The U.S. General Services Administration is soliciting comments through April 8, 2013 on how the Federal government can best use green building certification systems.

Section 436 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 requires the Director of GSA’s Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings to evaluate green building certification systems every five years to identify a system and certification level that “will be most likely to encourage a comprehensive and environmentally sound approach to the certification of green federal buildings.” EISA requires the GSA Administrator to provide recommendations to the Secretary of Energy, who then consults with the Secretary of Defense and the GSA Administrator, to identify the system(s) appropriate for use in the Federal sector to certify green buildings.

GSA first evaluated certification systems in 2006 focusing on new construction. Based on this 2006 review, GSA recommended the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®) to the Secretary of Energy for use in the Federal sector. Presently, GSA uses LEED 2009 for new construction and major renovation projects with LEED Gold as the certification system and target level.

GSA completed its most recent evaluation of green building certification systems in May 2012 focusing on certification systems for new construction, major renovations, and existing buildings. In this review, three systems were evaluated in depth: Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes (2010), U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED(2009), and the International Living Building Institute’s Living Building Challenge (2011). GSA evaluated the three green building certification systems against 27 new construction and 28 existing building statutory and Executive Order requirements. The study found that Green Globes aligns with more of the Federal requirements for new construction than LEED or Living Building Challenge while LEED aligns with more of the Federal requirements for existing buildings than Green Globes or Living Building Challenge.

Ultimately, the 2012 report found that none of the existing green building certification systems meet all of the Federal government’s needs for high performance building metrics and conformity assessment, especially when considering the Federal sector’s statutory requirements in this area. However, better alignment between Federal requirements and green building certification systems could reinforce and continue the important role that green building certification systems currently play within Federal portfolios and in causing Federal green building activities to leverage the private sector.

Of particular issue is that Executive Order 13423 requires that new federal buildings and major renovations comply with the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High-Performance and Sustainable Buildings. The Guiding Principles as last published in the Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding, approved on December 1, 2008: Employ Integrated Design Principles, Optimize Energy Performance, Protect and Conserve Water, Enhance Indoor Environmental Quality, and Reduce Environmental Impact of Materials. Of import, the Guiding Principles were proposed for revision in 2012, but politics in Washington DC intervened and it is now expected that a revision will take place in late 2013.

Accepting that there is no one homogenized building type, a recent analysis of Department of Defense buildings found LEED 2009 Silver certification, in and of itself, does not satisfy all of the Guiding Principles and by some measures only address 60% or so of the Principles.

That observed, this writer believes that the Federal government should and likley will pursue LEED 2009 Silver certification for new construction and major renovations. LEED has proven itself the ideal rating system to validate resource use and the associated cost savings. Moreover, LEED has become an important agent of disruptive innovation improving the Federal government’s knowledge base on high performance buildings and leading the way in private sector installation of cutting edge energy efficiency and sustainability technologies.

It is important stakeholders and those knowledgeable about green building offer their comment ..

On February 5, 2013, GSA published a request for information in the Federal Register seeking additional public input on the findings such that the Green Building Advisory Committee can make a recommendation as to how the Federal government can best use green building certification systems. It has been suggested the Committee is a paper tiger, but pundits counting votes, count on the Committee to recommend LEED, albeit by a close vote. The Federal Register notice can be found at Federal Register.

Comments may be submitted by visiting Regulations and searching for “Notice-MG-2012-04” or by email to bryan.steverson@gsa.gov

If we can assist you in complying with government mandates or otherwise in identifying opportunities to lead and profit in green building and sustainable business, do not hesitate to give Stuart Kaplow a call at 410-339-3910 or email him at skaplow@stuartkaplow.com