§ 15.08. Energy audit requirements.

(1)

The owner of a covered property shall ensure that an energy audit or a retro-commissioning is performed on the base building systems of such property. In addition, an energy audit or retro-commissioning report must be generated, and a summary audit or retro-commissioning report must be filed with the office in accordance with the scheduling requirements below in section 15.09.

(2)

An energy audit or retro-commissioning shall be performed by or under the supervision of an energy auditor or retro-commissioning professional. The audit process shall cover the base building systems and shall identify at a minimum all items defined in the audit or retro-commissioning report. The retro-commissioning process shall be performed in accordance with "ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 202-2013 - Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems"

(3)

Nothing in this chapter shall prevent an owner from performing an energy audit and retro-commissioning in a combined process, provided that all the requirements applicable to this chapter are met.

(4)

An energy audit or retro-commissioning is not required if any of the following are met:

(a)

The property is exempt from benchmarking pursuant to section 15.03.

(b)

The property provides evidence of financial hardship or has received a demolition permit within the previous year.

(c)

The property has received an official ENERGY STAR benchmark score at or above 50.

(d)

If there is no ENERGY STAR 1-100 score for the building type, a registered design professional shall submit documentation, as specified in rules promulgated by the director, that the property's energy use intensity (EUI) is equivalent to or better than the median performance of all covered buildings of its type.

(e)

The covered property is currently certified under the Florida Green Lodging program, or LEED 2009 rating system for Existing Buildings or Operation and Maintenance: Existing Buildings Version 4 rating system, or future iterations of LEED published by the USGBC, or other comparable rating systems for existing buildings (e.g. Green Globes) as determined by the director.

(f)

The covered property shows energy use improvement in their ENERGY STAR score by 10 points, or 15% or greater in equivalent EUI based on the median performance of all covered buildings of its type. This improvement will be compared to the baseline year that required the energy audit or retro-commissioning requirement. This exemption must be verified by a certified energy auditor or a retro-commissioning professional.

(g)

The covered property is subject to continuous commissioning, provided the property owner attests to compliance with all criteria set forth in the rules promulgated by the office.

(5)

For properties qualifying for exemptions under subsection 15.08(4), the owner shall file documentation, in such form and with such certifications as required by the office, establishing that the property qualifies for such an exemption.

(Ord. No. 2016-64, § 1, 12-5-2016, Doc. #1612051208)