by Shane Henson — July 30, 2012—The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has begun accepting nominations for its 2013 Better Buildings Federal Award (BBFA), which recognizes the federal government’s highest-performing buildings.
Facilities managers with a competitive streak and desire to play an instrumental role in reducing their building’s energy costs are encouraged to enter their buildings into the year-long competition to vie for an award. According to the DOE, the competition challenges agencies to achieve the greatest reduction in annual energy intensity—or energy consumed per square foot—and will honor the federal building that achieves the greatest energy savings at the end the 12-month competition period. The nomination process will be open through September 7, 2012, and the winner will be announced late in 2013. The winner of the 2012 competition is scheduled to be announced later this year.
The DOE says it will select finalists for the competition based on energy efficiency measures deployed in the facility, best practices in energy management undertaken by facilities personnel, and institutional change programs used to encourage sustainability efforts within the facility. Once selected, the finalists will compete in a head-to-head competition to achieve the greatest reduction in energy intensity over 2013. The finalists will represent a range of building types, sizes, and agency functions.
