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The B3 Guidelines can be applied to the design of new buildings or renovations to meet sustainability goals for site, water, energy, indoor environment, materials and waste. The B3 Guidelines are required on all projects that receive general obligation bond funding from the State of Minnesota. The guidelines can also be used on a voluntary basis on any project. By using the B3 Guidelines, projects will automatically be applying the SB 2030 Energy Standard. After design, during the building occupancy period, the building will also use the B3 Benchmarking tool to track and compare actual energy use and the B3 Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) to survey occupants on the indoor environmental quality of the building.

B3 Version 3.0 is applicable for projects beginning schematic design or enrolled in the B3 Guidelines Tracking Tool on or after July 1, 2017 and before January 1, 2019.

B3 Version 3.1 is applicable for projects beginning predesign or enrolled in the B3 Guidelines Tracking Tool on or after January 1, 2019 and before January 1, 2020.

B3 Version 3.2r01 has been released and is applicable for projects beginning predesign or enrolled in the B3 Guidelines Tracking Tool on or after January 1, 2020 and prior to the release of subsequent versions.

This update to Version 3.2 includes the B3 Small Buildings Method to better accomodate smaller projects; a summary of the revisions is here: Revisions Summary. Please contact B3 Guidelines Administrators for further detail on how to apply these updates.

Note that the B3 Guidelines now uses the predesign start date to determine which version to use, while the SB 2030 program uses the Schematic Design start date to determine which energy and carbon performance standard applies.

B3 Guidelines Update Recommendations: The State of Minnesota Commissioner of Administration contracted with the Center for Sustainable Building Research (CSBR) at the University of Minnesota to provide the report outlined in Minnesota Laws 2023, Chapter 71, Article 1, Section 6, Subdivision 4: “…To develop recommendations for updating goals, measuring project performance in meeting the goals, applicability, compliance, waivers, outreach, and administration of the sustainable building guidelines under Minnesota Statutes, section 16B.325, in collaboration with the commissioner of commerce and the Center for Sustainable Building Research at the University of Minnesota.” The report has been finalized and delivered to the legislature and is available here: https://z.umn.edu/B3RecommendationsOct23. Thanks to everyone who completed the survey and participated in the focus groups.

Projects beginning Predesign and those signing up to the B3 Guidelines Tracking Tool on or after January 1, 2020 are required to use Version 3.2r01 of the B3 Guidelines. Projects already active in the Tracking Tool under previous versions are permitted to continue with the applicable guideline. Older projects may elect to use Version 3.2, though the Tracking Tool will not carry forward previously input guideline information.

As of January 2023, a fee for non-State funded projects using SB 2030 and the B3 Guidelines is now required in order to cover the cost of project support and review.

This fee applies generally to projects which are not funded through General Obligation Bond fund and which are not associated with a project file in the B3 Guidelines Tracking Tool as of September 16th, 2022 and applies to those projects in the system at that date but which did not submit for Final Design SB 2030 Review with complete project documentation before January 1, 2023. State Agency and Public Higher Education projects are currently exempt from this fee. The fee table and description of services included in the fee can be found below.

SB 2030 and B3 Guidelines Fee Table and Memo

To Begin the Process

As soon as you have identified that you have a project that has or is planned to receive State bond money, contact B3 Guidelines Support to get your project set up in the B3 Guidelines Tracking Tool. Contact Patrick Smith 612-626-9709 or guidelines@b3mn.org for assistance.

B3 Guidelines Tracking Tool

B3 Case Studies Database

The B3 Case Studies Database provides design and performance information on projects using the B3 Guidelines and the SB 2030 Energy Standard. Each project case study includes a Scorecard with several performance metrics including energy, carbon, water, stormwater, and waste. The case study also includes an SB 2030 Label indicating the projects Energy Use Intensity (EUI) during design and actual performance.