for in G.S. 115C‑441(c). All contracts for buildings shall be in writing and all buildings shall be inspected, received, and approved by the local superintendent and the architect before full payment is made therefor. Nothing in this subsection shall prohibit boards of education from repairing and altering buildings with the help of janitors and other regular employees of the board.
In the design and construction of new school buildings and in the renovation of existing school buildings that are required to be designed by an architect or engineer under G.S. 133‑1.1, the local board of education shall participate in the planning and review process of the Energy Guidelines for School Design and Construction that are developed and maintained by the Department of Public Instruction and shall adopt energy‑use goals for building design and operation that take into account local conditions in an effort to reduce the impact of operation costs on local and State budgets. In the design and construction of new school facilities and in the repair and renovation of existing school facilities, the local board of education shall consider the placement and design of windows and other building features to use the climate of North Carolina for both light and ventilation in case of energy shortages. A local board shall also consider the installation of solar energy systems or other alternative energy systems in the school facilities whenever practicable. A local board of education is encouraged to participate in the Sustainable Energy‑Efficient Buildings Program for major facility construction or renovation projects, as defined in G.S. 143‑135.36, involving school buildings under Article 8C of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
In the case of any school buildings erected, repaired, or equipped with any money loaned or granted by the State to any local school administrative unit, no board of education shall invest any money until it has (i) developed plans based upon a consideration of the State Board's facilities guidelines, (ii) submitted these plans to the State Board for its review and comments, and (iii) reviewed the plans based upon a consideration of the comments it receives from the State Board."
SECTION 5.  Article 37 of Chapter 115C of the General Statutes is amended by adding a new section to read:
"§ 115C‑521.2. Green School Construction Loan Fund.
(a)	The Green School Construction Loan Fund is created under the control and direction of the Department of Public Instruction. This Loan Fund shall be a nonreverting revolving loan fund consisting of any moneys appropriated to it by the General Assembly, other moneys paid to it as gifts or grants, or any moneys repaid or recovered on behalf of the Loan Fund. The Loan Fund shall be credited with interest earned from the Loan Fund by the State Treasurer pursuant to G.S. 147‑69.2 and G.S. 147‑69.3.
(b)	The Loan Fund shall be used to provide no‑interest loans to local school administrative units for any of the following purposes, with priority given to projects that will have the greatest impact on reducing the use of energy and water: 
(1)	When the project is a major facility construction or renovation project, as defined in G.S. 143‑135.36, for all or part of the incremental cost of designing and constructing a new or renovated school building or its water system to at least the standards for energy efficiency and the standards for water use under G.S. 143‑135.37, to be calculated by comparing the total cost of the project to the cost of substantially the same project using conventional design and construction.
(2)	For all or part of the cost of commissioning a school building for the purpose of reducing the building's use of energy or water, including installing an alternative energy system, when the commissioning under this subdivision is not suitable for a guaranteed energy savings contract under Part 2 of Article 3B of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(3)	For all or part of the cost of installing in a school building one or more energy conservation measures, as defined in G.S. 143‑64.17, when these energy conservation measures are not suitable for a guaranteed energy savings contract under Part 2 of Article 3B of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(4)	For all or part of the cost of installing in a school building an alternative energy system to replace a conventional energy system when the installation of the alternative energy system is not suitable for a guaranteed energy savings contract under Part 2 of Article 3B of Chapter 143 of the General Statutes.
(c)	After consulting with the State Energy Office of the Department of Administration, the Department of Public Instruction shall adopt rules to administer the Loan Fund; to establish criteria for the prioritization of loans; to establish maximum loan amounts; to establish application and award criteria and schedules; and to otherwise implement this section."
SECTION 6.  G.S. 143‑135.39(e)(3) reads as rewritten:
"(3)	Identification of any impacts on employee productivity and, where applicable, student performance, from using energy‑efficiency and water use standards."
SECTION 7.  Two million dollars ($2,000,000) of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), P.L. 111‑5, funds appropriated in the Appropriations Act of 2009 to the State Energy Office are transferred to the Green School Construction Loan Fund, established pursuant to G.S. 115C‑521.2, as enacted by Section 5 of this act.
SECTION 8.  Sections 4, 5, and 7 of this act become effective July 1, 2009. The remainder of this act becomes effective January 1, 2010.