Compliance.
Compliance refers to ensuring our actions are consistent with the requirements of regulations that are approved into law. For example, the Georgia passed the Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Construction Act of 2008 (EESCA) which creates a set of energy efficiency and construction standards. These new standards apply to any state facility project that enters into a design agreement on or after July 1, 2010.
Improvement.
Improvement refers to our actions that are voluntary in nature but progresses the overall environmental and energy efficiency advances being sought by the Federal and Georgia State Governments in the areas of global environmental stewardship, energy independence and ensuring our national security. For example, many of the energy actions taken in the commercial and industrial private sectors are consistent with the Executive Order mandates (EO 13423, 13514 and 13221) established for federal government employees. Many of the incentives provided by Fereral and State agencies and progressive cities are in place to support the voluntary improvement actions taken by companies in the private sectors.
Opportunities.
Opportunities refers to those actions taken by facility managers to improve the environmental and energy performance of their buildings that, at the same time, generate business in other sectors. These new business opportunites should leverage technologies that support emvironmental stewardship better than traditional alternatives. Green procurement and supply chain management actions also fall into this category
Whether federal, state or private, the actions taken by facility managers when it comes to improving the buildings under their control are essentially the same. For example, in April 2008, Governor Perdue signed an executive order requiring state government agencies and departments to reduce energy use. This executive order created the Governor's Energy Challenge 2020 as part of "Conserve Georgia." State agencies and departments must reduce, by 2020, energy consumption by 15%, using 2007 energy use as a baseline. At the same time, all Georgians are encouraged to accept the program's 15 percent goal by visiting 
