In the past, Virginia has set several short-term targets for energy savings in state buildings. Executive Order 48, signed on April 5, 2007, directed state agencies to reduce the annual cost of non-renewable energy purchases by at least 20% of fiscal year 2006 expenditures by fiscal year 2010. Executive Order 19, signed by Governor Bob McDonnell on July 1, 2010, directed each state agency to develop and employ efficiency tools with the goal of reducing its annual energy use by at least 5 percent for fiscal year 2012 (compared to fiscal year 2010). Executive Order 31 and the 2014 Virginia Energy Plan directs the State Energy Office to reduce electricity consumption by 15% in state buildings by 2017, from 2010, and work with the Governor's Executive Committee on Energy Efficiency to establish a comprehensive system to measure, verify and track energy consumption in state facilities.

The state has developed prototypes for an energy data registry/dashboard that will be used to collect energy consumption data from state agencies. As part of EO 31, the Governor created a Chief Energy Efficiency Officer within the Administration to oversee aggressive implementation of EE measures in state agencies, and instructed executive agencies to engage/re-engage in the Energy Performance Contracting process. The 2014 Virginia Energy Plan includes a recommendation to "create a central state facility energy data registry and dashboard to track energy consumption at all state agencies. The Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy created a pilot version of this data warehouse in early 2016 and started in late 2016 a two-year process to develop a full scale benchmarking program for all state buildings. A small percentage, around 5 percent, of the largest energy consumers in the state building fleet, had been benchmarked by the end of 2016 in the pilot referenced above.

EO 19 also directs that new or renovated state buildings should conform to LEED silver or Green Globes two-globe standards. In addition, the order instructs the Commonwealth to encourage private sector adoption of energy-efficient building standards by giving preference when leasing buildings for state use to facilities meeting the above standards.

Executive Directive 2, signed by Governor McDonnell in 2011, directs three state agencies to create a plan to centralize energy management across state facilities to seek out economies of scale and greater energy efficiencies. This plan shall also encourage communications among agencies on energy best practices and educate state employees about how their actions affect state energy use and costs.

In 2020, Virginia Code §2.2-604.2 (2020 SB963) tasks state agencies to designate an employee as an energy manager who will work with the Department of Energy on incorporating state facility utility data into an energy management tool to track facility energy consumption. The energy manager is responsible for implementing improvements to state buildings to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency and climate change resiliency. The energy manager shall:

1. Maintain a list of the facilities owned and leased by his agency, including buildings and interior spaces. Such list shall indicate energy usage and any prior energy audit or energy saving performance contract.
2. Enter energy and water consumption and building-related information into the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager account for any building or facility over 5,000 square feet, beginning with the largest facilities not yet accounted for, as follows:

• By January 1, 2021, 5 percent of agency facilities;
• By January 1, 2022, 20 percent of agency facilities;
• By January 1, 2023, 45 percent of agency facilities;
• By January 1, 2024, 70 percent of agency facilities; and
• By January 1, 2025, 100 percent of agency facilities.

Last Reviewed: November 2024