ENERGY STAR in FCPS

FCPS Earns Recognition as 2021 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year: Sustained Excellence

Fairfax County Public Schools has been named a 2021 ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year: Sustained Excellence, the highest honor among ENERGY STAR awards. This is the fifth consecutive year that FCPS has been recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Energy for its continued efforts to improve the energy efficiency of its buildings and facilities.

EPA Energy Star - Building Benchmarking System

Over 190 FCPS buildings are benchmarked against a national database and monitored monthly. We use the EPA Energy Star System to guide and prioritize our conservation efforts.

Find Your School’s ENERGY STAR score on the Energy Dashboard

Get2Green’s energy dashboard is a platform to educate students, staff, parents, and community members about ENERGY STAR information, including ENERGY STAR scores, presented as part of an interactive effort to encourage energy conservation.

FCPS Recognized for Having the Most ENERGY STAR Certified Schools in the U.S.

Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) was recently honored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for having 146 schools in the division earning ENERGY STAR certification, the most of any school division in the United States. View the list of ENERGY STAR certified schools.

About ENERGY STAR

ENERGY STAR is a voluntary program offered by the EPA that helps businesses and individuals save money and protect the climate through superior energy efficiency.

The ENERGY STAR program was established by the EPA in 1992, under the authority of the Clean Air Act. Under the EPA's leadership, American consumers, businesses, and organizations have made investments in energy efficiency that are transforming the market for efficient products and practices, creating jobs, and stimulating the economy. Now in its 23rd year, the ENERGY STAR program has boosted the adoption of energy efficient products, practices, and services through valuable partnerships, objective measurement tools, and consumer education.

What Does it Mean to be ENERGY STAR Certified?

To earn the EPA's ENERGY STAR certification, a facility has to be certified by a third-party engineer and rank among the top 25 percent building energy use in its peer group, nationwide. Today, Fairfax County Public Schools is the largest school division with the most number of ENERGY STAR buildings nationwide.

How is your building's ENERGY STAR score calculated?

Based on the information you entered about your building in the ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager, such as its size, location, number of occupants, number of PCs, etc., the score’s algorithm estimates how much energy the building would use if it were the best performing, the worst performing, and every level in between. It then compares the actual energy data you entered to the estimate to determine where your building ranks relative to its peers.

All of the calculations are based on source energy and account for the impact of weather variations, as well as changes in key property use details.

To estimate how much energy your building would use at each performance level, EPA conducts statistical analyses on the survey data. For each type of building for which there is an ENERGY STAR score, EPA goes through a rigorous process that involves:

1. Ensuring the quality and quantity of the data will support an ENERGY STAR score

    

2. Creating a statistical regression model that correlates the energy data to the property use details to identify the key drivers of energy use

    

3. Testing the model against thousands of buildings in Portfolio Manager

    

A score of 50 represents median energy performance, while a score of 75 or better indicates your building is a top performer — and may be eligible for ENERGY STAR certification.