U.S. General Services Administration
Biden-Harris Administration invests $30 million to advance American-made clean energy technologies and accelerate push for net-zero federal buildings
President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda will deliver cost savings for federal buildings, create good-paying clean energy jobs and help reach federal sustainability goals
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — During remarks at the American Institute of Architects’ annual conference in San Francisco, Robin Carnahan, Administrator of the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), today announced that GSA, in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), will invest $30 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to increase the sustainability of federal buildings by testing novel technologies through the Green Proving Ground (GPG) program.
The GPG program evaluates emerging and sustainable technologies in real-world settings and will accelerate the agency’s efforts to achieve net-zero emissions in federal buildings while creating good-paying clean energy jobs. These new, American-made technologies will help increase federal electric vehicle supply equipment, protect air quality, reduce climate pollution, and enhance building performance.
This year the GPG program has selected 20 emerging and sustainable technologies for real-world evaluation in GSA’s real-estate portfolio, a four-fold increase over previous years thanks to funding from the Inflation Reduction Act. This includes enabling the GPG program, which typically evaluates 4-5 technologies per year, to increase its capacity and take other steps to advance President Biden’s goal to achieve a net-zero emissions federal buildings portfolio by 2045.
“This significant expansion of the Green Proving Ground program is a prime example of how President Biden’s Investing in America agenda is driving the next generation of clean energy jobs and innovation,” said Administrator Carnahan. “Across the country, we’re turning federal buildings into testbeds for clean energy innovation - which will mean more good jobs, savings for taxpayers, and a healthier planet for our kids.”
“GSA’s Green Proving Ground program helps unlock the technologies and cost savings we need to meet President Biden’s Federal sustainability goals, including achieving net zero emissions by 2050,” said Federal Chief Sustainability Officer Andrew Mayock, with the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “Today’s announcement is the latest action demonstrating how the Federal Government will lead by example on climate.”
This year's GPG program focuses on seven technology areas:
- Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) technologies are critical to supporting the transition to an all-electric fleet by 2035. Four EVSE technologies will be evaluated: turnkey electric vehicle charging infrastructure from Loop Global, optimized charging through charge management software from bp pulse, a battery-buffered DC fast charger from ADS-TEC Energy, and vehicle grid integration (VGI) technology from General Motors LLC.
- Germicidal Ultraviolet technologies use next-generation LEDs and Far-UVC light to disinfect air without increasing ventilation. The GPG program will evaluate technologies that support healthier buildings while reducing energy use from Far UV Technologies, R-Zero and PURO (subsidiary of Applied UV Inc.) with the Academy Energy Group.
- Greenhouse Gas Accounting technologies are essential to achieving 24/7 carbon-free electricity and net zero operational emissions. Cambio AI and nZero will aim to go beyond annual greenhouse gas reporting to operationally focused carbon management, including near-real-time 24/7 carbon-free electricity insights and impacts.
- Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings deliver cost savings by leveraging technologies and strategies that provide continuous demand management and load flexibility. The energy management platform from COI Energy aims to optimize energy use through machine learning.
- High-Performance technologies help reduce operational and embodied carbon emissions. The GPG program will evaluate automated aerosol-based duct sealing from Aeroseal; an Internet-of-Things (IoT) lighting system from Signify North America Corporation; and bio-engineered, low-embodied-carbon concrete from Biomason. DOE will seek commercial partners to validate Toggled, a plug load control solution, and a thermostatic radiator cover and hybrid electrification solution from Kelvin.
- Onsite Renewables are essential to meeting the Administration’s net zero operational emission goals. The GPG program will evaluate an energy storage technology from Yotta Energy that is the size of a large laptop and installed in place of ballast beneath a rooftop photovoltaic system. The program will also pilot a wind turbine from Accelerate Wind that can be installed at the edge of the building roof and complement rooftop solar.
- Window Retrofit technologies help improve the performance of a building’s exterior envelope. The GPG program will evaluate three technologies: (i) vacuum-insulated glazing from Pilkington; (ii) R14 interior window retrofit system from Vitro Architectural Glass; and, (iii) a secondary window framing system from Indow.
Some of these technologies will be tested at GSA’s Applied Innovation Learning Labs to identify replicable combinations of technologies that deliver netzero operational emissions.
The GPG program leverages GSA’s extensive real estate portfolio to evaluate innovative building technologies in real-world settings. The evaluations are intended to validate the technical and operational characteristics of the technologies and their potential for future wide-scale adoption. GSA anticipates that the results of this year’s evaluations will be available in 2025. Evaluation results help GSA make sound investment decisions in next-generation building technologies. Since 2011, GPG has evaluated 104 technologies, 23 of which have been deployed across more than a third of GSA’s federally owned portfolio, avoiding 116,000 annual tons of CO2 and delivering $28 million in annual cost avoidance. For more information, visit gsa.gov/gpg.
Reference above to any specific commercial company, product, technology, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the federal government or any agency thereof.
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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the Federal Government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @USGSA.