BOSTON – Gov. Deval L. Patrick today announced new goals for “green” development, setting a target of requiring energy efficiency and partial solar power in all new malls and “big-box” stores by 2010 and offering cities and towns the option of instituting “super-efficient” local building codes.

The announcement coincided with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Greenbuild International Conference, now under way at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

“Reducing energy use, making electricity from the sun, and getting the most out of buildings we will leave to our children and our grandchildren is a value proposition that ought to make sense to developers as businesspeople,” Patrick said. “It is up to us in state government to make that proposition too good to turn down.”

He directed Mass. Secretary of Energy and Environmental Affairs Ian A. Bowles to “initiate a dialogue with the development community to put together the technical assistance, financing support, and regulatory standards to facilitate the universal adoption of solar power and super-efficient buildings for large retail stores and malls,” the governor’s office said. The rules would apply to buildings and developments of more than 50,000 square feet.

Bowles noted that substantial financial incentives already exist for solar energy installations – including the state’s Commonwealth Solar rebate program, which returns up to 40 percent of the cost of solar energy installations, and a federal investment tax credit that recently was extended for another eight years – but said few large retailers have taken advantage of those programs.

“We want to work with the development community to make them aware of the opportunity they have before them in energy efficiency and solar energy, and work with them to find out what they need to take advantage of that opportunity,” Bowles said. “Malls and big-box stores have big flat roofs that are naturals for solar power, and Governor Patrick wants to see them put to use generating clean, renewable energy.”

Patrick also directed the Mass. Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the state Department of Public Safety to develop a super-efficient building code that – after approval by the Mass. Board of Building Regulations and Standards (BBRS) – could be swiftly adopted by municipalities across the state.

Under the Green Communities Act signed this July, the Bay State must incorporate the latest version of the International Energy Conservation Code in its building code within one year of any changes. The BBRS is now working to update the state energy code to incorporate the 2009 standards adopted by the IECC this September.

The law also allows the board to adopt standards even more stringent than the IECC’s – and that is the target of Patrick’s new proposal.

“The state is already adopting the highest standards of energy efficiency for its building code, but some municipalities would like to go further,” the governor said. ““An alternative code that is 20 to 30 percent more efficient they can adopt as an option will give cities and towns the tool they are looking for to reduce their community’s carbon footprint as development moves forward.”

News and information from the Mass. Governor’s Office is available at www.mass.gov.