VA Contracts With GBI to Meet Sustainability Mandate

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs contracted with the Green Building Initiative to help the department meet the government’s sustainability mandate for federally owned or leased buildings. It will develop an assessment system and apply it to the 180 VA buildings currently undergoing Green Globes certification.

The Green Building Initiative, a nonprofit ANSI Accredited Standards Developer, has previously been contracted to develop building sustainability assessment and certification services within the federal sector.

The mandate states that by 2015, 15 percent of each agency’s federally owned or leased buildings that exceed 5,000 square feet must incorporate sustainable practices from the Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Guidance Document, implemented in December of 2008.

The mandate includes five guiding principles which federal agency buildings must comply with, including employing integrated design principles, optimizing energy performance, and protecting and conserving water.

Federal buildings are also required to enhance the quality of indoor air environment and to reduce the environmental impact of building materials. The order also requires a reporting system that is accurate and consistent across all agencies, leveraging existing resources and demonstrating annual progress toward 100 percent compliance to the goals.

Though the Initiative’s Continual Improvement of Existing Buildings program overlaps the guiding principles of the executive order, a separate assessment program was necessary to meet the department’s compliance requirements.

Agencies may choose to pursue either or both Green Globes certification and guiding principles compliance, which can generally be completed from start to finish within about three months, according to the Initiative.

“Federal Government agencies are now addressing requirements for building sustainability performance measurement and reporting on a broad scale,” said Joe Pinelli, vice president and general manager for the Initiative. “Not only is GBI’s Guiding Principle Compliance program the first of its kind in the industry but one that has been proven in real-world practice on a broad scale. The GBI’s Guiding Principle compliance program’s ease of use, accuracy of assessment, and reporting credibility can be a model for other federal government agencies to use.”