From the Desk of PBS Acting Regional Commissioner Tom Lyman
Change is the only constant in life. Our landscape is changing with the arrival of spring. Daylight hours are increasing. I even find myself in a new, temporary role as PBS Acting Regional Commissioner while our standing Regional Commissioner, Joanna Rosato, assists our national PBS Commissioner in Washington, D.C.
Preparing for change is the key to success. Our clients at the Federal Emerency Management Agency (FEMA) are preparation experts! They are constantly preparing for possible risks that lie ahead. In January, I joined FEMA in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, to cut the ribbon on their new Distribution Center. We were honored to deliver this new facility to support FEMA’s mission in disaster and recovery operations.
When planning our projects, we focus on designing and constructing highly efficient and cost-saving facilities. We are excited to share our Sylvia H. Rambo U.S. Courthouse, which opened in April 2023 in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was recognized in January with a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is the most widely used green building rating system in the world and provides a framework for healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings.
GSA’s recent $2.15 billion appropriation for procuring low-embodied carbon materials – including asphalt, concrete, glass and steel – presents an exciting opportunity! In January, we hosted a virtual Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) Industry Day to plan ways for partnering with industry to turn opportunity into reality. The IRA funding enables us to make much needed improvements to our existing buildings while spurring the market for American-made products with substantially lower levels of embodied greenhouse gas emissions associated with their production, use and disposal.
In February, we awarded the second of two IRA-funded contracts to buy low embodied carbon (LEC) glass windows for the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. U.S. Courthouse and Annex in Richmond, Virginia, turning IRA opportunity into reality. Our plan to incorporate LEC glass into our larger renovation project at the Courthouse enables us to improve this historic structure to better support the Court’s mission while renovating in a way that’s less harmful to the environment.
We are purposeful in planning for changes within our Mid-Atlantic Region team, ensuring our leaders are well positioned to meet our clients’ future needs. I hope you will join me in welcoming some familiar faces to new roles. Mikel Lord is our newest Project Executive and will guide our project managers in successful project delivery. Joe Stephenson joins our Portfolio Management Division as North Branch Chief, providing long-term planning to manage and optimize our portfolio. Gary Eberly will lead our Real Estate Acquisition Division Technical Branch, integrating leasing programs for improved performance and forecasting. Stephanie Hill is the new Director of the Acquisition Center for Facility Management Services, a GSA cross-regional division that acquires facilities management services for the Mid-Atlantic, Southeast Sunbelt and National Capital Regions.
We operate in an environment of swift and constant change including changing market conditions, customer requirements, industry codes, etc. In this Focus Edition, you can learn about improvements we’ve made to our External Reimbursable Work Authorization Entry and Tracking Application (eRETA) and processes to increase cost estimate reliability, ensuring estimates are up to date when our clients provide project funding.
Planning and monitoring are pivotal for a healthy work environment. That’s why we consulted with government and industry experts to develop a new Order and desk guide for managing and overseeing drinking water to help ensure the well-being of building occupants and visitors in our facilities. In our Focus Spring Edition, we invite you to read more about this cornerstone for maintaining drinking water standards in our facilities.
Change is constant. Preparation is key. We’re continuously planning and improving, always ready to serve our clients and the American people.
Tom Lyman
Acting Regional Commissioner
Public Buildings Service
GSA Mid-Atlantic Region
This article is part of the Spring issue of the FOCUS newsletter. Please visit the Focus Newsletter page to read our newsletter.