Illinois General Assembly - Full Text of SJR0027
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Full Text of SJR0027  95th General Assembly

SJ0027 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY


 


 
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1
SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The U.S. Conference of Mayors adopted the "2030
3 Challenge" resolution calling for the immediate energy
4 reduction of all new and renovated buildings to one-half the
5 national or country average for that building type, with
6 increased reductions of 10% every five years so that by the
7 year 2030 all buildings designed will be carbon neutral,
8 meaning they will use no fossil fuel energy; and
 
9     WHEREAS, The American Institute of Architects (AIA), the
10 national professional organization representing architects has
11 also adopted the "2030 Challenge" resolution; and
 
12     WHEREAS, The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change
13 (IPCC), the international community's most respected
14 assemblage of scientists, has found that climate disruption is
15 a reality and that human activities are largely responsible for
16 increasing concentrations of global warming pollution; and
 
17     WHEREAS, The North American and global building sector has
18 been shown to be the major consumer of fossil fuel and producer
19 of global warming causing greenhouse gases; and
 
20     WHEREAS, The federal government through programs fostered
21 within many of its key agencies and numerous state governments

 

 

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1 as well as municipalities across the U.S. have adopted high
2 performance green building principles; and
 
3     WHEREAS, A recent study completed by researchers from
4 Capitol E and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the
5 most definitive cost-benefit analysis of green buildings ever
6 conducted, concluded that the financial benefits of green
7 design are between $50 and $70 per square foot, more than 10
8 times the additional cost associated with building green; and
 
9     WHEREAS, The large positive impact on employee
10 productivity and health gains suggests that green building has
11 a cost-effective impact beyond just the utility bill savings;
12 and
 
13     WHEREAS, Studies have indicated that student attendance
14 and performance is higher in high performance school buildings;
15 and
 
16     WHEREAS, Recognizing that a building's initial
17 construction costs represent only 20 to 30 percent of the
18 building's entire costs over its 30 to 40 year life, emphasis
19 should be placed on the "life cycle costs" of a public building
20 rather than on solely its initial capital costs; and
 
21     WHEREAS, The construction industry in the U.S. represents a

 

 

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1 significant portion of our economy and a significant portion of
2 the building industry is represented by small business and an
3 increase in sustainable building practices will encourage and
4 promote new and innovative small business development
5 throughout the nation; therefore, be it
 
6     RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIFTH GENERAL
7 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
8 CONCURRING HEREIN, that all State of Illinois buildings meet
9 the following targets; and be it further
 
10     RESOLVED, That new construction of buildings shall be
11 designed to and achieve a minimum delivered fossil-fuel
12 greenhouse gas (GHS) emitting energy consumption performance
13 standard of one-half the U.S. average for that building type as
14 defined by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the
15 EPA's Target Finder; and be it further
 
16     RESOLVED, That renovation building projects shall be
17 designed to and achieve a minimum delivered fossil-fuel GHG
18 emitting energy consumption performance standard of one-half
19 the U.S. average for that building type as defined by the EPA's
20 Target Finder; and be it further
 
21     RESOLVED, That all other new construction, renovation,
22 repairs, and replacements of buildings shall employ

 

 

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1 cost-effective, energy-efficient, green building practices to
2 the maximum extent possible; and be it further
 
3     RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois will work to increase
4 the fossil-fuel GHG emitting reduction standard for all new
5 buildings to carbon neutral by 2030, in the following
6 increments:
7     60% in 2010
8     70% in 2015
9     80% in 2020
10     90% in 2025
11     Carbon-neutral by 2030 (meaning new buildings will use no
12 fossil fuel GHG emitting energy to operate); and be it further
 
13     RESOLVED, That the Illinois Green Government Coordinating
14 Council will develop plans to fully implement these targets as
15 part of the procurement and inspection process and by
16 establishing polices to insure compliance and measure results;
17 and be it further
 
18     RESOLVED, That the State of Illinois will work in
19 conjunction with other appropriate organizations to join this
20 effort to develop plans to fully implement similar targets; and
21 be it further
 
22     RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be presented to

 

 

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1 each constitutional officer and the head of each State agency.