Fairfax County - Green Building Policy

Background

As of February 11, 2008 the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors has adopted a green building policy for county facilities. The policy requires that buildings be constructed to meet minimum green building standards, if not exceed them. The board amended this policy in 2020 and in 2021. The 2020 update included incremental strengthening of the energy performance improvement criteria and a multi-year transition to Net Zero Energy (NZE). The 2021update was included in the Fairfax County Operation Energy Strategy, further strengthening its green building policies by replacing the 2020 update with a Net Zero Energy (NZE) standard for new construction and major renovations and providing for building electrification.

This action supports Fairfax County’s many sustainability initiatives (2022 report). Fairfax County has pledged to work closely together on a regional basis with local, state and the federal government reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050.

Requirements

For facilities with an occupied area greater than 10,000 square feet:

• All new construction and major renovations beginning planning and design in 2021 meet NZE standards unless the Board of Supervisors is advised prior to the 30% design phase as to why the project cannot meet the NZE standard. LEED Gold plus 50% more efficient than baseline is the minimum certification.
• All new facility construction, additions and major renovations (a) beginning design in FY 2022 or later are electric-ready and (b) beginning design in FY 2024 or later use only electric equipment and appliances, unless no alternative can be identified.