An Act To Conserve Energy in Certain Commercial Buildings
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 10 MRSA §9722, sub-§6, ¶J, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 699, §6, is amended to read:
J. In the adoption and amendment of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, ensure that nontraditional or experimental construction, including but not limited to straw bale and earth berm construction, is permissible under the code; and
Sec. 2. 10 MRSA §9722, sub-§6, ¶K, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 699, §6, is amended to read:
K. In the adoption and amendment of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, ensure that building materials from local sawmills, including but not limited to nongraded lumber, are permissible under the code . ;
Sec. 3. 10 MRSA §9722, sub-§6, ¶L is enacted to read:
L. In the adoption and amendment of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, ensure that hotels, motels and inns with greater than 50 rooms and that are newly constructed or substantially renovated after the adoption and amendment of the code are required to install an electronic sensor in each room that recognizes a room key and allows an electric circuit to power the lights in that room only when the room key is present; and
Sec. 4. 10 MRSA §9722, sub-§6, ¶M is enacted to read:
M. In the adoption and amendment of the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, ensure that escalators in commercial buildings that are newly constructed or substantially renovated after the adoption and amendment of the code are motion-activated.
summary
This bill requires the Technical Building Codes and Standards Board, when adopting or amending the Maine Uniform Building and Energy Code, to ensure that:
1. Hotels, motels and inns with more than 50 rooms have a system that turns off the power to lights in vacant rooms; and
2. Escalators in commercial buildings are motion-activated.