GSA Supports Climate Actions through Strategic Efforts with Federal Real Estate Portfolio

WASHINGTON – RealEstateRama – The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) Acting Administrator Katy Kale joined National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy, Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chair Brenda Mallory, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm (DOE), and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Michael Regan to discuss new programs and create investments in federal buildings, furthering workforce opportunities and cost efficiencies.

“Achieving the climate goals of this administration will require public and private leadership across industries and at all levels of government,” said Acting Administrator Katy Kale. “At GSA, we believe in leading by example and we are setting ambitious targets for the federal real estate portfolio and working closely with stakeholders to develop action plans and deliver results.”

GSA will lead by example in instilling climate resilience into the federal real estate portfolio with key projects that include:

• Sharing best practices utilizing the BluePrint for Integrating Grid-Interactive Technologies: GSA partnered with DOE/National Renewable Energy Laboratory on releasing a blueprint to integrate Grid-Interactive Efficient Building (GEB) technologies into energy savings contracts. The integration further reduces energy usage and cost in federal buildings. GSA will use the blueprint to choose sites from its real estate portfolio that have the greatest potential for cost-effective GEB implementation, and apply GEB technologies in upcoming energy performance contracts, as well as building modernization projects.
• Strengthening overall improvements with the utilization of recommendations from key task groups: GSA, through its Green Building Advisory Committee, recently established the Environmental Justice and Equity Task Group and the Federal Building Decarbonization Task Group, both of which will guide planning efforts around creating efficiencies across the federal buildings portfolio.
• Rethinking how GSA designs for future generations. The GSA’s Office of the Chief Architect is launching a new climate speakers series with industry leaders from design and construction.
• Announcing new federal building performance standards: GSA will begin collaborating with DOE, CEQ and EPA on building out federal building performance standards establishing metrics, targets, and tracking methods to reach the federal goals that build upon the GSA goals of 100 percent utilization of clean electricity for its federally owned real estate portfolio by 2025 and the elimination of fossil fuel use in newly constructed facilities and facilities undergoing major modernization and achieving net zero emissions by 2030.

These steps build upon the overall investments to embed climate into the federal buildings conversation. They also reflect the President’s broader agenda to achieve a carbon pollution-free power sector by 2035 and put the United States on an irreversible path to a net-zero economy by 2050.

For more information on GSA’s sustainability efforts, visit us at: gsa.gov/climate.

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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of more than 370 million rentable square feet and overseeing approximately $68 billion in annual contracts. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services across government, in support of the Biden-Harris administration’s priorities. For more information, visit: www.gsa.gov and follow us at @USGSA.