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Business Codes & Standards
 Mandatory Efficiency Standards for Public Buildings
The Maine Public Utilities Commission, through Efficiency Maine, administers the Energy Conservation Building Standards required by Maine law. All new commercial and institutional buildings constructed in Maine must comply with ASHRAE Standards 90.1 - 2001. This standard includes provisions for lighting efficiency.
In 2003, the Legislature enacted the following law: Title 5: Chapter 153: Subchapter 1-A: ENERGY CONSERVATION IN BUILDINGS ACT, §1764-A. Improvement of energy efficiency in state-funded construction. The law requires that new or substantially renovated state-owned or state-leased buildings and buildings built with state funds, including buildings funded though state bonds or the Maine Municipal Bond Bank be designed to exceed by at least 20% the commercial building energy codes.
Efficiency Maine staff have assisted the Bureau of General Services in the development and implementation of this rule.
In 2004, the Maine legislature passed a new law (20-A MRSA §15908-A) requiring that new public schools be designed and constructed to a standard that exceeds code (ASHRAE 90.1 – 2001) by 20%. The State Board of Education, the Bureau of General Services, the Energy Resources Council, and the Maine Public Utilities Commission (administrators of Efficiency Maine) engaged in a rule making exercise to implement this statute. Because of the innovative nature of the Maine statute, it has received some national attention, and others are interested in replicating it. For that reason, the Kendall Foundation agreed to financially assist Maine with its analytical work. Maine contracted with the New Buildings Institute (NBI), a private not-for-profit public benefits corporation dedicated to advancing building science, to perform the technical analysis necessary to adapt its E-Benchmark™ to Maine state funded buildings (including public schools that receive state funding). The Maine-adapted E-Benchmark™ guidelines will achieve at least the 20% improvement goal set forth in the statute.
Training in implementing this rule for the design community is vital and will have replicability value for other states considering a similar path in their public buildings. Therefore, Efficiency Maine conducted training sessions to educate the building design and construction community involved in state funded projects on high performance buildings generally and the Maine E-Benchmark product specifically. This training qualified participants for AIA Health, Safety and Welfare Continuing Education Credits. It focused on using the E-Benchmark to design, construct and deliver high performance state funded buildings that meet or exceed the State of Maine Energy Code by 20% or more.
For More Information
Please contact Richard Fortier, Efficiency Maine Program Manager at the Maine Public Utilities Commission, at (207) 287-3319 or by eMail at richard.fortier@maine.gov.
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Public
Utilities Commission