House Republican Press Release

June 4, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

Caron Hails Passage of “Green” Buildings Incentives

Lauds Legislature for Adopting Low-Energy Standards for New School Facilities

State Rep. Michael Caron, R-44, Killingly, Plainfield, Sterling, said the state legislature has taken a giant step forward in encouraging more energy-efficient school buildings.

Rep. Caron, who has been pushing to implement “green” building standards for several years, praised the leaders and members of the state House and Senate for passing the green building initiative as part of a 126-page energy bill, HB 7432. The bill provides standards and incentives for new low-energy state and local school construction projects.

Rep. Michael Caron said, “Modern building materials and operating systems will more than pay for themselves through energy conservation, cost savings and smart design.”

“The cost is literally within one to two percent of building to the current construction code,” Rep. Caron added.

The new law, if signed by the governor, will require higher energy efficiency and environmental design in buildings with at least $2 million state funding and in school construction projects of at least $5 million.

The legislation also will increase the amount of state reimbursement to school constriction that meet the green building requirements.

An existing green building law applies only to certain state facilities, but this legislation will extend the energy efficiency standards to school construction as well.

He and other Connecticut House Republicans have proposed legislation this year to expand green building standards, following last year’s legislation related to state-owned facilities. Caron introduced similar legislation, HB 6728, to include local school construction in state LEED or equivalent construction program.

Rep. Caron noted that the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is a flexible point system for the design, construction, and operation of high-performance green buildings. LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.

Even before passage of last year’s legislation, several state-funded projects have met the LEED standards, including buildings at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic and the University of Connecticut at Storrs.

Rep. Michael Caron serves the 44^th Assembly District of Killingly, Plainfield and Sterling in the state House of Representatives.