Federal Building Performance Standard
On December 7, 2022, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the first-ever Federal Building Performance Standard. The Federal Building Performance Standard requires agencies to cut energy use and electrify equipment and appliances to achieve zero scope 1 emissions in 30 percent of the building space owned by the Federal government by square footage by 2030. As the country's single largest energy consumer and building manager, these new actions will save taxpayer dollars by reducing energy use while cutting millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions, increasing resilience, strengthening U.S. energy independence, and growing the jobs and industries of the future in America. Read the Federal Building Performance Standard.
As a complementary step, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) also announced on December 7, 2022, a proposed rulemaking to electrify new or newly renovated Federal buildings. Learn more about this proposed rulemaking.
Frequently Asked Questions
A Building Performance Standard (BPS) is an outcome-based policy and law aimed at reducing the carbon impact of the built environment by requiring existing buildings to meet energy- or GHG emissions-based performance targets.
In the United States, residential and commercial buildings represent 35 percent of carbon dioxide emissions. Commercial and government buildings cost $190 billion to power each year. With eighty percent of all existing U.S. buildings expected to remain in service in 2050, electrifying existing buildings is essential to achieving President Biden's climate goals.
Over several decades, the Federal Government has established policy and guidance to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of Federal buildings. These include energy efficiency standards for new construction, implementation of facility-level metering infrastructure, identification and implementation of efficiency measures, use of performance contracting to drive overall reductions in portfolio energy use and emissions, and more. The Federal BPS represents another tool to use to meet the President's Federal sustainability goals.
Launched by President Biden, the National Building Performance Standards Coalition comprises a nationwide group of state and local governments that have committed to inclusively design and implement building performance policies and programs in their jurisdictions. Coalition members are supported by federal agencies, labor, and non-governmental organizations which provide resources for location-based workforce engagement, technical analysis, equity strategies, localized policy design, and stakeholder engagement.
Council on Environmental Quality730 Jackson Place N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20503