B. The standards adopted by ASHRAE in 2003 for ventilation practices in residential low-rise building construction entitled "Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings," commonly referred to as ASHRAE 62.2-2003.

Sec. 8. 10 MRSA §1415-C, sub-§§4 and 5, as amended by PL 1991, c. 824, Pt. A, §14, are further amended to read:

4. Waiver. A waiver from subsection 3 may be granted by the commissioner commission on a case-by-case basis for instances of renovation as defined by section 1413, subsection 15. In regards to the renovation of historic buildings, a waiver is granted when the Executive Director of the State Historic Preservation Commission determines that adherence to the energy building standards would result in irreparable damage to the historic character of a building on the National Register of Historic Places, eligible for nomination to the national register or designated as a historic building by a certified municipal historic preservation ordinance. In other instances, such as the rebuilding of a structure damaged by fire or a historic preservation project when maintaining historic character is not an issue, the commissioner Public Utilities Commission may grant a waiver when it can be shown that the additional cost of meeting the energy building standards would make the building renovation economically infeasible.

5. Waiver decision. The commissioner commission shall render a decision on an application for a waiver from the standards within 30 days of the receipt by the commissioner commission of a complete application for a waiver. In rendering a decision, the commissioner commission may place conditions upon the granting of a waiver. Failure on the part of the commissioner commission to render a decision within the 30-day period constitutes approval of the request for the waiver.

Sec. 9. 10 MRSA §1415-D, as amended by PL 2003, c. 645, §5, is further amended to read:

§1415-D. Mandatory standards for commercial construction

Except as provided in this section, new construction or substantial renovation of any commercial or institutional building undertaken after January 1, 2004 must conform to ASHRAE Standard 62-2001 and either ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001 or the 2003 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code published by the International Code Council under any of the compliance