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Rep. Mark Huizenga introduced a bill to amend the “Property assessed clean energy act” during a session for Michigan’s House of Representatives on October 5. The bill, No. 5357, referred to the Committee on Energy, aims to amend the title of 2010’s Act No. 270 and introduce a new section which discusses how glass, glazing and solar power can impact energy efficiency.
The bill is listed as an act to authorize local government units to adopt property assessment programs and create districts to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy systems.
The added section defines terms used in the original act.
“‘Energy efficiency improvement’ means the acquisition, installation, replacement, or modification of equipment, devices, or materials intended to decrease energy consumption …” According to the bill, this can include, “storm windows and doors; multi-glazed windows and doors; heat-absorbing or heat-reflective glazed and coated window and door systems; and additional glazing, reductions in glass area, and 20 other window and door system modifications that reduce energy consumption,” among others.
Also mentioned in these additions were automated energy control systems, daylighting systems and “Any other equipment, devices, or materials approved as a utility cost-savings measure by the governing body,” which may include energy-efficient or smart windows, intended to mitigate spending to reduce energy consumption.
A “renewable energy resource,” according to the bill, is a resource that naturally replenishes over a human, rather than a geological, time frame, and is derived from solar power, water power or wind power. This resource comes from the sun or from the earth’s thermal inertia and includes solar and solar thermal energy. Solar energy can be harvested through solar panels. The glass and glazing industry has seen progress in reinventing solar panels to be transparent so they can function as windows.
According to the Michigan Legislature, the Committee on Energy is expected to discuss business today that has been presented.
