by Brianna Crandall — October 2, 2013—The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently launched a comprehensive service to create a 21st century workplace throughout the federal government that will affect federal facilities managers across the country. GSA’s Total Workplace initiative provides resources and expertise to help federal agencies reduce their office space, foster collaboration, better manage information technology (IT) spending, and increase energy efficiency.
In a time of shrinking budgets, the initiative is already saving taxpayer dollars and helping customer agencies better serve the American people, says GSA. The U.S. Departments of Agriculture (USDA), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Homeland Security (DHS), and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), have all announced that they have joined the Total Workplace program and are on their way to realizing significant savings and reducing their real estate footprint. The effort will also help agencies meet Obama Administration goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions and energy costs, including the “Freeze the (Federal) Footprint” directive.
GSA has been meeting with agencies throughout the federal government to lay out the benefits of this program. The agency says that its Total Workplace has already begun to deliver savings and cost avoidance for federal agencies and the American people:
- At DHS, a reduction of rented space with subleasing, increased teleworking, and the adoption of desk sharing has allowed the agency to begin reducing its real estate footprint, resulting in a projected savings of $55 million in office real estate costs.
- USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service will reduce its footprint from 43 state offices across the country to 12 regional locations, which . create significant savings. Through the efforts to-date, the agency is projected to save more than $700,000 in annual real estate costs.
- HHS will improve space efficiencies, reduce the agency’s footprint, and save the federal government more than $15 million in real estate costs over a ten-year lease.
- FWS will eliminate 72,200 square feet, saving taxpayers more than $3 million in annual real estate costs.
“We are replacing buildings built around hierarchies from an era where people used the telegraph with workspaces more suited to today’s world,” said GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini. “The kind of open office environment that Total Workplace creates encourages collaboration and cooperation that in turn leads to better services for the American people. By using our space more efficiently, we also save valuable taxpayer dollars.”
“Total Workplace gives federal workers access to the technology they need to accomplish their missions not only effectively, but also efficiently. Today’s workforce demands the tools necessary to work anywhere, anytime. Reducing the federal footprint gives agencies appropriate work spaces to get the job done together, while encouraging mobility,” said Charles Hardy, GSA’s Chief Total Workplace Officer.
GSA is reportedly leading workplace transformation with the renovation of its own headquarters in Washington, DC. GSA was able to collapse a number of leases in the region and bring those employees into the renovated headquarters, allowing it to go from 2,200 to 3,300 employees. By consolidating GSA employees into a single facility, the agency is eliminating $24.4 million in annual lease payments. The renovation also includes high-performance green building initiatives, such as photovoltaic rooftop arrays, an underground cistern to recapture and reuse rainwater/grey water, a green roof, solar hot water panels, high efficiency mechanical systems, and daylight harvesting.
