Since the passage of the Recovery Act, GSA infused funding into 391 projects. The agency made its Recovery Act funds go further through lower-than-anticipated competitive bids; funding $173m of additional work to equip US federal buildings with sustainable features at no additional cost to the taxpayer.
GSA anticipates that all new construction and major modernization of buildings will achieve at least a LEED Silver certification from the US Green Building Council for GSA’s use of sustainable design and technology.
Martha Johnson, administrator of GSA, said: ”GSA’s aggressive Recovery Act obligations put people back to work across the country and leverage our buying power to invest in green jobs, energy efficient technologies, and both traditional construction and emerging green markets.
”By creating a greener, higher performing federal buildings portfolio, GSA’s Recovery Act investments will save taxpayer dollars in energy efficiencies and build a more sustainable economy.”
Work is ongoing at hundreds of GSA Recovery Act projects across the country, including the construction of a new energy-efficient courthouse in Austin, Texas, the installation of a solar roof on the Veterans Affairs building in downtown Philadelphia, and the conversion of a former World War II munitions plant in St Louis into a green building.
In addition to creating jobs, these projects are expected to deliver lasting progress toward building a more sustainable national infrastructure while reducing the federal government’s consumption of energy and water, and increasing the use of clean and renewable sources of energy.
