This little-known agency has billions to make federal buildings green

This story was originally published by Canary Media. The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), a key under-the-radar U.S. agency, is ramping up efforts to reduce emissions from buildings with billions of dollars devoted to testing and implementing new carbon-cutting technologies and materials at federal government properties. The GSA owns and leases nearly 8,800 buildings, comprising 370 million square feet, ranging from offices to data centers. With a recent push towards sustainability, the agency is striving to decarbonize both construction and operations. President Joe Biden’s executive order in 2021 set a target for federal buildings to reach net-zero emissions by 2045, in alignment with the broader goal of achieving overall net-zero emissions by 2050. The GSA received $3.4 billion in funding from the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act to aid in decarbonizing federal buildings. A significant portion of this funding is allocated for the purchase of construction materials with low embodied carbon. Additionally, the GSA is focusing on evaluating and deploying emerging technologies that aim to reduce carbon emissions from building operations. One such initiative is the Green Proving Ground program, which tests American-made technologies in federal buildings to assess their real-world performance. This program aims to drive the broader adoption of energy-saving technologies by showcasing their effectiveness in practice. The GSA has been using a substantial portion of the IRA funding to directly install upgrades in buildings, with about 40 million square feet set to undergo improvement. The agency is committed to electrifying 100 government buildings, achieving net-zero emissions for 28 of them. Impressively, some buildings in the GSA’s portfolio have already reached a net-zero benchmark, demonstrating the agency’s dedication to sustainability regardless of political changes. This ongoing commitment to greening federal buildings highlights the GSA’s continued efforts to drive energy efficiency and cost savings.