Representative Marjorie C. Decker filed House Bill No. 3476, “An Act relative to healthy and sustainable schools,” on Jan. 16, 2025, proposing a new Healthy and Sustainable Schools Office in the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources and a package of mandatory energy audits, ventilation verifications and workforce and contracting rules for public K–12 schools and public institutions of higher education. The bill sets Jan. 1, 2026, as its effective date.

The bill would require the new office to conduct investment-grade energy audits at every public elementary and secondary school and at public and municipally owned institutions of higher education, prioritize audits for schools in environmental justice communities, and publish audit results online with redactions for safety-sensitive information. The audits must estimate costs, energy savings and greenhouse gas reductions and include financing options.

If enacted, the measure would also require a ventilation verification assessment as part of each audit, performed by qualified testing personnel and reviewed by a mechanical engineer. The verification documentation must include equipment nameplate data, measurements of outside air rates and exhaust volumes, zone occupancy estimates tied to the International Mechanical Code, verification of filtration limits (including the highest MERV level the equipment can accept without adverse pressure drop), carbon dioxide monitoring, and confirmation that systems operate continuously during occupied hours. The bill references ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2022 and the Massachusetts Mechanical Code as criteria for verification.

The office would be authorized to require corrective actions identified in the ventilation assessment, including testing, adjusting and balancing (TAB) of mechanical ventilation systems, repairs, upgrades or replacement of HVAC systems, or installation of stand-alone mechanical ventilation where necessary. Portable air cleaners would be allowed only when infrastructure cannot meet the minimum ventilation and filtration requirements or as supplemental measures for outdoor air contaminants such as wildfire smoke.

The bill defines “qualified testing personnel” and “qualified adjusting personnel” to include certified TAB technicians and personnel certified under ISO/IEC 17024 standards. It also defines a “skilled and trained construction workforce” as one in which at least 60% of workers are graduates of or registered in an apprenticeship program registered with a Bona Fide Apprenticeship Training Program (BFATP) that has graduated apprentices to journeyperson status for at least three of the past five years. The office would require contractors to submit sworn certifications during bidding that they participate in registered apprenticeship programs, pay prevailing wages and fringe benefits per chapters 26–27D of chapter 149, comply with state public bidding laws, and prioritize hiring from environmental justice and historically marginalized communities.

To reduce conflicts of interest, the bill would prohibit third-party contractors from performing both energy audits and the installation of the recommended energy-efficiency or renewable-energy work at the same school. The office is also authorized to aggregate projects, negotiate bulk purchases, and facilitate implementation of recommended improvements and onsite or nearby renewable energy systems, with a stated priority for environmental justice communities.

To fund the program, the bill would establish a state revolving fund administered by the office and allow the office to apply for federal, state and local funds, explicitly listing eligible federal sources including programs under Pub. L. 117-58 (Department of Energy State and Community Energy Program), Pub. L. 117-69 (Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund), and Pub. L. 117-2 (elementary and secondary emergency relief), as well as state bonds and green-bank funding.

The bill lists technical and procurement requirements in detail: ventilation verification reports must be reviewed by a mechanical engineer who may adjust minimum outside-air rates and provide cost estimates; all HVAC adjustments must be performed by qualified adjusting personnel; all HVAC repairs, upgrades or replacements must be performed by the defined skilled and trained workforce; and contractor bids lacking the required certifications would be disqualified. The office would also be required to solicit public input from school boards, labor unions and community members when implementing projects.

The filing names Representative Marjorie C. Decker of Cambridge as the primary sponsor and lists multiple co-petitioners. It was submitted to the House committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy. No legislative vote or enactment is recorded in the docket; the filing is an introduction of the bill to the General Court.