High Performance Building Standards in New State Construction

In January 2008, New Jersey enacted legislation mandating the use of high performance green building standards in new state construction. The standard requires that new buildings larger than 15,000 square feet constructed for the sole use of state entities should be designed and managed to meet high performance green building standards. The law allows for exceptions from specific requirements in cases of practical difficulty. These exceptions only apply to the specific requirement in question and do not extend to all requirements. With some exceptions the state is also required to purchase Energy Star products when available, a provision adopted in 2007.Executive Order 24 requires that all new public schools must conform with the LEED Version 2.0 guidelines to achieve maximum energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.