P.R. Laws tit. 22, § 1022
(1) One (1) year as of the date of approval of this act, all projects for government facilities of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall be designed, built, and certified under one of the following standards regarding energy conservation, water consumption, and ventilation: the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System; the energy consumption and environmental standards of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); the standards set forth under the International Energy Conservation Code; or other standard developed by a nonprofit entity and widely accepted by the scientific or the professional community. Provided, That the standards to be adopted shall apply to:
(a) The construction of any new building with a gross building area greater than five thousand (5,000) square feet.
(b) The reconstruction or rehabilitation of any government building whose cost is equal to or greater than fifty percent (50%) of the structure’s worth, with a gross building area of five thousand (5,000) square feet.
(2) The Public Building Authority shall establish by regulation, in coordination with the Administration of Energy Affairs, such efficiency standards as to energy and water consumption and ventilation as it may deem pertinent for all buildings owned by the Government of Puerto Rico, its dependencies and public corporations, which standards shall include the following requirements for buildings described above in clauses (a) and (b) of subsection (1) of this section. Provided, further, That:
(a) The aforementioned government buildings shall be designed so as to attain an electric power consumption of at least thirty percent (30%) of the levels established in the standards of the International Energy Conservation Code in force by the date of approval of this act.
(b) The aforementioned buildings shall be designed so as to be able to gradually reduce greenhouse gases generated by the consumption of energy from fossil fuels, in comparison to the levels generated by fiscal year 2004 by government buildings with similar features, as per the data obtained by the Commercial Building Energy Consumption Survey, conducted by the Energy Information Agency of the United States Department of Energy. Provided, further, That the gradual reduction rates shall be the following:
Fiscal Year Reduction Rate
2009-2010 40%
2011-2012 50%
2014-2015 60%
2019-2020 75%
2024-2025 90%
2029-2030 100%
(c) Sustainable design principles shall be employed and applied in the siting, design, and construction phases and in operating all new buildings, any buildings younger than five (5) years, or buildings about to sustain major renovation works.
History —Aug. 9, 2008, No. 229, § 3.