Federal buildings have reduced their energy use by 23 percent and cut their carbon emissions by 2.8 million metric tons since 1985, with eight buildings gaining LEED™ certification, and more than 60 federal buildings seeking the designation from the U.S. Green Building Council, according to “The Federal Commitment to Green Building: Experiences and Expectations,” a government study released last month. And although more education, research, measuring tools, and coordination and integration are needed to advance sustainable building practices in government, these issues are not an insurmountable barrier to further progress, the upbeat report contends.

The study, conducted by the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, a taskforce of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, is the first comprehensive survey of the government’s nearly 500,000 buildings and its efforts to go green. In all, these properties cover 3.1 billion square feet, account for .4 percent of the nation’s energy use, and emit 2 percent of all U.S. building-related greenhouse gases. These hefty figures prompted the government to undertake the evaluation, giving emphasis to how sustainable government buildings can reduce impacts; improve worker conditions and productivity; increase energy, water, and material efficiency; and reduce costs and risks.

The report points to several green building policies that already have achieved success, including the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which required federal buildings to reduce their energy use by more than a third, and Executive Order 13123, which mandated the government to consider sustainable design principles to the siting, design, and construction of new facilities. In addition, an Office of Management and Budget policy encourages agencies to incorporate Energy Star or LEED™ into designs for new building construction and renovations, and nine agencies/departments now require the implementation of LEED™ principles for their new projects: General Services Administration, Army, Navy, Air Force, Environmental Protection Agency, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, National Park Service, State, and Health and Human Services. The report notes however, that LEED™ is not a one-size-fits-all solution for implementing sustainable design in government buildings, but that it does provide a starting point and an opportunity for dialogue.

Fighting perceptions of “exotic add-ons”
That the federal government is the largest single energy user in the country provides it opportunity and challenges, the OFEE reports. The agencies and departments have no single, comprehensive government-wide green building standard, rather the departments maintain their own individual sets of master specifications that incorporate LEED™ or other green building requirements in differing ways and to varying degrees. Still, in FY2002, federal agencies documented more than $120 million in investments in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and water conservation projects.

A perception exists, the report notes, that green building technologies are associated with greater costs, leading to reliance on more conventional approaches to building. Budgeting constraints enforced by Congress and the Office of Management and Budget are also biased toward less expensive materials and technologies that reduce initial costs of the projects, rather than those that contribute to the reduction of lifecycle costs. Managers and decision makers need to be educated so that they don’t view sustainable technologies as “exotic add-ons” and so that they reward, rather than punish, those who want to implement them.

Knowledge is key
The paper stresses the need to distribute sustainable-building knowledge to employees through an accumulation of best practices and cross-agency communication. Best practices could include research on the links among indoor environmental quality, energy use, human health, and workplace productivity. “The growing but diverse scientific literature suggests that substantial benefits in health and human performance are possible with appropriate building design and operational procedures, but research is needed to further quantify these relationships and to evaluate and refine best practices,” the report states.

Data on the benefits of sustainable design could help make that case as well, particularly on existing LEED™-certified buildings. The report urges federal agencies to build on the work of the U.S. Green Building Council to “quantify the costs and benefits of green building practices, products, and processes.” Additionally, the reported notes, the OFEE should bring together public, private, and academic interests to coordinate federal sustainable research, building on the prior and ongoing work of other research and development groups.

Energy and a “culture of innovation”
The AIA has long worked with federal agencies to collaborate formally on sustainable design initiatives. Such efforts have resulted in the development of the Department of the Navy Whole Building Design Program and the Planet GSA initiative. In addition to national leadership, components are advocating sustainable building design in their jurisdictions. For example, an AIA California Council-initiated taskforce on sustainable architecture is working to review and propose legislation and position itself as a resource for the state legislature and government. AIACC, in particular, developed a set of principles that advocate an awareness of sustainable design, encourage a regional perspective, establish cost benefits, support innovative practice and policy, and develop knowledge of current technologies. In short, the principles encourage a culture of innovation that facilitates a more “sustainable social, environmental, and economic future for California” through the development of renewable resources and recycling of non-renewable resources.

Back in Washington, though, lawmakers are still working to complete an omnibus energy bill, which has stalled over three issues: electricity, alternative fuel sources, and tax breaks. Final completion of the bill might not happen until next year.

—Tracy Ostroff

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