On January 24, 2026, the Alexandria City Council adopted a new Green Building Plan (Plan), formally adding it as a chapter of the City's Master Plan. The Plan will replace the City's 2019 Green Building Policy. The action follows a unanimous Planning Commission (PC) recommendation earlier this year and represents a change in how sustainability standards will be applied during zoning and land use review.
The adopted Plan moves away from third-party green building certifications and instead relies on Energy Use Intensity (EUI) as the primary measure of building energy performance. The requirements will apply to projects requiring a Development Site Plan (DSP) or Development Special Use Permit (DSUP). Compliance with the new energy performance requirements will be verified through yet-to-be-developed City review procedures, rather than certification programs.
For multi-unit residential projects, the City Council adopted a Site EUI target of 35. The City Council acknowledged during deliberations that this target may not be achievable in all cases and instructed staff to exercise flexibility on a case-by-case basis based on conformance with other City policies, like architectural design standards, affordable housing, and other development conditions. This represents a compromise position following Planning Commission consideration of even lower EUI targets.
Other features of the new Plan include establishment of a small-project exemption threshold of 10,000 square feet, directing staff to establish a more streamlined development review process for Green Building compliance, committing to biennial reviews of the Plan's standards, and formally incorporating electrification requirements and EV charging provisions into the policy framework.
The Plan also includes new requirements for onsite renewable energy generation. Specifically, the Plan requires projects to generate 3% of a building's anticipated annual energy use through on-site renewable energy, or alternatively to contribute to a Clean Energy Fund capped at $150,000.
Although the Green Building Plan has now been adopted, it will not be effective for at least several more months. The Green Building Plan must return to the Planning Commission and the City Council as an implementation ordinance. Until that implementation ordinance is adopted, there will be no change to existing DSP or DSUP submission or review requirements, and the 2019 Green Building Policy will continue to apply.
The authors would like to thank Boris Schwarzenbach for contributing to this article.
