Federal policy aimed at promoting sustainability in federal facilities sets goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and implementing key green building requirements, among other areas. Green building goals established by executive order in 2009 built on previous efforts to establish federal green building policy. Figure 1 shows the timeline of sources of key green building requirements from 2005 through June 2015. In March 2015, the third executive order to require compliance with the Guiding Principles—Executive Order 13693—revoked two prior executive orders and certain other green building policies and extended the time frames for agencies’ existing buildings to comply with the Guiding Principles from 2015 to 2025. Key federal green building requirements include dozens of specific requirements related to five Guiding Principles: employ integrated design principles, optimize energy performance, protect and conserve water, enhance indoor environmental quality, and reduce the environmental impact of materials. The requirements range from requirements to reduce water consumption to others aimed at improving indoor environmental quality, including tobacco smoke control and daylighting requirements. See appendix I for the specific requirements included in the Guiding Principles which are currently undergoing revision. CEQ officials said that the revisions will include consideration of climate change resilience and employee and visitor wellness as called for in Executive Order 13693. The current criteria for determining whether a building complies with the Guiding Principles include either (1) demonstrating a building was compliant with each of the five Guiding Principles or (2) documenting that a commitment to third-party certification for a building was made prior to October 1, 2008, and that the building obtained the certification. In addition, for leased buildings, a building is considered compliant if either (1) the building was third-party certified at any time or (2) the agency demonstrated compliance with the appropriate set of Guiding Principles (those for new construction and major renovations or existing buildings). As of June 12, 2015, the revised Guiding Principles were not complete, but CEQ officials told us that they are working toward meeting the August 16, 2015, deadline to complete the revision. OMB’s sustainability and energy scorecard assesses federal agency performance in meeting federal sustainability goals.building is based on the extent to which agencies meet intermediate goals toward the 2015 goal of implementing the Guiding Principles for all new construction and major renovation and at least 15 percent of existing buildings and leases over 5,000 square feet. In fiscal year 2013, 10 of the 16 agencies that received green buildings scores had not met intermediate goals, or could not demonstrate compliance with the Guiding Principles for new construction, major renovations, or leases, and The goal for green received a red score on the scorecard.reviewed, 2 received a red score—DOD and DOE—and 3 received a green score—EPA, GSA, and VA. Of the 5 select agencies we Federal agencies have been using third-party green building certification systems since the late 1990s. The third-party certification systems most commonly used in the United States and by federal agencies are the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and the Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes. achieve different rating levels within the certification systems depending on how many points are earned. LEED’s rating levels include Certified, Silver, Gold, and Platinum; and Green Globes’ rating levels include one, two, three, or four Green Globes. These systems have certifications for the design and construction of new buildings and the operations and maintenance of existing buildings, among others. The Living Building Challenge is another third-party certification system that was reviewed by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in 2012. However, representatives of the International Living Future Institute, which administers the system, told us the system has not been used by federal agencies. See appendix III for more information on LEED, Green Globes, and the Living Building Challenge. within the building industry.renovations, EISA requires the Secretary of Energy, in consultation with GSA and DOD, to identify a certification system and level that the Secretary determines to be the most likely to encourage a comprehensive and environmentally-sound approach to certifying green buildings. GSA is required to evaluate and compare third-party green building certification systems at least once every 5 years to support DOE’s recommendation. In 2013, GSA recommended that federal agencies obtain at least a LEED Silver rating or, if using Green Globes, at least two Green Globes for new construction and major renovations. With respect to new construction and major As part of GSA’s evaluation of certification systems, it recommended in 2013 that federal agencies continue to use these systems. In addition, in 2013, the National Research Council issued a report that recommended that DOD continue to require new buildings and major renovations use LEED Silver or an equivalent system. information on federal reviews of third-party green building certification systems. Section 2830 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012, Pub. L. No. 112-81, 125 Stat. 1298, 1695 (Dec. 31, 2011), required the Secretary of Defense to submit a report to the congressional defense committees with a cost-benefit analysis, return on investment, and long-term payback of specific energy-efficiency and sustainability standards used by DOD for military construction and renovation. DOD requested the National Research Council establish a committee of experts to conduct an evaluation to inform its report to Congress. The National Research Council’s study states that the additional incremental costs to design and construct green buildings are relatively small when compared to the total costs over a building’s life cycle. Specifically, the study found that research studies indicate that the incremental costs to design and construct green buildings typically range from 0 to 8 percent higher than the costs to design and construct conventional buildings, depending on the methodology used in the study and the type of building analyzed. None of the studies focused on the long-term cost-effectiveness attributable to the use of green building certification systems. Summary DOE identified the criteria that a certification system must meet as required in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007. Specifically, the system under which the building is certified must: (1) allow assessors and auditors to independently verify the criteria and measurement metrics of the system; (2) be developed by a certification organization that: (i) provides an opportunity for public comment on the system; and (ii) provides an opportunity for development and revision of the system through a consensus-based process; (3) be nationally recognized within the building industry; (4) be subject to periodic evaluation and assessment of the environmental and energy benefits that result under the rating system; and (5) include a verification system for postoccupancy assessment of the rated buildings to demonstrate continued energy and water savings at least every 4 years after initial occupancy. The building must be certified to a level that promotes the guidelines referenced in Executive Order 13423 and Executive Order 13514. The objective of the review was to determine the alignment between federal high- performance green building requirements and three LEED v4 systems—the current version of LEED at the time of the review. GSA found that these systems did not fully align with all of the federal requirements. GSA recommended that agencies, among other items, continue using third-party certification systems; select one system at the agency or bureau level–either LEED or Green Globes; and use system credits that align with federal requirements. The National Defense Authorization Act of 2012 required DOD to submit a report to Congress on the impact of specific energy efficiency and sustainability standards used by DOD for military construction and repair. The National Research Council conducted the study on DOD’s behalf and recommended that DOD continue to require new buildings or major renovations be designed to achieve a LEED-Silver or equivalent rating. It also found that the incremental costs to design and construct high-performance or green-certified buildings is relatively small compared to the total costs over a building’s life cycle. The review analyzed three systems—LEED, Green Globes, and the Living Building Challenge—against multiple criteria. The review found that none of the systems completely aligned with all of the federal requirements. Several agencies—CEQ, DOE, EPA, GSA, and OMB—provide oversight, training, and other tools to support agencies’ implementation of key federal green building requirements. Officials from these supporting agencies told us that when the Guiding Principles are revised later this year, they will need to update some of their efforts. Below are examples of federal efforts to support agencies’ implementation of key green building requirements. A more detailed list of federal efforts to support agencies is included in appendix II. OMB and CEQ provide guidance and oversight of agencies’ implementation of key green building requirements. CEQ evaluates and OMB approves agency Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans—annual documents that describe an agency’s strategy and plans for, and progress toward achieving green building and other sustainability goals. CEQ provides agencies with a template each year that includes guidance on how to report agency progress toward implementing the Guiding Principles for its buildings, along with other sustainability goals such as agency-wide greenhouse gas reductions and water use efficiency and management. CEQ is required to review and evaluate the plans, and OMB is required to review and approve the plans. According to OMB staff, the review ensures agencies have addressed all relevant sustainability goals, including green building. As discussed above, OMB’s annual sustainability and energy scorecards score agencies on whether they make progress toward sustainability goals, including the goal for green buildings— implementing the Guiding Principles for all new construction and major renovations and for at least 15 percent of existing buildings over 5,000 square feet. OMB staff told us fiscal year 2015 scorecards will continue to evaluate progress toward the 2015 goal outlined in Executive Order 13514, but it will need to update the metric for fiscal year 2016 to reflect the revised Guiding Principles and revised agency goals as outlined in Executive Order 13693.