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GSA
Announces New Office of Federal High-Performance Green
Buildings WASHINGTON
The U.S.
General Services Administration (GSA) has established an Office of
Federal High-Performance Green Buildings to ensure full
coordination of high-performance green building information and
activities within the government as mandated by the
recently-enacted Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007.
This newly created office will work in conjunction with the
Department of Energy's office that will have a similar
responsibility for commercial buildings.
GSA Director of Expert Services Kevin Kampschroer, who has
been leading GSA's efforts in sustainable design, will serve as
acting head of the office, which will reside in GSA's Public
Buildings Service (PBS).
"GSA has been leading by example in the areas of energy
conservation and
sustainable design since the early 1970s," said Administrator
Lurita Doan.
"Enactment of the new energy bill provides us with an enormous and
exciting
challenge to take energy conservation and sustainable design in
federal buildings to the next level."
The duties of the office outlined in the legislation are to:
- establish a Federal Green Building
Advisory Committee;
- identify and develop technical
standards for high-performance green
buildings;
- establish green practices for
operations and maintenance of facilities;
- provide information and disseminate
research results;
- identify practices and tools to
achieve high-performance green
buildings
through budgeting and contracting;
- identify opportunities to demonstrate
innovative technologies and concepts;
and,
- identify incentives to encourage
high-performance green buildings and
technologies.
"I am pleased that this new office will reside in PBS," said GSA's
Commissioner for Public Buildings David Winstead. "Green
building practices are rapidly moving into the mainstream.
GSA's commitment to sustainable design principles is enabling
this market transformation."
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