5. Waiver decision. The commissioner commission shall render a decision on an application for a waiver from the standards within 30 days of the receipt by the commissioner commission of a complete application for a waiver. In rendering a decision, the commissioner commission may place conditions upon the granting of a waiver. Failure on the part of the commissioner commission to render a decision within the 30-day period constitutes approval of the request for the waiver.

Sec. 9. 10 MRSA §1415-D, as amended by PL 2003, c. 645, §5, is further amended to read:

§1415-D. Mandatory standards for commercial construction

Except as provided in this section, new construction or substantial renovation of any commercial or institutional building undertaken after January 1, 2004 must conform to ASHRAE Standard 62-2001 and either ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001 or the 2003 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code published by the International Code Council under any of the compliance methods specified in the standards. For the purpose of this section compliance with the 2003 edition of the International Energy Conservation Code published by the International Code Council constitutes compliance with ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001. For the purpose of this section, "substantial renovation" means any renovation for which the cost exceeds 50% of the building's current value prior to renovation.

1. Construction in anticipation of future sale or rental. Any person who constructs any commercial or institutional building after January 1, 1989 with the intent to sell or lease the building to another party whose energy requirements are unknown at the time of construction is subject to the following provisions.

A. The person constructing the building shall employ construction techniques and design features that permit the ready installation of energy efficient equipment and materials sufficient to meet the standards established under this section which that are applicable to all reasonably foreseeable uses of the building.