Dept. of Energy regulations requiring new federal buildings to be more energy-efficient are set to go into effect on Jan. 22.

Mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the rules require federal office and federal multifamily residential buildings to achieve at least 30% greater energy efficiency over prevailing building codes. The regulation will apply to all federal buildings in those categories on which construction began on or after Jan. 3, 2007.

DOE estimates that the new benchmarks will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 2 million metric tons over 10 years.

The latest federal energy measure, enacted Dec. 19, requires new federal buildings or those undergoing major renovations to cut their energy consumption from fossil fuels to zero by 2030.