The federal government is stepping up its construction of green buildings, like this one at Fort Hood in Texas.The U.S. Department of Energy on Thursday announced that it has established regulations that require new federal buildings to achieve at least 30 percent greater energy efficiency over prevailing building codes, according to the Environmental News Network.

Mandated by the Energy Policy Act of 2005, these standards apply to new federal commercial and multi-family high-rise residential buildings, as well as new federal low-rise residential buildings designed for construction that began on or after Jan. 3, 2007. Over the course of the next ten years, the new standards are estimated to save taxpayer $776 million dollars.

The standards are also 40 percent more efficient than the current Code of Federal Regulations and carry out portions of a presidential executive order to reduce energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions in federal operations.