Will Fairfax County’s latest energy-efficiency initiative deliver enough bang for the buck to make it viable in an era of constrained budgets?
County supervisors weren’t so sure, but the new Energy Compass initiative will have the coming year to prove its worth.
Overseen by the county’s Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC), county leaders launched the program as a pilot program earlier this month. If it finds success, it could be expanded to a permanent initiative.
The program pairs participating residents with a county “energy navigator,” who provides them with information about available resources on making energy-efficiency improvements to their residences.
“The big pieces here are providing [the public] access to resources and reducing any barriers that a resident might have in making changes to their home,” said Maya Dhavale, an OEEC senior community specialist, during a Sept. 16 briefing at the Board of Supervisors’ Environmental Committee.
Two energy-navigator positions have been filled for the pilot program, which is slated to run through May 2026. They will be able to spend the time that’s needed — perhaps as much as an hour — with individuals who seek information.
“We want this to be as seamless for the resident as possible,” Dhavale said.
If expanded to a permanent program, it would be seen as a success once it assists 1,000 households with information-gathering, including 200 who follow through and complete energy-upgrade projects, staff said.
A survey of residents during the planning of the initiative found that in some communities, finding information about locating and hiring workers to make energy upgrades wasn’t easy.
“Residents shared that they face numerous barriers to action,” said Maggie Beetstra, another OEEC staffer.
Uncertainty over who to hire, the up-front cost of making improvements and general lack of available information were the top three reasons improvements do not get made, a survey taken of county residents revealed.
The concept of the program was applauded by a number of supervisors.
It “has a lot of potential to make a real difference,” said Mason District Supervisor Andres Jimenez, who chairs the committee.
“I’m all on board,” added Board Chair Jeff McKay.
But the plaudits came with a concern: Would the program make enough of an impact to merit its cost?
“Is this one of those elements that has a high [return on investment] in terms of achieving our environmental benefits?” McKay asked.
Given budgetary constraints at the local level and fears of diminishing federal funding, “we are in a new world,” McKay said.
Sully District’s Kathy Smith had voiced similar concerns.
“We are in a time where we have to be careful how we use resources,” she said.
John Morrill, who heads the Office of Environment and Energy Coordination, said the program’s primary role of a source for information and referrals positioned it for success, cost-wise. He called it a “limited-investment/high-return” program.
“It’s for people who want to do things — they’re already motivated, they just have questions,” Morrill said. “Our approach is to help them get to where they want to be with their houses.”
The program has been fully funded for the fiscal year that began in July, Morrill said.
“We’re taking it year by year,” he said. “We have fiscal 2026 to essentially run through its paces and then be able to evaluate it.”
Morrill and his staff also were questioned by supervisors about how tradesmen would be vetted before county staff provides their contact information to the public. The response was the program would be “as neutral as possible” and would only refer people to individuals and firms that had professional accreditation or already had been accepted for similar programs across the region.
County officials have set a goal of retrofitting 100,000 homes in Fairfax with energy-efficient measures by 2030. Currently, the effort is about two-thirds of the way toward its goal.
Photo via Raze Solar/Unsplash
