Feature image: The LEED Gold J.R. Tucker High School in Henrico, Virginia. Photo credit: © Henrico Public Relations and Media Services.

On April 2, the Biden administration and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a first-of-its-kind federal blueprint for decarbonizing U.S. buildings, outlining a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from buildings by 90% by 2050.

The plan addresses both operational and whole life cycle emissions, with targets for increasing building energy efficiency, demand flexibility, on-site emissions reduction, and minimizing embodied emissions from building materials and construction. It lays out incremental targets for each of those areas from 2030 to 2050 and identifies a range of federal actions to enable the transition.

Opportunities for government action

The blueprint identifies four overarching types of federal actions needed to increase the speed and scale of the building decarbonization progress:

Maximize technology performance and affordability, including supporting research, development and demonstration for emerging technologies and pilot programs.
Develop markets and enable deployment, including consumer outreach, workforce development and technical assistance.
Provide direct funding and financing, including federal loans, rebates, tax incentives and direct procurement.
Lock in cost-effective performance gains, including energy efficiency equipment standards, building codes and building performance standards.

Under each of those federal action categories, the blueprint details a range of implementation tools that different federal agencies can employ through existing authority and available funding. For example, the U.S. EPA has already awarded $20 billion through the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund to mobilize financing and leverage private capital including for low-carbon building projects; the U.S. General Services Administration can continue to leverage its federal buildings portfolio to pilot innovative building technologies through programs like the Green Proving Ground; the U.S. Department of Education can continue to recognize school sustainability achievements through the Green Ribbon Schools award program; and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) can adopt the latest model energy codes for new construction of HUD- and USDA-financed housing.

Complementary state, local and tribal actions are also described in the blueprint, including their roles in deploying programs funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and adoption of advanced building energy codes.

Next steps

DOE says it intends to track progress and post annual updates to the blueprint to ensure it remains relevant as the buildings sector evolves. Delivering on the key recommendations in the plan will also require ongoing coordination and collaboration across federal, state, local, nongovernmental and industry stakeholders.

USGBC is committed to catalyzing change to advance building decarbonization. Our recent report From Vision to Action: USGBC Advancing Building Decarbonization outlines key actions that USGBC is taking to reduce building sector emissions, including through the new LEED v5 rating system, which places climate action front and center.

Read the federal blueprint

Biden administration releases federal blueprint for decarbonizing buildings