by Brianna Crandall — April 27, 2011—Federal agencies released on April 21, for the first time, their scorecards on energy sustainability performance. These scorecards enable agencies to target and track the best opportunities to improve efficiency, reduce pollution, and eliminate waste. Under Executive Order 13514, President Obama directed Federal agencies to lead by example in clean energy, and to meet energy, water, pollution and waste reduction targets.
Based on scorecard benchmarks, each agency will update its Sustainability Plan to address areas needing improvement, and to expand on successes. Agency Sustainability Plans, which are required by EO 13514, are due in June, and are posted publicly on agency Web sites.
As an example, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says it is meeting or exceeding all the federal goals to decrease energy use per square foot (22.8 percent compared with the 18 percent required); reduce potable water use per square foot (18.7 percent vs. the 6 percent target); lessen fleet petroleum use (24.9 percent against the 10 percent target); establish inventories of direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions; incorporate sustainable building practices; and increase renewable energy use (purchasing 100 percent green power).
To view individual agency OMB Sustainability/Energy Scorecards, visit the Scorecards Web site.
