**GAO-10-630**                      Published: Jun 16, 2010. Publicly Released: Jun 16, 2010.                  

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## Highlights

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act) provided the General Services Administration (GSA) with $5.55 billion to invest in federal buildings and promote economic recovery. This funding includes $4.5 billion to convert buildings to high-performance green buildings (HPGB), which seek to reduce energy and water use, among other goals. GAO was asked to address the (1) steps GSA has taken to implement the program and make its Recovery Act projects transparent to the public, (2) extent to which GSA's Recovery Act projects are helping the agency convert buildings to HPGB and addressing federal energy and water conservation requirements and goals, and (3) extent to which GSA has identified potential risks to its Recovery Act program and developed strategies to mitigate those risks. GAO reviewed GSA documents and relevant laws and executive orders, and interviewed GSA officials at headquarters and staff for 12 projects, which varied in type, size, and location.

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## Topics

Government Operations

Data collectionEnergy conservationEnergy consumptionEnergy managementFederal facilitiesFederal property managementGreen technologyInformation disclosurePerformance measuresProgram evaluationRequirements definitionRisk assessmentRisk factorsRisk managementStrategic planningWater conservationInvestmentsRenewable energy sourcesEnergy planningProgram goals or objectivesTransparency