Senate Bill 5

What You Need to Know About Texas Senate Bill 5

The passage of Senate Bill 5 (SB5) by the 77th Texas Legislature introduced a sweeping change in the state’s approach to clean air and energy efficiency. The bill was enacted in 2001 to assist the state in complying with the federal Clean Air Act and contains new energy-efficiency measures for buildings that are designed to decrease energy consumption while improving air quality.

New Energy Code Implementation Requirements

As per Sec.388.003, all Texas counties must adopt:

1. Energy efficiency chapter of International Residential Code for single-family residential construction.
2. International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) 2000 for all other residential, commercial, and industrial construction.

Energy Reduction Requirements

As per Sec. 388.005, political subdivisions in 38 affected counties shall:

1. Establish a goal to reduce electric consumption by 5%/year for five years beginning Jan. 1, 2002.
2. Implement all cost effective energy efficiency measures in existing facilities to reduce consumption.
3. Report to the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) annually regarding efforts and progress, and, if goal not met, provide justification that all available measures have been implemented.

Who must comply?

All counties in Texas must implement the new energy codes. The Texas Energy Systems Laboratory at Texas A&M University System is assisting with code implementation. Their toll-free number is 1-877-AnM-Code (266-2633).

All political subdivisions in 38 counties must comply with the energy reduction requirement. The latter applies to those counties with the highest levels of air pollution and affects more than 70 percent of Texas’ population. A political subdivision is defined as an affected county or political subdivision other than a school district in a non-attainment area or affected county. A list of these affected counties follows:

Bastrop	Bexar	Brazoria	Caldwell	Chambers
Collin	Comal	Dallas	Denton	El Paso
Ellis	Fort Bend	Galveston	Gregg	Guadalupe
Hardin	Harris	Harrison	Hays	Jefferson
Johnson	Kaufman	Liberty	Montgomery	Nueces
Orange	Parker	Rockwall	Rusk	San Patricio
Smith	Tarrant	Travis	Upshur	Victoria
Waller	Williamson	Wilson

What is the Texas Energy Partnership?

The Texas Energy Partnership – Clean Air through Energy Efficiency, is a partnership of the State Energy Conservation Office, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Rebuild America Program and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star Program, which is also supported by DOE. The partnership was formed to assist affected jurisdictions in taking the appropriate steps to effectively and efficiently comply with Senate Bill 5 and provide access to the technical resources, assistance and the expertise of DOE and EPA.

All political subdivisions located within the 38 non-attainment and affected counties as listed in Senate Bill 5 are eligible to be partners
The Texas Energy Partnership will strive to:

• Reduce energy costs in buildings.
• Build energy efficiency into new buildings.
• Utilize renewable energy technologies.
• Develop institutional practices and policies to encourage long-term, energy- efficiency applications.
• Develop and implement an action plan to achieve energy-efficiency goals.

How do you define “energy-efficiency measures”?

Energy-efficiency measures are defined as, any facility modifications or changes in operations that reduce energy consumption. They include, but are not limited to:

• Installation of insulation and high-efficiency windows and doors.
• Modification or replacement of HVAC systems, lighting fixtures and electrical systems.
• Installation of automatic energy control systems.
• Installation of energy recovery systems or renewable energy generation equipment.
• Replacement of street and traffic lighting.
• Building commissioning.
• Development of energy efficient procurement specifications.
• Employee awareness campaigns.

What assistance is available for affected areas?

The Texas Energy Partnership joins the network of Rebuild America community partnerships and ENERGY STAR partners across the nation that are dedicated to saving energy, improving building performance, reducing air emissions through reduced energy demand, and enhancing the quality of life through energy-efficiency and renewable energy technologies.

To assist affected jurisdictions, the Texas Energy Partnership will:

1. Present workshops and training seminars in partnership with private industry on a range of topics that include energy services, financing, building technologies and ENERGY STAR’s national energy performance rating system.
2. Prepare information packages containing flyers, documents, national lab reports and a CD-ROM about energy services, management tools and national, state and industry resources that will help communities throughout the region.
3. Launch an electronic newsletter to provide continuous updates and develop additional information packages as needed