Healthy, High Performance School Facilities:
Developments in State Policy

New Hampshire

Citation: New Hampshire Revised Statutes 198:15-b
Effective: September 9, 2005
Available: HERE

This law provides a financial incentive for school districts to incorporate high performance school design guidance in their new construction projects. To be eligible, a school project (as built) must meet the “criteria for designation as a high performance school under the most recent edition of the New England version of the standards from the Collaborative for High Performance Schools.” The state uses the Northeast Collaborative for High Performance Schools Protocol as the standard for earning the incentive. The Northeast-CHPS protocol is based on the original California CHPS, but is tailored “to the climate zones and school construction needs of the states in the Northeast...” See Northeast-CHPS at http://www.neep.org/HPSE/NECHPS/Northeastchpsmay2007edits.pdf.

Under the law, an eligible school district may receive additional state grant funding equal to 3% of the total construction costs. In any given fiscal year, the state may make awards totaling $100,000. According to state officials, once a project starts receiving the incentive funding, it will receive that amount until its bond is retired, typically about 20 years.

In addition, the law directs the department to coordinate with the state public utilities commission to ensure that eligible school districts have submitted applications for funding reimbursement and technical assistance that may be available from energy utilities to promote indoor air quality and energy efficiency.