Government Buildings to Become More ‘Green’

A plan was recently released by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) to help the General Services Administration (GSA) shift to a more energy-efficient real estate. The GSA is a government organization in charge of acquiring and overseeing office space for federal buildings. An annual budget of roughly $21 billion means the GSA manages the greatest portfolio of commercial office space throughout the country. Particularly, the GSA owns and leases more than 375 million square feet in roughly 10,000 buildings throughout 2,200 communities in America.

The plan outlines how GSA can transform some of these buildings into Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings (GEBs). By establishing energy savings performance contracts along with utility service contracts, municipal customers will have the opportunity to monetarily back projects that are unqualified by national, state, and local tax incentives. Private sector customers are typically not eligible for these energy-efficient and renewable energy tax incentives otherwise.

The energy service contracts will enable the power upgrades in GSA buildings to be paid for by contractors or utilities. Then, the costs would be recuperated through the energy savings that take place throughout the life of the development.

GEBs can use smart technologies to interact with the electric grid with the goal of reducing, shedding, shifting, modulating, or generating electricity as necessary. To provide for demand flexibility, grid services, occupant needs or preferences, cost reductions, and increased resilience, GEBs can optimize their energy use in an integrated manner.

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Written by the digital marketing staff at Creative Programs & Systems: www.cpsmi.com.