Federal Building Performance Standards and Proposed New Building Rules

In December 2020, the CEQ and DOE announced complementary policies applying to new and existing federal buildings.

For new or newly renovated federal buildings, DOE announced a new proposed rule to help electrify and cut emissions from these sources. Under the proposed rule, beginning in 2025, these facilities will be required to reduce their on-site emissions associated with the energy consumption of the building by 90% relative to 2003 levels. In 2030, the proposed standard will fully decarbonize the on-site emissions in new federal buildings and major renovations.

For existing buildings, CEQ released a Federal Building Performance Standard. That standard will seek to cut energy use and electrify equipment and appliances in 30 percent of the building space owned by the Federal government by 2030.