by Shane Henson — May 16, 2012—The U.S. General Services Administration has released its review of green building certification systems that the agency is required to carry out every five years in order to identify a system and certification level “deem(ed) to be most likely to encourage a comprehensive and environmentally sound approach to certification of green buildings.”
According to the GSA, this initial report is the first step in an extensive review process—including a public comment period—that evaluates which system(s) and tools could help federal agencies meet their goals for maintaining and constructing more sustainable and efficient buildings.
When the process is completed, the use of updated building certification systems will help the GSA’s customer agencies meet federal requirements for green construction, save taxpayer dollars, and meet the goals of President Obama’s Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance (EO 13514), the GSA says.
The U.S. government owns and leases nearly 3.4 billion square feet of real estate and is the largest consumer of energy in the United States. The GSA oversees the leasing and construction of more than 9,600 buildings in the federal government building portfolio, and every five years, the agency is required to review building certification systems for the entire government under the Energy Independence Security Act.
In this most recent review, more than 180 green building certification systems, tools, and standards were initially screened by an independent laboratory to determine which were most applicable for construction of new buildings, major renovations, and upgrades to existing facilities. The GSA successfully narrowed the field by selecting systems that employed whole building evaluations, are available within the U.S. market, and have third-party certifications.
Three certification systems passed the screening criteria: the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes, U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), and the International Living Building Challenge.
Although these certification systems have helped everyone from architects to facilities managers make buildings more energy efficient and sustainable, the initial findings from the GSA revealed that none of the three building certification systems cover 100% of the federal building requirements for new construction, major renovations, or existing buildings.
The GSA will hold public listening sessions for members of the public to provide feedback on its review and convene an interagency review group to evaluate and make recommendations on how to guide government construction towards meeting the goals of President Obama’s sustainability executive order.
According to the GSA, the review group’s findings will be shared through a notice-and-comment period advertised in the Federal Register. Following public comment, the GSA, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Energy will develop formal recommendations on how green building certification systems will be used to facilitate high performance in the federal sector.
See also “Green Building Initiative launches green rating system for compliance with federal guiding principles” on FMLink.
