Lake County’s Planning, Building, Zoning and Environment Committee heard an overview of a new energy program framework on July 30 from Carl Fuchs, the county’s new energy program manager, and Carl Carr, director of facilities and construction services, describing steps the county will take to reduce emissions from county facilities and meet board-adopted targets.

Fuchs said the framework is designed to make Lake County’s 2020 resolution goals actionable: reduce greenhouse gas emissions 50% by 2030 and pursue 100% renewable energy and more than 90% emissions reduction by 2040. He described an approach that prioritizes energy-efficiency improvements, electrification and renewable procurement, energy-data management, resilience, strategic funding and leadership collaboration.

The program sets measurable interim goals and milestones: a countywide target to reduce total energy use 30% by 2040 and lower energy-use intensity (EUI) 20% by 2040; facility-level decarbonization plans for all major buildings and a countywide investment plan by 2027. Fuchs explained the program’s seven-step cycle — data foundation, benchmarking and audits, goal-setting, strategic planning, execution and tracking, evaluation and improvement, and recognition — and said staff is currently focused on data collection, filling gaps, establishing baselines and building reporting methods.

The presentation included an inventory showing buildings and facilities account for the largest share of Lake County’s operational emissions, and staff said better, timelier utility data (enabled by partnerships and by the county’s ERP work) will be central to measuring progress. Fuchs and Carr described near-term work: benchmarking and audits, property assessments to identify equipment at end-of-life and candidates for upgrades, water-system reviews to spot energy-embedded water waste, and development of an implementation and investment plan that would align energy projects with capital-improvement cycles and outside funding opportunities.

Committee members welcomed the plan and asked about partnerships and funding. Member Wassick asked about ComEd programs and grants; Fuchs said partnerships such as ComEd support will be considered at multiple steps and that staff is already working with ComEd to obtain more current electricity-use data. Member Peterson and others raised budget and schedule implications, asking whether projects using the framework could slow delivery of planned capital work; staff acknowledged that higher-cost projects could affect the number and timing of projects completed in a given year and said the investment plan will align projects with budget cycles and seek outside funding where feasible.

Fuchs said the next steps are completing data collection and benchmarking, revising baselines, and returning to the committee with progress updates in the coming months. He asked for committee support to turn the strategic framework into specific projects and funding commitments. No formal vote was taken; presenters said they will bring back implementation details and investment analyses for committee and board consideration.

The presentation emphasized a data-driven, repeatable approach to lower county facility emissions over time while seeking to leverage external grants and partnerships to reduce net cost to taxpayers. Committee members expressed general support and asked staff to return with more detailed project-level and budgetary analysis.