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As a result of recent legislation passed in the state of Connecticut, the need for commissioning services for any public or private construction projects is mandatory predicated on the size of the project. Fundamental commissioning of the building energy systems is a prerequisite for any level of LEED certification. The need for qualified commissioning providers is greater than ever. By obtaining the services of a qualified commissioning provider at the earliest stage of the project, this will assure that all project requirements pertaining to the commissioning prerequisite and/or enhanced commissioning credit will be fulfilled. Below is an article written by the Hartford Business Journal. This article explains the law and what it entails.

Industry To State: Define Green Standards	10/06/08
By Jason Millman	E-mail : jmillman@HartfordBusiness.com

A state law set to go into effect Jan. 1 requiring multimillion dollar construction projects to conform to green standards is causing confusion within the construction industry because the state has yet to define the standards it will use to evaluate projects.

The law requires private and public sector construction projects costing more than $5 million to be certified silver by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a four-level rating system – certified, silver, gold and platinum – developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, or its "equivalent."

Beginning Jan. 1, 2010, all renovation projects, public and private, costing more than $2 million must meet the same benchmark.

However, no comprehensive rating system exists that is comparable to LEED, which maps out a point-rating system to determine a construction project's level of energy efficiency and environmental friendliness. The state has no rating system to define what an equivalent rating system might entail.

Without set guidelines, there is too much ambiguity in the building process because each construction project faces different challenges in being certified as a sustainable building, said Don Shubert, president of the Connecticut Construction Industries Association.

"If you say 'the equivalent,' there's a lot of subjectivity there," Shubert said. "When it comes to construction and subjectivity, it's very difficult because every application is going to be different."

There is precedent for the concern expressed by Connecticut’s construction industry. In 2002, then-New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey mandated in an executive order that new school construction projects meet the equivalent of LEED standards. But he never established rating criteria, and the executive order was never carried out.

"That's the issue — how are you going to enforce it and what does that really mean?" said James Kosch, a New Jersey-based environmental lawyer.

In August, New Jersey approved several bills to require sustainable buildings, but the same question of equivalency was left unsettled.

"That's still for the politicians to decide," said Andrew Topinka, chairman of the New Jersey chapter of the USGBC.

Fall Hearing Planned

The Office of Policy Management is planning to hold a hearing this fall about possible regulations for public buildings only, but a date has not been set yet.

As Jan. 1 approaches, further delay could cause greater confusion. Green buildings require greater emphasis in the planning stages than conventional buildings, and planning typically costs more for green buildings, said Paul Stoller, director of the New York office of Atelier Ten, a sustainable design consulting firm.

"It's an expensive process," Stoller said. "You usually spend more time thinking about how to make a better building. There are many more fees in the design process."

This year, more than 100 green building bills were introduced in state legislatures, and 18 states already passed some form of a law, according to the USGBC. California is the only state to institute a statewide green building code.

Shubert of the CCIA said state firms are going to face obvious challenges: for example, making a LEED silver-certified renovation on a 100-year-old building.

"This is where I think there's going to be a big learning curve," Shubert said.

Exemptions Allowed

The law does, however, allow for an exemption for any building the Institute of Sustainable Energy finds "that the cost of such compliance significantly outweighs the benefits."

Kurt Lavaway, a lead technical designer for SLAM Collaborative, a Glastonbury-based firm that specializes in LEED design, supports the idea of sustainable buildings but cannot say whether the state law is a good idea.

"When we design buildings we want to get LEED certified for, it's usually because the client is looking to do it for a specific reason," he said, noting that builders will now be required to use products that they normally wouldn't consider.