NREL Helps Federal Agencies Reach New Efficiency Targets

When it comes to energy use, what the federal government wants is more of less. That means fewer greenhouse gases, fewer buildings powered solely by electricity generated from fossil fuels, and fewer gas-guzzling fleets on the road.

An executive order issued by the White House in March puts greater emphasis on work done at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to help government agencies meet their goals. NREL has long been a resource for federal agencies on energy efficiency efforts and renewable energy technology. The newest executive order calls for tougher goals and spurs agencies to do more than what they've done already.

Under a goal established by Executive Order 13693, titled "Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade," federal agencies have until 2025 to get at least 30% of their electricity via renewable sources. That trumps the 20% target established in a 2009 presidential memorandum.

The new executive order requires that agencies do the following by 2025:

• Identify a percentage of buildings (larger than 5,000 gross square feet) that are intended to be energy, water, or waste net-zero, and what measures are needed to meet that target
• Have half of their new passenger vehicles be either zero emission or plug-in hybrids
• Curb the emission of indirect greenhouse gases in absolute terms compared to a 2008 benchmark.