By Kip Cherry, Central Jersey Conversation Chair
In November 2021, Gov. Phil Murphy signed A3352 requiring newly constructed warehouses to be solar-ready buildings. The solar-ready requirement will apply to any newly constructed warehouse for which an application for a construction permit has not been declared complete by the enforcing agency before July 1, 2022.
Specifically, all new warehouses 100,000 square feet or greater must reserve at least 40% of the roof area for the future installation of a photovoltaic or solar thermal system. This means that the proposed Bridge Point 8 Industrial Park in West Windsor Township, for instance, a mega warehouse project, with 5.5 million square feet of storage in its first two phases, will have to be solar-ready. Bridge Point, a subsidiary of Chicago-based Bridge Development Partners, has not already completed an application for a building construction permit, so far as we understand it.
The new law directs the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to adopt rules and regulations establishing standards for the design and construction of solar-ready warehouses. According to the statute the rules and regs are supposed to incorporate the 2018 International Energy Conservation Code, which addresses energy conservation, savings, and associated environmental impacts. We understand that the NJ Building Code Division of the DCA is in the process of publishing, for public comment, the actual building code requirements that building inspectors will use to evaluate new warehouses for solar readiness.
What is not defined in the solar-ready bill are the next steps toward actually starting to produce solar power. The warehouse owner will need a “production power agreement” with a vendor as an intermediary negotiating with the public utility along with a permit from the Board of Public Utilities (BPU).
Typically, a BPU permit is based on historical on-site energy usage. Since each warehouse is new, there is no historical usage, so this could create delay while data is collected once the building is in operation. The NJ Chapter of the Sierra Club is interested in working with the BPU in developing procedural language that would address energy need estimates, permitting based on such, and modification following receipt of historical data.
The newly signed bill defines a solar-ready building as one with a so-called “solar-ready zone” with a roof or building overhang designated and reserved for the future installation of a solar photovoltaic or solar thermal system. The zone is to be at least 40% of the roof area minus the area covered by skylights, occupied roof decks, vegetative roof areas, and mandatory access or setback areas required by the NJ Uniform Construction Code.
The next step is the adoption of implementing rules. The proposed rules for implementation have been published in the New Jersey Register, with a 60-day comment period that ended on June 1, 2022. DCA is waiting for adoption approval for final publication in the NJ Register.
The Sierra Club’s NJ Chapter will be monitoring the design and construction of new warehouses around the state and the progress of Bridge Point, in particular, in becoming a solar-ready warehouse complex quickly. The Club also intends to work with warehouse owners, including Bridge Point, to ensure that rooftop solar is installed and becomes operational.
The adoption notices for the Division of Codes and Standards can be found at https://bit.ly/3pjldqF
The proposed rules are at: https://bit.ly/3dxHMVS