Buildings use nearly half the United States energy and produce more than a third of the countrys climate-changing pollution, if you combine emissions from oil furnaces and gas stovetops with those from the electricity powering elements like air conditioners, toasters and neon storefront signs.

Yet the federal government plays little role in setting the national building codes that determine whether new construction uses fossil fuels. And industry groups pulled off a quiet coup last year, seizing control over the nonprofit that sets model building codes for all 50 states in what was widely seen as a bid to maintain fossil fuels grip on new construction.

But the White House is now aiming to set what U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm called a new gold standard for new construction all across America, unveiling policies to promote electrification and cut fossil fuel use in buildings owned by the federal government.

On Wednesday, the White Houses Council on Environmental Quality announced the countrys first federal building performance standard: By 2030, 30% of all federal buildings by square footage will need to bring their emissions from cooking and heating equipment down to zero.

That target, though, could prove too ambiguous to be meaningful, especially if officials seek to satisfy it with the lowest-hanging fruit in the federal building stock. Brenda Mallory, the councils Senate-confirmed chair, could not specify how many buildings the standard would ultimately affect, and to what degree.

And a future administration could easily revoke a policy that wont go through the formal rule-making process although it may end up having a wider influence through an accompanying coalition to replicate the presidents building standard at the state level. California said it would be the first to join.

Perhaps even more significant is a newly proposed rule from the Department of Energy that would force the federal government to keep fossil fuel use 90% below 2003 levels in all new buildings that its agencies construct or renovate, starting in 2025. Those buildings would be required to fully decarbonize by 2030.

This new rule is going to have the climate impact of canceling out the pollution from, for example, all the houses in Denver for a year, Granholm said on a call with reporters Wednesday morning. So itll make the air cleaner, especially for those living near new construction, and it will save taxpayers money to the tune of $8 million per year in building costs.

But the other purpose, she said, is to lead by example.