Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Public School Green Rooftop Program”.
Public School Green Rooftop Program
A BILL
To amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to authorize State energy conservation plans to include programs to provide grants for planning, designing, and installing green roofs on elementary school and secondary school buildings, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Findings
Congress finds the following:
The Department of Energy recognizes green roof technology is an effective, practical way to increase the energy performance of buildings.
The Environmental Protection Agency acknowledges green roofs can reduce building energy use compared to conventional roofs.
Greater weatherization and insulation offered by green roofs reduce the demand for electrical power needed to moderate the temperature of a building, as roofs can be the source of the greatest heat loss in the winter and heat gain in the summer in buildings.
Green roofs can produce greater energy efficiency on elementary school and secondary school buildings than on other structures because the dimensions of school buildings are unique and often have a significantly greater width than height.
The General Services Administration recognizes green roofs can last 40 years or more before requiring replacement compared to 10 to 15 years for a conventional roof.
The General Services Administration (GSA), Department of Energy, and Environmental Protection Agency all recognize the integral role of maintenance in a green roof’s continued energy efficiency benefits and cost savings, and the GSA Public Buildings Service accordingly provides ongoing maintenance training to maximize the benefits of green roofs.
Green roofs can provide economic benefits, including decreased energy costs, water use, stormwater runoff, landfill waste, and building operating expenses that can save taxpayers money.
Green roofs can provide annual cost savings per square foot of the roof’s surface.
Green roofs on educational facilities can provide accessible sites to teach students at all levels of education about various subjects including science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM), biodiversity, ecology, urban agriculture, stormwater management, sustainability, art, technology, and more.
Planning, designing, installing, and maintaining green roofs can generate employment opportunities for properly trained personnel, while specialized green roofs can also provide employment opportunities for urban agriculture operations.
The Environmental Protection Agency, in collaboration with Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, acknowledges landscape architects as leaders in planning and designing green roofs.
Green roofs can help stabilize neighborhoods by providing community-wide benefits, including those that address public health, food security, urban development, and economic growth.
By improving air and water quality and mitigating excess heat, among other benefits, green roofs can improve public health and lessen healthcare system stressors.
Green roofs can help reduce the impacts of climate change, including extreme heat and poor air quality, by sequestering harmful carbon and other pollutants in the atmosphere.
Green roofs can reduce the urban heat island effect and city-wide ambient temperatures by up to 5°F because green roof temperatures can be 30 to 40°F lower than those of conventional roofs.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration determined indoor summer building temperatures were cooler for buildings with green roofs.
As living systems, green roofs retain rainwater in the soil, plants, and drainage layer and therefore can reduce stormwater runoff rates by up to 65 percent and delay the time at which runoff occurs, resulting in decreased stress on sewer systems and streams at peak flow periods and decreased pollution in United States waterways.
Green roofs can enhance environmental justice by addressing the disproportionate impacts of excess heat and adding much-needed green space to the built environment in underserved communities.
Green roofs can enhance biodiversity by providing and creating habitats for various plants and wildlife such as pollinators and migratory birds.
Sec. 3 Green roof grant programs
Section 362 of the Energy Policy and Conservation Act (42 U.S.C. 6322) is amended—
in subsection (d)—
in paragraph (17), by striking “; and” and inserting a semicolon;
by redesignating paragraph (18) as paragraph (19); and
by inserting after paragraph (17) the following:
“(18) in accordance with subsection (h), programs to provide financial assistance, including grants, for planning, designing, installing, maintaining, and monitoring green roofs on elementary school and secondary school buildings; and”
by adding at the end the following:
“(h) Green roof grant programs
“(1) Grants for planning assistance
“(A) Grant programs—Under a program to provide financial assistance as provided for under subsection (d)(18), a State may make grants to eligible entities to pay the costs of planning and design assistance for a green roof as described in subparagraph (B).
“(B) Allowable use of funds for grants for planning assistance—An eligible entity receiving a grant pursuant to subparagraph (A) may use the grant for any of the following purposes:
“(i) Identification of opportunities to use green roofs on elementary school and secondary school buildings, including performing site analyses for locating green roofs.
“(ii) Determination of, and plans to obtain, permits relating to a green roof on an elementary school or secondary school building.
“(iii) Architectural, landscape architectural, and engineering analysis for a green roof on an elementary school or secondary school building, including—
“(I) plans for assessing the structural loading capacity of the elementary school or secondary school building, accounting for vegetation; and
“(II) design services, including the creation of design plans and construction documents for a green roof on the elementary school or secondary school building.
“(iv) Cost estimation of the planning, designing, installing, and maintaining of a green roof on an elementary school or secondary school building, including an energy savings analysis.
“(v) Administrative costs, including reimbursement for grant writing services used to obtain a grant under this paragraph.
“(2) Public school green roof installation grant program
“(A) Public school green roof installation program—Under a program to provide financial assistance as provided for under subsection (d)(18), a State may award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible entities to carry out projects to install a green roof on an elementary school or secondary school building.
“(B) Application—To receive a grant pursuant to subparagraph (A), an eligible entity shall submit to a State an application—
“(i) at such time, and in such manner, as the State may require;
“(ii) that includes—
“(I) a strategy for increasing energy efficiency and reducing heat reflection of the applicable elementary school or secondary school building;
“(II) a description and methodology of the eligible entity’s plan for the installation, operation, and maintenance of a green roof on an elementary school or secondary school building, including a plan to meet the requirements of title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq);
“(III) a letter of compliance from each applicable local regulatory body that documents the green roof is planned and designed, and will be constructed in accordance with local standards and regulations, including occupancy, fire, stormwater compliance, and building codes;
“(IV) cost estimation of the planning, designing, installing, and maintaining of the green roof on the elementary school or secondary school building, including an energy savings analysis; and
“(V) the hiring criteria and qualifications for personnel to design, construct, install, and maintain the green roof, including a plan for hiring—
“(aa) local workforce trainees;
“(bb) at least one Green Roof Professional as accredited by the Green Roof Industry Association, or a professional licensed by a State or an appropriate accreditation; and
“(cc) low-income individuals, individuals registered with a one-stop center, and returning citizens.
“(C) Priority—In awarding grants pursuant to subparagraph (A), a State shall give priority to—
“(i) projects to install a green roof on buildings of elementary schools and secondary schools in which not fewer than 30 percent of students are from households with incomes below the poverty line;
“(ii) projects that meet minimum performance and nationally recognized standards for green roofs and walls, including—
“(I) the Living Architecture Performance Tool;
“(II) The Sustainable SITES Initiative®; and
“(III) other nationally recognized standards; and
“(iii) projects to install a green roof on buildings of elementary schools and secondary schools located in a nonattainment area (as defined in section 171(2) of the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. 7501(2)).
“(D) Installation—Not later than 4 years after receiving a grant pursuant to subparagraph (A), an eligible entity shall complete installation of a green roof.
“(E) Maintenance and monitoring of infrastructure—Under a program described in subparagraph (A), in addition to receiving a grant under to install a green roof under such program, each eligible entity that meets the installation requirements of subparagraph (D) may receive additional funding for a 5-year period for maintenance and monitoring activities relating to the green roof, which activities may include the following:
“(i) Monitoring and evaluating energy performance and cost savings of the green roof.
“(ii) Monitoring and evaluating air temperature of the green roof.
“(iii) Conducting routine inspections throughout the year to assess the condition of the green roof, including plant health and replanting alternatives in consultation with a landscape architect, horticulturalist, agronomist, or other landscape professional as appropriate.
“(3) Definitions—In this subsection:
“(A) Elementary school—The term elementary school has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
“(B) Eligible entity—The term eligible entity means—
“(i) a public elementary school or secondary school;
“(ii) a local educational agency; or
“(iii) a partnership between a nonprofit organization and an entity described in clause (i) or (ii).
“(C) Green roof—The term green roof means a layer of vegetation planted over a waterproofing system or waterproof management practice that is installed on top of a flat or slightly–sloped roof that may support plant growth, including—
“(i) an extensive green roof with a growing media layer that is up to 6 inches thick; or
“(ii) an intensive green roof with a growing media layer that is 6 to 48 inches thick.
“(D) Local educational agency—The term local educational agency has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
“(E) Low-income individual—The term low-income individual means, with respect to any calendar year, any individual who lives in a household that has a gross income that does not exceed 300 percent of the poverty line.
“(F) Nonprofit organization—The term nonprofit organization means an organization described in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of such Code.
“(G) One-stop center—The term one-stop center has the meaning given such term in section 3 of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3102).
“(H) Poverty line—The term poverty line has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).
“(I) Secondary school—The term secondary school has the meaning given the term in section 8101 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801).”