Arlington County will try to set an environmental trend this year with a new program that places energy labels on county buildings. The Department of Environmental Services plans to label government buildings with energy efficiency information, possibly including how much energy the building uses and how that changes over time. The labels are part of the county’s Community Energy Plan, which aims to make Arlington a global leader in reducing greenhouse gases.
“Building energy labels have become required in Europe, and there’s interest in the U.S. in this kind of transparency,” County Energy Manager John Morrill said.
Arlington could be said to be taking a cue from U.S. lawmakers. The 2009 American Clean Energy and Security Act included a building label program, but the bill died in the Senate.
Morrill said the agency would start labeling buildings sometime this year, but the details about what information to display and what the labels would look like are still being debated.
The goal for the program is to raise awareness about energy use and how conservation measures save energy. Officials hope the program will inspire private-building owners to label their own properties. Morrill said the county would never require the private sector to label buildings.
The labels may be based on versions being developed by the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Energy, Morrill said, or they may be similar to the “Building EQ” label the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers produces. That system rates buildings from A+ to F.
“Part of the challenge is conveying the abstract information about energy use in a way that is informative and interesting to the casual viewer,” he said.
The Arlington label’s detail would go beyond the EPA’s Energy Star label displayed on many Washington area buildings, which is essentially an award plaque, Morrill said.
Morrill said the Arlington labels would not have any fancy designs or printing so productions costs would be minimal.
“We’re talking about essentially a sheet of paper,” he said.
