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Overview

In the summer of 2007, the Governor’s Climate Change Advisory Group recommended that to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in buildings, a similar approach to the national Architecture 2030 should be adopted for Minnesota. Architecture 2030 outlines specific performance targets for energy use in buildings until 2030. Every five years, the total energy use in buildings is to be reduced starting in 2010 at 60% and ending in 2030 as a 100% reduction (net zero carbon). The benchmark for these reductions in the national program is the energy use of the average building in 2003 found in the federal CBECS database.

  • 2010 – 60% reduction in carbon producing fuel used for building energy.
  • 2015 – 70% reduction in carbon producing fuel used for building energy.
  • 2020 – 80% reduction in carbon producing fuel used for building energy.
  • 2025 – 90% reduction in carbon producing fuel used for building energy.
  • 2030 – 100% reduction in carbon producing fuel used for building energy.

In the spring of 2008, the Minnesota Legislature passed a bill designating the Center for Sustainable Research at the University of Minnesota to develop a Minnesota program reflecting the goals of Architecture 2030. This program was named Sustainable Buildings 2030 (SB 2030). The full text of the bill can be seen here.[pdf-embedder url=”http://www.b3mn.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/SF2706BillFullVersion-1.pdf” title=”SF2706 Full Text”

Renovations and SB 2030
As building renovations are often not as comprehensive in scope as the construction of new buildings the energy requirements new buildings would not be appropriate and not cost-effective for renovated buildings. As a result a reduced standard was created for renovated building, set at half of the required reduction from an average building as the new construction standard.

The resulting schedule, including percentage reductions for renovation project is as follows:

  • 2009 – 2014: 60 percent better than an average building for new construction and 30% for renovation
  • 2015 – 2019: 70 percent better than an average building for new construction and 35% for renovation
  • 2020 – 2024: 80 percent better than an average building for new construction and 40% for renovation
  • 2025 – 2029: 90 percent better than an average building for new construction and 45% for renovation
  • 2030 and later: 100 percent better than an average building(net zero) for new construction and 50% for renovation

Projects with a combination of renovation and new construction will have their Energy Standard pro-rated based on the square footage of each project type.

The owners of a renovated building have the option of follow the new construction standard if they feel that the renovated standard is not appropriate for their building type or if they wish to pursue the more stringent standard.

To Begin the Process

A fee for non-State funded projects using SB 2030 and/or the B3 Guidelines began to be required in late 2022 in order to cover the cost of project support and review. SB 2030 and B3 Guidelines Fee Table and Memo

Note that several documents below have different versions depending on which Standard is being used.

Projects meeting the B3 and SB 2030 programs are evaluated for compliance during design and construction and for a period of 10 years of occupancy.

SB 2030 Program Updates: 90% Reduction Standard

Starting January 1, 2025, buildings participating in the SB 2030 program will need to meet more stringent, 90% better-than-baseline requirements. This change is paired with several other significant program updates, driven by changes to Minnesota’s utility conservation program requirements, the carbon free electricity standard, and advancements in the treatment of off-site renewable energy resources.

The program updates – which are applicable to projects starting schematic design on January 1, 2025 or later – are described in more detail here: SB 2030 in 2025: Program Update

Documents