250 Federal, State and Local Government Leaders Convene at USGBC Hosted Government Summit
On Sept. 26, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) hosted the Government Summit where nearly 250 federal, state and local government leaders convened to collaborate and showcase government leadership in low-carbon green building practice and policies. U.S. General Services Administration Administrator (GSA) robin Carnahan was featured as the keynote speaker for the event.
Highlighting the critical work GSA and the federal government are doing for the advancement of building decarbonization, Carnahan discussed various leadership examples for the such practice. GSA is the first government entity to adopt LEED certification as a standard, which was implemented nearly 25 years ago.
According to USGBC, today, GSA is working to transition their real estate portfolio to net zero by 2045; to buy 100% carbon-free electricity by 2030; and to utilize historic Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) funding to catalyze broader market transformation. Through the IRA, GSA has $2 billion to invest in low-embodied-carbon materials; nearly $1 billion for emerging and sustainable technologies; and $250 million to convert federal facilities into high-performance green buildings.
GSA is already leveraging IRA funding by increasing investments in programs such as the Green Proving Ground, which tests emerging technologies in federal facilities before scaling up for wider adoption. The IRA enables GSA and its partner, the Department of Energy, to expand the program from four to five projects a year to 20 projects, providing more examples of green building technologies that perform well.