Building Codes Assistance Project

On February 11, 2008, Virginia's Fairfax County Board of Supervisors approved green requirements for all new and renovated county buildings.  County buildings over 10,000 square feet will be required to reach Silver-level certification from the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system. County-constructed single family homes, town houses and low-rise multi-family buildings must achieve certification under the Energy Star Homes rating system.

Fairfax officials project that the new policy will cost an additional 2-4 percent in construction costs per building. However, these one-time costs are projected to be offset by annual savings in energy and water bills. Per year, green buildings are expected to slash energy costs by 15-25 percent, and water consumption by 20 percent.

For more information, view the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors press release.

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BCAP Virginia Code Status page