GSA Public Buildings Service 

office of Applied science 

Applied Research 

Assessing green 

building 

performAnce 

A post occupAncy evAluAtion of 12 gsA buildings 

ReseARch oveRview: integRAtion meAns high peRfoRmAnce............................................................. 4 

ReseARch conteXt: A compRehensive evAluAtion............................................................................... 6 

finding 1: fully integRAted design deliveRs higheR peRfoRmAnce............................................... 10 

finding 2: gsA's gReen Buildings cost less to opeRAte.................................................................. 12 

finding 3: gsA’s gReen Buildings hAve sAtisfied occupAnts............................................................. 14 

finding 4: gReen Buildings deliveR on gsA's mAndAtes...................................................................... 16 

sustAinAbility 
the office of Applied science supports gsA’s public Buildings 

service by generating research findings and recommending business 

improvements that can be directly applied to real world situations. 

the mission of the public Buildings service is to provide superior 

workplaces for federal customer agencies at the best value to the 

American taxpayer. 

produced by gsA public Buildings service, 

office of Applied science 

June 2008 

this document is printed on post-consumer recycled paper. 
photo credit: Kessler photography 

national park service, 

omaha, nebraska 

introduction 

sustAinAble design delivers 

to answer the question, ‘does sustainable design deliver?’ gsA evaluated 12 sustainably designed buildings in its national portfolio. the evaluation of these buildings 

was comprehensive—measuring environmental performance, financial metrics, 

and occupant satisfaction. no previous analysis has taken such a holistic view. the 

buildings studied all incorporated sustainable design criteria to varying degrees, with 

seven receiving leed ratings. the results of gsA's evaluation show that sustainably 

designed buildings outperform the national average for buildings of their type by a 

substantial margin. 

integrAted design yields even better performAnce 

the best performing buildings in the study were those that took a fully integrated 

approach to sustainable design—addressing site development, water savings, energy 

efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality. As America’s largest 

public real estate organization, gsA has a special responsibility to lead in building sustainably and meet federal mandates, including energy policies and executive 

orders. what the evaluation shows is that a fully integrated approach to sustainable 

design is helping gsA to meet its mandates by delivering buildings that use substantially less energy, cost less to operate and maintain, and lead to greater occupant 

satisfaction. 

needed next: nAtionAl sustAinAble building dAtA 

this study is an important first step in a much-needed national assessment of sustainable building performance in the public, private, and institutional sectors. gsA's 

evaluation establishes a new benchmark for comprehensiveness using a protocol that 

others can follow, both in the federal and private sectors. 

3 
reseArch overview 

integration means high performance 

"This study breaks new 

ground by comparing 

GSA's sustainably designed 

buildings against US commercial buildings, using 

the latest performance data. 

Its findings will be relevant to building owners 

and developers, public and 

private, across the country." 

-dAvid winsteAd


commissioner, public Buildings service


the us general services Administration 

(gsA) commissioned a comprehensive 

post-occupancy evaluation of 12 of its sustainably designed buildings.

1the measures 

studied included environmental performance, financial metrics, and occupant 

satisfaction. no previous us study has 

taken such a holistic approach to building 

performance. the leed buildings evaluated represented one-third of the total leed 

buildings in gsA’s national portfolio at the 

time the study was conducted. 

the study compared the energy performance, operating cost, and water use of 

the 12 gsA buildings against the average 

performance of us commercial buildings, 

using the following sources of data: 

measurement 

eui 

data source2 

cBecs national survey 

of commercial Buildings 

constructed between 

1990 and 20033 

co2 eneRgy stAR4 

maintenance 

costs: 

ifmA5

 and BomA6 

2006/2007 surveys 

reporting 2003-2005 data 

water use: federal water use index7 

occupant 

satisfaction: 

center for the Built 

environment, uc 

Berkeley8 

the study found that gsA's green buildings outperform national averages in all 

measured performance areas—energy, 

operating costs, water use, occupant 

satisfaction, and carbon emissions. the 

study also found that gsA's leed gold 

buildings, which reflect a fully integrated 

approach to sustainable design—addressing environmental, financial, and occupant 

satisfaction issues in aggregate—achieve 

the best overall performance. 

key findings: 

compared to national averages, 

buildings in this study have: 

26% 

less energy use 


(65 kBtu/sf/yr vs. 88 kBtu/sf/yr).


13% 

lower aggregate maintenance 

costs ($2.88/sf vs. $3.30/sf) 

27% 

higher occupant satisfaction 

33% 

fewer co emissions 2

(19lbs/sf/yr vs. 29lbs/sf/yr) 

4 
Knoxville FB 

Fresno CH/FB 

Greeneville CH 

Omaha DHS 

Santa Ana FB 

DavenportCH 

Omaha NPS FB 

Youngstown CH/FB 

Lakewood FB 

Cleveland CH 

Ogden FB 

Denver CH 

Ogden FB 

Cleveland CH 

Omaha NPS FB 

Lakewood FB 

Santa Ana FB 

Greeneville CH 

Knoxville FB 

DavenportCH 

Fresno CH/FB 

Denver CH 

Youngstown CH/FB 

Omaha DHS 

i e Gre nev lle CH 

Fresno CH/FB 

ll Knoxvi e FB 

Cleveland CH 

DavenportCH 

Lakewood FB 

Omaha NPS FB 

Denver CH 

e Ogd n FB 

Santa Ana FB 

Youngstown CH/FB 

Omaha DHS 

Greeneville CH 

Fresno CH/FB 

Knoxville FB 

Cleveland CH 

Davenport CH 

Lakewood FB 

Omaha NPS FB 

Denver CH 

Ogden FB 

Santa Ana FB 

Youngstown CH/FB 

Santa Ana FB 

Fresno CH/FB 

Greeneville CH 

Knoxville FB 

Cleveland CH 

Ogden FB 

DavenportCH 

Youngstown CH/FB 

Omaha NPS FB 

Omaha DHS 

Denver CH 

Lakewood FB 

Fresno CH/FB 

Santa Ana FB 

Knoxville FB 

Greeneville CH 

Omaha NPS FB 

Omaha DHS 

Cleveland CH 

Lakewood FB 

Ogden FB 

DavenportCH 

Denver CH 

Youngstown CH/FB 

gsA study buildings 

figure 1: performance metrics 

on average the 12 sustainably designed buildings in the indicates national Average 

study outperformed us commercial buildings. indicates Building Baseline 

0 

20 

40 

60 

80 

100 

120 

0 

10 

20 

30 

40 

50 

energy use intensity co2 emissions

(kbtu/sf/yr) (lbs/sf/yr) 

5,000 

4,500 4 

4,000 

3,500 3 

3,000 

2,500 

2 2,000 

1,500 

1,000 1 

500 

0 0 

wAter use mAintenAnce costs

(thousand gallons/yr) ($/sf)

100 

90 

120 

100 80 

70 80 

60 

50 

40 

60 

40 30 

20 20 

10 

0 0 

energy stAr occupAnt sAtisfAction 

score (% satisfaction) 

5 
reseArch context 

A comprehensive evaluation 

“We believe that ‘green’ 

building and sustainable design and operation has a very positive 

impact on the people 

that work in our buildings, in terms of their 

morale and productivity. 

‘Green’ building is the 

right thing to do, and 

it’s also the right business thing to do.” 

dAvid BiBB


Acting Administrator, gsA


gsA asked pacific northwest national 

laboratory (pnnl) to evaluate 12 of 

gsA’s sustainably designed buildings, and 

answer this question: 

while sustainably designed buildings 

promise higher performance, do they 

deliver? 

the study evaluated actual, not modeled, 

building performance, so the results are 

reliable and objective. successes and 

shortcomings were identified, along with 

areas requiring further research, to provide best practices to emulate and actions 

to take to improve performance. 

the 12 buildings selected reflect different 

us regional climates, a mix of uses (courthouses and offices), and a mix of build-tosuit leases and federally owned buildings. 

land ports of entry were excluded 

because, as a building type, they are too 

different to allow meaningful comparisons. 

eight of these buildings were designed to 

meet or exceed basic leed certification. 

the other four were designed to meet the 

requirements of other programs, including 

eneRgy stAR and the california title 24 

energy standard. 

the research team used a consistent 

evaluation process for every building 

studied: 

• Obtaining and reviewing one year 

of operating data 

• Surveying building occupants

• Interviewing the building manager

• Conducting an expert walkthrough 

to make the study useful to a larger audience, the team compared each performance measure with the national average 

for us commercial buildings. the latest 

available benchmark data comes from 

widely accepted industry and government 

standards. 

About the leed green 

building rAting system 

the us green building council’s 

(usgbc) leadership in energy and 

environmental design (leed) rating 

system is a nationally accepted 

third party certification program for 

green building design, construction, 

and operation. As the usgbc 

puts it, “leed promotes a wholebuilding approach to sustainability 

by recognizing performance in 

five key areas: sustainable site 

development, water savings, energy 

efficiency, materials selection, and 

indoor environmental quality.” leed 

closely approximates gsA’s holistic 

approach to sustainable building 

development and operation. 

the leed rating system addresses 

new construction and renovation, 

operations and maintenance 

of existing buildings, design of 

commercial interiors, building core 

and shell development, as well as 

neighborhood development and 

homes. 

leed provides four measures of 

performance: basic certification, 

silver, gold, and platinum, based 

on a set of prerequisites and credits 

in the five major categories listed 

above. each measure represents an 

incremental step toward integrating 

the different components of 

sustainable design, construction, 

and operation to achieve optimal 

performance. 

learn more: 

for more information on the leed 

rating system: www.usgbc.org 

6 
7

white roof to reduce 

heAt-islAnd effect 

building is 66% more efficient 

thAn AshrAe 90.1 required soffit overhAng on 

western fAcAde 

department of 

homeland security, 

omaha, nebraska 

full cut-off light fixtures 

to reduce light pollution 

recycled brick mulch 

from locAl brick plAnt 
how the gsA study buildings perform 

figure 2: comparison Against national Averages 

-53% 

-45% 

-40% -39% 

-34% 

-28% 

-16% 

-3% 

nAtionAl AverAge nAtionAl AverAge nAtionAl AverAge nAtionAl AverAge 

low -60% high 100%

-50% 80% 

-40% 

60% 

-30% 

40% 

-20% 

20% 

-10% 

0% high 0% low 

Energy Use CO2 Emissions Water Use Maintenance Costs 

top 1/3 of studied buildings middle 1/3 of studied buildings 

nAtionAl AverAge 

Building Satisfaction 

+92% 

+79% 

the top performing buildings in eAch metric deliver 

significAntly better results thAn the nAtionAl AverAge. 

gsA study buildings: fAst fActs


year built: 1910 

year renov: 2005 

employees: 105 

energy star: 82 

co2

e: 2,440 mt 

leed-nc certified 

year built: 2002 

employees: 170 

energy star: 77 

co2

e: 4,668 mt 

clevelAnd 

the metzenbaum courthouse is on the 

national Register of historic places. the 

renovations preserved 96% of the existing 

shell and 59% of the interior elements. 

the courthouse won gsA’s environmental Award for recycling because of 

its seven-material collection system and 

green housekeeping practices. 

denver 

the Arraj courthouse was designed as a 

green courthouse prior to the completion 

of the leed rating system. it is currently 

seeking leed for existing Buildings certification. 

denver employs a hybrid underfloor air 

distribution system, hvAc and lighting sensors, as well as photovoltaic panels. 

year built: 1933 

year renov: 2005 

employees: 45 

energy star: 78 

co2

e: 945 mt 

leed Registered 

year built: 2001 

employees: 85 

energy star: 92 

co2

e: 2,666 mt 

cA energy standard title 24 

dAvenport 

the davenport courthouse is on the 

national Register of historic places. the 

renovation maintained the integrity of the 

historic space, while updating the mechanical systems in the building. 

the courtrooms incorporate techniques 

to bring in daylight and the mechanical 

systems use variable speed drives. the 

hvAc system consists of water-cooled 

chillers, boilers, and air handling units. 

fresno 

the coyle courthouse and federal Building 

houses 14 courtrooms and is the tallest 

building in the city (11 floors high). 

designed under california’stitle 24 

energy standard, the building includes high 

efficiency lighting, underfloor air distribution systems, water-cooled chillers, and 

natural gas boilers. 

8 
year built: 2001 

employees: 85 

energy star: 87 

co2

e: 1,397 mt 

year built: 2001 

employees: 252 

energy star: 80 

co2

e: 2,150 mt 

leed-nc silver 

greeneville 

the Quillen courthouse replaced a smaller 

courthouse from which the occupants 

reclaimed quality historic furniture. 

some of the energy-efficiency features 

include a well-insulated white roof and 

an energy management control system 

of lighting and occupancy sensors. it also 

scores the highest occupant satisfaction for 

air quality, acoustics, and lighting. 

lAkewood 

the facility at lakewood for the department of transportation is a leed silverleased building. 

some features include low-emitting 

material selection, and daylight and views 

in 91% of regularly occupied spaces. in 

addition, all building occupants receive a 

booklet about the design and operations of 

the building. 

year built: 2001 

employees: 252 

energy star: 85 

co2

e: 1,168 mt 

leed-nc gold 

omAhA dhs 

the omaha department of homeland 

security was designed to house multiple 

dhs agencies, and recently won the 2007 

American council of engineering Award 

for its design. 

As a leed gold building, the facility incorporates daylight and rainwater-harvesting systems, a ground source heat pump, 

and green seal janitorial products. 

sAntA AnA 

Renovated in 2005, the santa Ana federal 

Building lies in the heart of the civic center 

district and accommodates a large flow of 

visitors to the building each day. 

this building features high-efficiency lighting 

and hvAc systems, a new roof, energy-effiyear built: 1975 cient elevators, and lighting sensors. 

year renov: 2005 

employees: 409 

energy star: 92 

co2

e: 1,344 mt 

cA energy standard title 24 

year built: 1986 

year renov: 2005 

employees: 285 

energy star: 91 

co2

e: 1,516 mt 

leed-eB silver 

year built: 2001 

employees: 252 

energy star: 79 

co2

e: 1,161 mt 

leed-nc silver 

year built: 2004 

employees: 125 

energy star: 86 

co2

e: 872 mt 

leed-nc gold 

year built: 2002 

employees: 45 

energy star: 58 

co2

e: 655 mt 

leed-nc certified 

knoxville 

located in downtown Knoxville, the 

duncan federal Building currently houses 

a range of services including the fBi, us 

customs, and hud. 

Alterations to the building incorporate 

high-efficiency lighting, enhanced metering techniques, and low-flow fixtures.the 

roof design reduces the heat island effect, 

as well as housing photovoltaic panels. 

ogden 

Renovations transformed the historic 

scowcroft federal Building into usable 

office space meeting the iRs’s specific 

needs. 

the space incorporates earthquake 

prevention upgrades, improved roof insulation, radiant baseboard heating, and an 

underfloor air distribution system coupled 

with indirect/direct evaporative cooling. 

omAhA nps 

the curtis national park service building was built on a brownfield as part of an 

urban redevelopment effort. 

the building showcases passive solar 

design, daylight harvesting and hvAc sensors, as well as underfloor air distribution. 

use of native and adaptive vegetation eliminated the need for irrigation. operations 

also include green housekeeping practices. 

youngstown 

the Jones federal Building and courthouse 

facility was built on a brownfield, and was part 

of the city’s urban revitalization. 

youngstown incorporates building controls and daylighting to over 75% of occupied spaces. unique features include a 

storm water management demonstration, 

a white membrane roof, and light-colored 

pavement. 

9 
finding 1: 

fully integrated design delivers higher performance 

GSA’s sustainably 

designed green buildings 

have 26% lower energy 

use compared to the 

National Average. 

(65 kBtu/sf/yr vs. 88 kBtu/sf/yr) 

source of national Average: cBecs 

to achieve leed gold certification, 

credits must be obtained in all five rating 

areas, requiring a completely integrated 

approach to sustainable building design. 

the two leed gold buildings in this 

study clearly show that a comprehensive 

approach yields broad, holistic performance benefits. while neither building 

led in every category, these two buildings 

were the only ones studied that achieved 

consistently high levels of performance on 

all measures. 

the curtis national park service (nps) 

building, omaha, nebraska, performed 

well in all categories. its eneRgy stAR 

rating (86) is in the top third for the group. 

its water costs are 91% below the BomA/ 

ifmA baseline. its domestic water use 

is 50% below baseline. its co emissions 2 

are 34% under baseline, putting it in the 

top half. its emissions from occupants’ 

commutes, 1.7 metric tons per person, put 

it in the top one-third. 

nAtionAl building fActs 

31% 

projected increase in energy consumption 

by the year 2030 despite dramatic gains in 

energy efficiency.

9 

the omaha department of homeland 

security (dhs) building, omaha, 

nebraska, performed well across all 

categories. its eneRgy stAR rating (85) 

is also in the top third for the group. its 

water costs are 66% below the BomA/ 

ifmA baseline, achieved using rainwater 

harvesting and low-flow and auto-flow 

lavatory fixtures to offset its greater 

public use. dhs has 65 regular occupants 

and 360 occupant visitors while nps has 

125 regular occupants and 134 occupant 

visitors. dhs's domestic water use is 58% 

below baseline. 

lesson leArned 

Across all buildings studied, building performance tracks design intent. Buildings 

designed with a strong energy focus— 

compliance with california’s demanding 

title 24 energy code or eneRgy stAR— 

had outstanding energy performance, 

although with a lesser achievement in 

terms of water use intensity. one leed 

certified building did not pursue energy 

efficiency during design. As a result, it 

achieved no leed energy optimization 

credits, and had the lowest eneRgy 

stAR rating in the study. 

20% 

of u.s. drinking water 

supply is consumed by commercial buildings.

10 

2 trillion 

gallons of water a year would be saved if 

commercial buildings reduced their water 

consumption by 10%.11 

10 
figure 3: top performers by co2 emissions (lbs/sf/yr) 

source of national Average: energy star 

All buildings in this 

study produce A smAller 

cArbon footprint thAn 

the nAtionAl AverAge. 

top third 

middle third 

bottom third 

National Average 

figure 4: top performers by water use (thousand gallons/yr) 

source of national Average: federal water use index 

leed gold buildings in this 

study hAve significAntly 

lower wAter use compAred 

to the nAtionAl AverAge. 

bottom third 

33% 

leed gold top third middle third 

National Average 

-54% 

-3% 

-39% 

domestic water usage 

index compared to the 

national Average 

11 
finding 2: 

gsA's green buildings cost less to operate 

The five top-performing 

buildings studied 

spent 14% to 45% 

less on energy than the 

National Average. 

source of national Average: BomA/ifmA 

why do operations and maintenance 

(o&m) costs matter? considered in aggregate, they approximate the consumption 

side of overall sustainable performance. 

As a group, the 12 buildings studied 

performed only slightly better than the 

national average for us commercial buildings: 7% below that baseline. however, the 

top-performing one-third of the group did 

much better, at 41% below. 

the two leed gold buildings were among 

the best performers from an o&m cost 

perspective. lower utility and janitorial 

costs and savings from recycling resulted 

in top scores for the curtis national 

park service building and the omaha 

department of homeland security building. the use of green cleaning practices 

enhanced their performance. 

on average, the bottom quartile of the 

buildings studied had considerably 

higher costs than the industry baseline: 

45% above the national average for us 

commercial buildings. these buildings had 

unusually high maintenance costs and, in 

one case, an operating emergency. 

nAtionAl building fActs 

18% 

of total u.s. energy use 


consumption comes from 


commercial buildings.

12


lesson leArned 

the best practice lesson here is that 

o&m costs are lowest when sustainability 

is integral to every aspect of a building, 

including cleaning and recycling. Building 

and systems efficiency alone isn’t enough. 

upfront investments in sustainable 

measures need to be matched by sustainable o&m practices. 

why water efficiency? 

Between 1950 and 2000, the us population nearly doubled. in that same period, however, 

public demand for water nearly tripled. Americans now use an average of 100 gallons of 

water per day—enough to fill 1,600 drinking glasses!13 

12 
figure 5: top performers by energy cost ($/sf/yr) 

source of national Average: BomA/ifmA 

the top-performing sustAinAble Buildings in this 

study, on average, 

buildings studied showed spend 15% less on 

consistently lower energy energy than the 

National Average. costs thAn nAtionAl AverAges. 

15% 

top third middle third bottom third


$0.95 $1.50 $2.05


$1.50 

per gsf 

$1.76 

per gsf 

GSA Study National Average $.50 $1.00 $1.50 $2.00 $2.50 $3.00 $3.50 $4.00 $4.50 $5.00 $5.50 Buildings' Average 

= National Average $1.76 

figure 6: top performers by Aggregate maintenance cost ($/sf) 

source of national Average: BomA/ifmA 

Buildings in this 

study, on average, 

the top-performing sustAinAble spend 13% less on 

maintenance than buildings studied showed the National Average.


consistently lower AggregAte


mAintenAnce costs thAn the 13%

nAtionAl AverAge. 


top third middle third bottom third


$1.56 $2.77 $4.81


$2.88 

per gsf 

$3.30 

per gsf 

GSA Study National Average 

$.50 $1.00 $1.50 $2.00 $2.50 $3.00 $3.50 $4.00 $4.50 $5.00 $5.50 Buildings' Average 

= National Average $3.30 

13 
finding 3: 

gsA’s green buildings have satisfied occupants 

GSA’s sustainably 

designed green buildings 

demonstrate a 27% higher 

occupant satisfaction than 

the National Average. 

source for national Average: cBe, uc Berkeley14 

this study provides important new 

evidence that occupant satisfaction is 

higher in sustainably designed buildings. 

occupant satisfaction is important 

because it correlates with personal and 

team performance. that often means 

higher productivity and creativity for an 

organization. 

As a group, the 12 sustainable buildings studied scored better in occupant 

satisfaction than the national average 

for us commercial buildings. half of the 

buildings studied scored in the top quartile 

for occupant satisfaction. significantly, 

their average scores in all categories were 

higher than those of leed certified buildings in the private sector14. this suggests 

that gsA’s integrated life cycle approach 

will be a valuable model for public and 

private organizations. 

nAtionAl building fActs 

79% 

of employees surveyed were willing to forgo 

income to work for a firm with a credible 

sustainable strategy.

15 

for the lower-performing buildings, the 

study found that occupant satisfaction is 

undermined by poor acoustics, lighting 

and maintenance problems. A low level of 

ambient noise, a lack of sound masking, and 

a perceived lack of privacy make acoustic 

quality worse.the poorly calibrated systems 

that turn lights on and off in response to 

daylight conditions may cause problems for 

some occupants. mechanical failures and 

poor maintenance can drive down satisfaction scores. 

lesson leArned 

gsA’s sustainably designed buildings are 

scoring points with their occupants in 

terms of overall building and workplace 

quality, indoor air quality, cleanliness, and 

quality of maintenance. we also gained 

the following insights from the lowerperforming buildings: 

first, acoustic performance matters, 

and should be addressed by appropriate 

teaming and design criteria at the outset 

of every project. 

second, both change management and 

periodic fine-tuning may be needed to 

make automated systems work well for 

building occupants, at least until these 

systems are fully accepted. 

third, good building maintenance is a 

foundation stone of occupant satisfaction. 

don’t neglect it. 

80% 

of employees surveyed said they felt greater motivation and loyalty toward their company due to its 

sustainability initiatives.

16 

14 
occupAnt sAtisfAction survey 

figure 7: comparison Against national Averages 

source of national Average: center for the Built environment, uc Berkeley 

Air quality satisfaction 

top third 79%


middle third 68%


Bottom third 58%


national Average 46% 

cleanliness satisfaction 

top third 91% 

middle third 86% 

Bottom third 74% 

national Average 62% 

thermal satisfaction 

top third 63%


middle third 47%


Bottom third 30%


national Average 39% 

Acoustic satisfaction 

top third 62%


middle third 47%


Bottom third 30%


national Average 38% 

lighting satisfaction 

top third 81%


middle third 75%


Bottom third 67%


national Average 75% 

15 
finding 4: 

green buildings deliver on gsA's mandates 

new executive and legislative mandates 

raise the performance requirements for 

buildings in gsA’s national real estate 

portfolio. (see chart to right) 

to meet these new requirements, gsA will 

need to ensure that its future buildings, 

including both new construction and major 

renovation projects, achieve a consistently 

high standard of performance. the study 

found a strong positive correlation in 

that direction. taken as a group, these 12 

sustainably designed buildings use less 

energy and water, and have a smaller 

carbon footprint than the national average 

for us commercial buildings. 

lesson leArned 

Although they were not designed to meet 

gsA’s new legislative mandates, the 

top performing quartile of the buildings 

studied already meet 2015 requirements for 

reducing metered energy and water use. 

gsA can build on this strong foundation of 

achievable performance. gsA is and will 

continue to be an important benchmark for 

other public agencies and for companies 

and institutions as they plan and implement their building programs. 

nAtionAl building fActs 

mAndAte performAnce requirement 

epAct 2005 • Modeled energy performance must be at least 30% 

better than AshRAe 90.1-2004 by 2015 

eo 13423 for entire gsA portfolio: 

• 3% per year metered energy use reduction 

• 30% metered energy use reduction by 2015 

(an average of 54.6 kBtu per sf per year) 

• 16% metered water use reduction by 2015 

eisA 2007 for new gsA buildings and major renovations, reduce 

fossil fuel generated energy consumption by: 

• 55% by 2010

• 100% by 2030

for additional information on eisA, epAct 2005, and eo 13423: 

www.wbdg.org/references/federal_mandates 

16 

co2 emissions 

in the year 2004, the united states emitted over 7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gases. carbon dioxide accounted for the largest percentage of greenhouse gases (83%), followed by methane (9%), nitrous oxide (5%), 

and high global warming potential gases (2%).17 

85% 
gsA on the ground 

green elements of the omaha department of homeland security 

Although designed in 2004, the omaha department of homeland security already meets the latest federal mandates. 

landscaping captures storm water run-off Bike racks encourage people to leave their cars behind 

the building features access to windows and daylight skylights provide daylight where needed 

Rainwater is stored and reused for landscape irrigation A ground source heat pump reduces energy costs 

17 
test your knowledge: 

question 1 

how much of us total energy is used by 

commercial buildings? 

question 2 

how much of us energy is generated by coal? 

question 3 

how much of us electricity is used by commercial buildings? 

question 4 

over the 30 year life-cycle cost of an office 

building, what percentage is dedicated to 

occupant salaries? 

question 5 

how much time does the average human 

spend indoors? 

resources 

question 6 

compared to average us buildings, what is 

the aggregate reduction in energy use over 

the past year for the 12 buildings studied? 

question 7 

compared to average us buildings, what is 

the aggregate reduction in domestic water 

use over the past year for the 12 buildings 

studied? 

question 8 

compared to average us buildings, what is 

the aggregate reduction in carbon emissions over the past year for the 12 buildings 

studied? 

question 9 

compared to average us buildings, how 

much did the 12 buildings studied save in 

aggregate maintenance costs over the past 

year? 

AnSwerS 

, t 172,000 m 8. 1. 18% 

e h o t t t ne al vi uqe 2. 49% 

­ si mm al e unna 3. 35% 

r 28,667 o s f noi s 4. 88% 

s. r ac 5. 90% 

9. $1,175,707 s tu 6. 616,000 B

s nol al 7. 313,000 g

lessons leArned from cAse studies of 

six high-performAnce buildings 

national renewable energy laboratory 

2006 

Analyzed the design, construction, and energy performance of 

six commercial buildings. All of the low-energy buildings used 

more energy than predicted, but those designed with a whole 

building approach and with the “strongest” energy goals had 

the best energy performance. monitoring buildings to provide 

feedback improves their energy performance. 

the cost of green revisited 

davis langdon 

2007 

found no significant difference in the average costs between 

green and other buildings. the study also found that the construction industry has embraced sustainable design in most us 

regions, and no longer views sustainable design measures as an 

extra cost burden. 

the energy chAllenge: A new AgendA 

for corporAte reAl estAte 

rocky mountain institute / corenet 

2007 

Buildings use two-fifths of the world’s materials and energy and 

one-sixth of its fresh water. in the us, buildings make up 85% 

of all fixed us capital assets. in short, buildings are part of the 

problem and part of the solution. the energy challenge identifies 

barriers, documents successes, and recommends actions to 

achieve greater energy efficiency in us corporate real estate. 

energy performAnce of leed nc buildings 

new buildings institute 

2008 

compares design intent to energy performance in 121 leedrated buildings. office buildings used 33% less energy and all 

buildings used 24% less energy than the cBecs average for us 

commercial buildings. nearly half the buildings had an eneRgy 

stAR rating of at least 75; the average rating for all buildings 

was 68, with a quarter rated below 50. 

18 
glossAry


bomA 

Building owners and managers Association international. this study used their 

research to obtain the national average for 

maintenance costs. 

cbe 

center for the Built environment. this 

study used their research as a basis for 

the occupant satisfaction surveys, as 

well as obtaining the national average for 

general building satisfaction, cleanliness, 

lighting, air quality, acoustic, and thermal 

satisfaction. 

cAliforniAtitle 24 energy stAndArd 

A california-specific building standard 

that compiles codes from three sources: 

standards from national model codes, 

adapted national model codes to meet 

california conditions, and new standards 

to address particular california concerns. 

cbecs 

commercial Buildings energy consumption survey. the survey gathers and 

compiles energy use and cost information 

for us commercial buildings. this study 

used their research to obtain the national 

average for energy use. 

ch 

courthouse 

energy stAr 

energy star is a rating to promote energy 

efficiency in products and buildings.this 

study used their research to obtain the 

national average for co2 emissions. it is 

a joint program between the us environmental protection Agency and the u.s. 

department of energy. 

eui 

energy use intensity. 

fb 

federal Building 

federal water use index 

this study used the department of 

energy's research to obtain the national 

average for water use. 

gsf 

gross square feet. Refers to a building’s 

overall floor plate size, measuring from the 

outside of its exterior walls and including 

all vertical penetrations, such as walls and 

elevator shafts. 

notes 

ifmA 

international facility management Association. this study used their research 

to obtain the national average for energy 

costs. 

kbtu 

1000 British thermal units 

mt 

metric ton 

1	 this white paper summarizes research 

presented in the following report: 

Km fowler and em Rauch: Assessing 

green Building performance: A 

post-occupancy evaluation of 12 

gsA Buildings, pnnl-17393, pacific 

northwest national laboratory, 

Richland, wA, 2008. 

www.gsa.gov/appliedresearch 

2	 see glossary above for abbreviations. 

3	 u.s. department of energy. 

commercial Buildings energy 

consumption survey (cBecs). 2003. 

energy information Administration. 

washington, dc. 

4	 eneRgy stAR portfolio manager. 

www.energystar.gov/index. 

cfm?c=evaluate_performance.bus_ 

portfoliomanager 

5	 ifmA. 2007. space and project 

management Benchmarks #28. ifmA. 

houston, texas. 

6	 Building owners and managers 

Association (BomA) international 

experience exchange Report. 2006. 

special studies 2005, Agency managed, 

downtown all sizes, u.s. government 

sector. BomA international, 

washington, dc. 

7	 federal water use index, department 

of energy, federal energy management 

program. 

8	 center for the Built environment (cBe) 

occupant satisfaction survey. uc 

Berkeley. 

9	 www.yourenergyfuture.org/ 

energyfacts.htm, (accessed 

23.04.2008). 

10 www.energystar.gov/index. 

cfm?c=business.bus_water, (accessed 

23.04.2008). 

11 ibid. 

12 goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/ 

gi_0199-6408096/section-2-energyconsumption-by.html, (accessed 

01.05.08) 

13 www.epa.gov/watersense/water/why. 

htm, (accessed 23.04.08) 

14 center for the Built environment (cBe) 

occupant satisfaction survey. uc 

Berkeley. 

15 survey of 800 mBAs from 11 top 

international Business schools; 

stanford graduate school of Business, 

2002 globescan international survey, 

moRi. 

16 ibid. 

17 www.pewclimate.org/global-warmingbasics/facts_and_figures/us_ 

emissions/usghgemgas.cfm, (accessed 

01.05.08) 

19 
U.S. General Services Administration 

1800 f street, nw 

washington, dc 20405 

www.gsa.gov 

Acknowledgements 

gsA 

mike Atkinson 

cheri Brown 

Jim carelock 

patricia cheng 

don horn 

sam hunter 

Kevin Kampschroer 

Kevin powell 

pnnl 

susan ennor 

Kim fowler 

Richard fowler 

John hathaway 

mike perkins 

emily Rauch 

eric Richman 

Amy solana 

cbe 

lindsay Baker 

John goins 

Jennifer hsiaw 

gensler 

Andreas Andreou 

christine Barber 

Jennifer celesia 

elizabeth cobb 

lisa hsiao 

Brenden mendoza 

John parman 

Kirsten Ritchie 

gervais tompkin 

site contActs 

paul Anderson, davenport ch 

Johnathan Bringewatt, lakewood fB 

Jim Brown, ogden fB 

diana ciryak, cleveland ch 

pamela coleman, ogden fB 

scott crews, ogden fB 

dan fenner, sault ste. marie port 

John garner, omaha nps fB and omaha dhs 

christopher grigsby, denver ch 

scott hawkins, greeneville ch and Knoxville fB 

sue heeren, davenport ch 

tina hingorani, santa Ana fB 

Jason hunt, fresno ch & fB 

nicholas infantino, youngstown 

mary Ann Kosmicki, omaha nps fB and omaha dhs 

Kristina lee, omaha nps fB 

Jill mccormick, omaha dhs 

J. michael ortega, denver ch 

peter pocius, sweetgrass port 

wendy schuman, lakewood dot fB 

sandy sitton, fresno ch & fB 

c. Johnathan sitzlar, greeneville ch and Knoxville fB 

don smyth, omaha nps fB 

mark stanford, sweetgrass port 

christopher wentzell, sweetgrass port 

stephen west, scowcroft fB