by Brianna Crandall — June 1, 2012—The U.S. Department of Energy announced on May 30 eight finalists for the first-annual Better Buildings Federal Award, which is expected to raise the bar for energy management and sustainability in both federal and private-sector facilities. This competition recognizes the federal government’s highest-performing buildings and challenges agencies to achieve the greatest reduction in annual energy intensity—or energy consumed per square foot. The federal building that achieves the greatest energy savings over a one-year competition period wins.
The eight finalists, which represent a range of building types, sizes, and agency functions, were selected based upon past and current sustainability efforts that demonstrate leadership and promote ongoing energy savings. When selecting finalists, the Department’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) considered energy efficiency measures deployed in the facility, best practices in energy management and building operations undertaken by facility personnel, and institutional change programs and other tools that were used to encourage broad sustainability efforts within the facility. From now until September 30, 2012, the selected finalists will compete in a head-to-head competition to achieve the greatest reduction in Fiscal Year 2012 energy intensity.
The following facilities were selected as finalists:
Department of Defense:
- Army and Air Force Exchange Service, Fort Hood, Texas
- Army Boatwright Maintenance Park Building, Fort Knox, Kentucky
Department of Energy:
- Sandia National Laboratory Building 753, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Department of Interior:
- Bureau of Reclamation Brackish Groundwater National Desalination Research Facility, Alamogordo, New Mexico
Department of Treasury:
- Bureau of Public Debt Avery Street Building, Parkersburg, West Virginia
General Services Administration:
- Frank Carlson Federal Building and Courthouse, Topeka, Kansas
- Neal Smith Federal Building, Des Moines, Iowa
- Sam Nunn Atlanta Federal Center, Atlanta, Georgia
The Better Buildings Federal Award is part of a larger effort by the Obama Administration challenging the private and public sector to make rapid investments in more sustainable, energy-efficient workplaces that set an example for the nation. In December 2011, President Obama announced the investment of nearly $4 billion in combined federal and private sector energy upgrades to buildings. The accompanying Presidential Memorandum committed the federal government and its agencies to enter into a minimum of $2 billion in performance-based contracts to improve federal building energy efficiency over the next two years.
