Fairfax County - Green Building Policy

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.

This action supports Fairfax County’s many environmental initiatives, including Cool Counties. Fairfax County has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. The county led the development of this new initiative, along with the Sierra Club and two other county governments.

Fairfax County will use the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. At a minimum, county buildings over 10,000 square feet will be required to reach Silver level LEED certification.

The policy applies to the construction of new county buildings and renovations or additions to existing buildings. However, the policy will not be applied to county-constructed single family homes, town houses and low-rise multi-family buildings. Instead, the Energy Star rating system will be used for these types of buildings.