President Obama says retrofitting federal buildings should goose job numbers upward, reduce agencies' energy bills and help the envirionment. In a Dec. 2 White House memorandum he directed federal departments and agencies to implement energy efficiency upgrades to buildings over the next two years. According to the memo, the federal government will enter into more than $2 billion in performance-based contracts for federal building energy efficiency by December 2013.

Agencies are required to implement energy conservation measures in federal buildings, focusing on those with the greatest return on investment and a payback time of less than 10 years, consistent with real property and capital improvement plans, says the memo.

The memo suggests agencies use installation-wide and portfolio-wide performance contracts to maximize efficiency and return on investment. Beginning in 2012, agencies should incorporate an implementation plan into their annual Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans. And by Jan. 31, 2012 agencies are to report their planned implementation schedules to the Department of Energy, the Office of Management and Budget and the Council on Environmental Quality, says the memo.

The White House policy also sets energy and water evaluation requirements, and transparency and accountability measures for tracking progress.

In a Dec. 2 statement the White House revealed a parallel initiative by 60 private-sector companies, nonprofit organizations, and state and local governments to commit $2 billion in financing building renovations to increase energy efficiency. The total investment of $4 billion aims to create tens of thousands of jobs according to the administration announcement.   

"Coupled with today's extraordinary private sector commitments of $2 billion to upgrade businesses, factories and military housing, America is taking another big step towards the competitive, clean energy economy it will take to win the future," Obama said in a statement.

The federal government has many, siloed, programs designed to encourage green building in the nonfederal sector. According to authors of a Government Accountability Office  report (.pdf) there are 94 federal initiatives, implemented by 11 agencies, focused on green buildings. Governmentwide efforts would greatly improve if the programs were more collaborative, finds the report dated Nov. 2 but not released publicly until Dec. 2.

Authors recommend the secretaries of the Energy Department, Housing and Urban Development Department and the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency collaborate on identifying performance information, such as shared goals and common performance measures, for green building initiatives for the nonfederal sector.

GAO also asked agency heads to explore the need for additional legislative or executive authority that would establish a coordinating entity or interagency working group.

For more:
- see the presidential memorandum
- see the GAO report (.pdf)
- see the White House press release
- see the fact sheet (.pdf)

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