Commodity Futures Trading Commission

2019 Sustainability Report and Implementation Plan

Executive Order 13834, Efficient Federal Operations

Submitted: June 30, 2019

Tomeka Gilbert

Chief Sustainability Officer

 

POC: Margie Yates

202-418-5671

myates@cftc.gov
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 Commodity Futures Trading Commission 

2019 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT AND IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

Executive Summary

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC” or the “Agency”) is an independent, small

agency formed in 1974, which regulates the futures, options, and swaps markets. All four of CFTC’s 

locations, Washington, DC (headquarters); New York, NY; Chicago, IL and Kansas City, MO, 

consisting of 434,679 sq. feet, are leased through commercial real estate companies. As tenants, our 

ability to control some of our sustainability efforts is limited; however, CFTC identifies and understands 

the sustainability-related issues that are most critical to the ongoing success and viability of its program. 

CFTC pledges to continue its strategic priorities with regard to energy and environmental performance 

in FYs 2020-2021: 

• To comply with and where practicable, all applicable legislation, regulations and codes of 

practice

• To integrate sustainable matters into our business decisions where applicable and feasible 

• To minimize the impact of sustainability in all office and transportation activities

• To review, annually report, and continue to strive and improve our sustainability performance 

• Make decisions based on the best information, resources and financial ability available to us 

The Agency’s headquarters continues to partner with its landlord (Beacon Capital Partners) and property 

management company by adopting sustainable practices, capitalizing on operational efficiencies, 

benchmarking and assessing performance with respect to laws, codes, performance standards and 

voluntary initiatives.

The Agency’s landlord in its headquarters office was again awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection 

Agency’s (EPA’s) prestigious ENERGY STAR 2019 Partner of the Year — Sustained Excellence — for 

the eighth consecutive year. This award was due to many energy conservation and sustainability 

programs that have been implemented at the property since Beacon’s ownership. These achievements by 

our landlord which the CFTC supports and contributed towards made this recognition possible: 

• Building ENERGY STAR and LEED GOLD energy efficiency/sustainability certification; 

• Lower utility consumption in rebidding electricity contracts; 

• Energy efficient tenant renovations, e.g. switching incandescent lamps to LEDs; 

• Trash recycling programs; 

• Lowering their carbon footprint by providing bike storage facilities; and
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• Installation of 57 active beehives on its properties which promotes pollination, of which three

are currently located on top of the Agency’s headquarters complex and are registered with the 

Department of Energy and Environment with the Government of the District of Columbia. 

CFTC also has programs that provide sustainable results. To name a few: 

Travel/Transportation Programs: 

In order to fulfill much of the CFTC’s mission and goals, business travel between office locations, 

domestic and international is required. However, where alternative options are available and practical, 

such as video teleconferencing, webcasting, and WebEx, for internal and external participation, CFTC 

avoids physically travelling to meetings/conferences. These options are time efficient and do not 

sacrifice the benefits of regular contact. It also eliminates costs associated with travel and reduces 

energy usage. When travel is necessary, the agency combines meetings, activities, and appointments 

into one trip, if possible. 

CFTC has a mass transportation and vanpool transportation fringe benefit program that encourages use 

of public transportation. Currently, 78% of the eligible workforce in the Washington, DC; New York, 

NY; and Chicago, IL offices participate in the program. Another sustainable endeavor that reduces 

energy consumption, production of air pollutants and the impact on CO2 global warming is biking to 

work, which CFTC supports by offering 16 bike lockers and secured storage space for 20 bikes in its 

headquarters. There are additional bike space and racks that accommodate another 95 bikers in our 

office building complex. CFTC regional offices also have accommodations for bikers. 

Teleworking and Alternative Work Schedules: 

As mentioned in prior sustainable reports, the Agency offers teleworking and alternative work schedules 

which also contributes to the reduction of energy consumption and Greenhouse gases while improving 

air quality. Of CFTC’s eligible workforce, 77% participate in the telework program and 89% of 

CFTC’s workforce has alternative work schedules. 

Facilities:

CFTC is committed to minimizing its impact on landfills by reducing, reusing, and recycling: 

• CFTC participates in the recycling program that is in place in the three-building headquarters 

complex. The property management company reports that the property recycles 46.1% of its 

waste. 

• CFTC’s contracted shredding company, Shred-it, recycles its confidential and sensitive material. 

Since January 2019, we have saved 79 trees by recycling shredded paper. 

• CFTC also advocates minimizing the use of paper and other office consumables by double-sided 

printing, option to eliminate header pages, and re-use of folders and notebooks. 

Electronic Stewardship:

CFTC’s Office of Data and Technology (“ODT”), has exceptional control over its complex mixed IT 

environments. The control requires visibility into the power, space, and cooling of the data center, 

which enables ODT to more effectively manage capacity, mitigate risks, and improve overall 

efficiency. 
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CFTC uses the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) registry to identify 

products that meet energy efficiency requirements. As reported in 2018, CFTC continued with its 

efforts in 2019 to replace desktops with laptops as staff’s primary workstation limiting the number of 

computers to one per user and CFTC is in the process of replacing aged desktop PC’s with laptops 

which reduces the power requirements from 305W power supply for a desktop to a 65W adapter for the 

laptops. To date there have been 345 laptop setups deployed. In addition, the computers are set to 

automatically balance performance with energy consumption and monitors are configured to turn off 

after 20 minutes of inactivity. 

The Commission continues to maintain high energy efficient servers and network communication 

equipment within its environment. CFTC maintained lower cost of ownership by trading in the 

equipment as the vendor recycles and reuses the electronic components instead of going to a landfill, as 

well as, surplus and dispose through GSA. 

CFTC also reduces the environmental impact by participating in EPA’s Federal Green Challenge

• Require energy efficient electronic equipment in acquisition and procurement documents. 

• Develop or update purchasing policies, procedures and guidance, to require acquisition of 

energy efficient electronic equipment.

• Gather information about electronic equipment that must be power managed (computer 

desktops, notebooks/laptops and monitors). 

• Investigate implementation options for local and/or network power management. 

• Activate power management (printers and copiers). 

• Enable duplexing (double-sided) features on imaging equipment and connected 

computers. 

• Streamline acquisition and use of imaging equipment. 

• Extend the life of existing electronic equipment.

• Evaluate requests for new electronic equipment purchases.

• Evaluate remote desktop solutions (e.g., thin client) to reduce hardware and software 

distribution to individual users. 

• Educate employees on how to improve operation and maintenance of electronic 

equipment.