Section 255.252 - Findings and intent(1) Operating and maintenance expenditures associated with energy equipment and with energy consumed in state-financed and leased buildings represent a significant cost over the life of a building. Energy conserved by appropriate building design not only reduces the demand for energy but also reduces costs for building operation. The size, design, orientation, and operability of windows, the ratio of ventilating air to air heated or cooled, the level of lighting consonant with space-use requirements, the handling of occupancy loads, and the ability to zone off areas not requiring equivalent levels of heating or cooling are but a few of the considerations necessary to conserving energy.(2) Significant efforts are needed to build energy-efficient state-owned buildings that meet environmental standards and provide energy savings over the life of the building structure. With buildings lasting many decades and with energy costs escalating rapidly, it is essential that the costs of operation and maintenance for energy-using equipment and sustainable materials be included in all design proposals for state-owned buildings.(3) In order for energy-efficiency and sustainable materials considerations to become a function of building design and a model for future application in the private sector, it is the policy of the state that buildings constructed and financed by the state be designed and constructed to comply with a sustainable building rating or a national model green building code. It is further the policy of the state, if economically feasible, to retrofit existing state-owned buildings in a manner that minimizes the consumption of energy used in the operation and maintenance of such buildings.(4) In addition to designing and constructing new buildings to be energy-efficient, it is the policy of the state to operate and maintain state facilities in a manner that minimizes energy consumption and maximizes building sustainability and to operate facilities leased by the state so as to minimize energy use. It is further the policy of the state that the renovation of existing state facilities be in accordance with a sustainable building rating or a national model green building code. State agencies are encouraged to consider shared savings financing of energy-efficiency and conservation projects, using contracts that split the resulting savings for a specified period of time between the state agency and the private firm or cogeneration contracts and that otherwise permit the state to lower its net energy costs. Such energy contracts may be funded from the operating budget. The vendor for such energy contracts may be selected in accordance with s. 287.055.(5) Each state agency occupying space within buildings owned or managed by the Department of Management Services must identify and compile a list of projects determined to be suitable for a guaranteed energy, water, and wastewater performance savings contract pursuant to s. 489.145. The list of projects compiled by each state agency shall be submitted to the Department of Management Services by December 31, 2008, and must include all criteria used to determine suitability. The list of projects shall be developed from the list of state-owned facilities more than 5,000 square feet in area and for which the state agency is responsible for paying the expenses of utilities and other operating expenses as they relate to energy use. In consultation with the head of each state agency, by July 1, 2009, the department shall prioritize all projects deemed suitable by each state agency and shall develop an energy-efficiency project schedule based on factors such as project magnitude, efficiency and effectiveness of energy conservation measures to be implemented, and other factors that may prove to be advantageous to pursue. The schedule shall provide the deadline for guaranteed energy, water, and wastewater performance savings contract improvements to be made to the state-owned buildings.s. 2, ch. 74-187; s. 1, ch. 78-26; s. 1, ch. 80-286; s. 1, ch. 85-256; s. 3, ch. 90-320; s.17, ch. 2008-227; s.3, ch. 2011-222; s.7, ch. 2013-152.Amended by 2013 Fla. Laws, ch. 152, s 7, eff. 7/1/2013.