High-Performance Building Requirements for State Buildings

In March 2008, South Dakota enacted legislation mandating the use of high-performance building standards in new state construction and renovations. This law was updated in 2021 that lessened the previous standards, and removed the requirement that renovations need to reach LEED standards. This policy requires that new state buildings achieve the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED certified rating (decreased from silver rating), a two-globe rating under the Green Building Initiative’s (GBI) Green Globe rating system, or a comparable numeric rating from another accredited sustainable building certification program. The law applies to all new construction projects  by state agencies, departments, or institutions that cost more than $1,000,000 or include more than 10,000 square feet of space. The standard only applies to buildings with heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems.

The Office of the State Engineer may issue a waiver to this requirement if:

• The building will have minimal human occupancy;
• The increased costs of achieving a high-performance green building standard cannot be recouped from decreased operational costs within fifteen years; or
• The Bureau of Administration determines that extenuating circumstances exist to make impractical high-performance green building standard certification.

The BOA must adopt rules for determining compliance and issuing waivers under the standard. Any waivers issued by the BOA must be reported annually to the state legislature.