Title 37
Public Property and Works

Chapter 24
The Green Buildings Act

§ 37-24-3. Definitions.

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(1) “Construction” means the process of building, altering, repairing, improving, or demolishing forty percent (40%) or more of any public structures, public buildings, public real property or other public improvements of any kind to any public structures, public buildings or public real property.

(2) “Department” means the department of administration.

(3) “Equivalent standard” means a high-performance green building standard, other than LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES, that provides an independent, third-party verification and certification of a rating system or measurement tool, that, when used, leads to outcomes equivalent to, LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES outcomes, in terms of green building, green infrastructure, and green site performance; current accepted equivalent standards include green globes, Northeast collaborative high-performance schools protocol; or other equivalent high-performance green building, green infrastructure, and green site standards accepted by the department.

(4) “LEED” also, “LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES certified standard” means the current version of the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating standard referred to as LEED, LEED for Neighborhood Development, and SITES certified. SITES means the U.S. Green Building Council’s SITES — The Sustainable SITES Initiative.

(5) “Public agency” means every state or municipal office, board, commission, committee, bureau, department, or public institution of education, or any political subdivision thereof.

(6) “Public facility” means any public institution, public facility, public equipment, or any physical asset owned, including its public real-property site, leased or controlled in whole or in part by this state, a public agency, a municipality or a political subdivision, that is for public or government use.

(7) “Public major facility project” means:

(i) A public facility building construction project larger than ten thousand (10,000) gross square feet of occupied or conditioned space, and its public real-property site; or

(ii) A public facility building renovation project larger than ten thousand (10,000) gross square feet of occupied or conditioned space, and its public real-property site.