The Fairfax County Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC) has updated the public-facing Climate Action Dashboard to show the progress made toward the county’s climate action goals. 

The dashboard tracks progress in implementing the county’s three climate and energy plans – the Community-wide Energy and Climate Action Plan (CECAP), the Operational Energy Strategy (OES), and Resilient Fairfax. 

These plans set ambitious goals that include: lowering greenhouse gas emissions to achieve community-wide carbon neutrality by 2050; achieving carbon neutrality for its own government operations by 2040; and improving community resilience to the effects of climate change that are already occurring. 

Updates to the dashboard include:

• Overall metrics for emissions reductions, which highlight the progress made as a result of improved energy efficiency and the increased use of clean energy supplies.
• Overall metrics for resilience to changing climate conditions like extreme heat, severe storms and intense flooding. 
• A new Climate Action Map viewer, an interactive tool that shows the locations of green buildings, solar installations, electric vehicle charging stations, recycling centers and the tree canopy in the county. 
• Additional metrics for outcomes in six key sectors: Buildings, Energy Supply, Transportation, Natural Resources, Waste, and Community Services.
• Links to topic pages that provide additional information and resources for individuals, businesses, and other organizations ready to take climate action. 

“We developed the dashboard to help our residents and stakeholders better understand how our collective effort is making a positive impact,” said OEEC Acting Director John Morrill. “With more than 70 strategies across our three climate plans, it’s also important that we make data-driven decisions to guide our actions.”

Data highlights:

• Total carbon emissions are down 30 percent since 2005 due in part to a cleaner electricity grid and improved energy efficiency in homes and buildings. In fact, total electricity use in the community has fallen 2% in that same time period, despite a 10% increase in population. 
• Nearly 40,000 households in Fairfax County were reached by energy efficiency and weatherization programs between 2016 and 2022.
• 44 county government buildings have achieved LEED certification, including the county government’s first LEED Platinum building — Woodlawn Fire Station. Four buildings were outfitted with rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays in 2023, and another 18 will get solar panels by 2025.
• Solar installations in the community continue to soar as well – as total installed capacity for solar PV systems reached 32 megawatts in 2022, twice as much as in 2020.
• Fairfax County has achieved 55.4% tree canopy coverage, which is close to its goal of 60%. So far, 72% of Census Tracts have at least 40% canopy – with a goal of 100% by 2030.

Information on the dashboard is gathered from a variety of sources, including the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, Virginia Department of Energy, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and many county agencies.

OEEC will routinely update the dashboard as progress is made and additional data becomes available. 

To learn more about the county’s climate action plans, policies and programs, visit the OEEC website.