U.S. General Services Administration
Total Workplace Scorecard
Looking for the Total Workplace Scorecard? Complete section 2—health, comfort, and performance—for compliance with the Guiding Principles.
Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings
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Congress has enacted a range of statutory provisions relating to high-performance sustainable buildings, as well as energy, water and environmental goals and requirements that are advanced by the implementation of sustainable federal buildings within an agency’s portfolio. These goals are reflected in the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings and Associated Instructions [PDF], also referred to as Guiding Principles, which can help agencies meet federal mandates related to sustainable building design, construction, and operation.
A 2018 GSA study found that high-performance buildings meeting the Guiding Principles save energy and water, cost less to operate, produce less waste, and have more satisfied occupants compared with typical buildings.
History of the Guiding Principles
In 2002, a Task Force of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, adopted sustainable buildings as one of its six priority areas and published a report, “The Federal Commitment to Green Building: Experiences and Expectations.” The Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings were established in 2006 in a memorandum of understanding signed by federal agencies at the White House. The Council on Environmental Quality subsequently issued the Guiding Principles and associated instructions in 2008. The Guiding Principles as well as the associated instructions were then updated in 2016 and most recently in 2020.
Getting started
The Guiding Principles issued in December 2020 consist of a base document with six appendices. The following steps are recommended to help you navigate this guidance:
Familiarize
Familiarize yourself with the updated Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings and Associated Instructions, December 2020 [PDF].
Determine applicability
Determine whether your building falls under the Federal Real Property Profile or FRPP reporting requirements in Appendix E [PDF]. Note that leases are not included in the reporting requirements, though agencies may choose to track sustainability of their leased buildings in FRPP. If your building does not meet the reporting criteria, check with your individual agency for guidance.
Assess
Assess your building using the appropriate pathway:
New assessment
If your building has never been assessed against any version of the Guiding Principles, start your assessment by using the appropriate checklist below:
- Appendix A — Checklist for New Construction and Modernization [PDF]
- Appendix B — Checklist for Existing Buildings [PDF]
Download this interactive version of the Guiding Principles checklist [XLSX - 114 KB], including links to relevant tools and resources, to demonstrate that a new construction or modernization project meets the intent of the Guiding Principles.
Third-party certifications may help meet certain criteria. See Appendix C [PDF]and the certification standards section below for more detail.
Reassessment
Buildings must be reassessed every four years. Consult Appendix D [PDF] for the reassessment criteria checklist and options for reassessment using a third-party system.
Report
Report the results to your individual agency. Each agency is required to report sustainability status of its buildings annually via the Federal Real Property Profile Management System.
Sustainable federal building requirements and certification standards
Visit the green building certification systems page to learn about the benefits of using certification systems and the requirements for federal agencies that choose to use them. We have also developed resources for how certification systems can help agencies meet the Guiding Principles and how credits may align with statutory and regulatory requirements.
Total Workplace Scorecard
The Total Workplace Scorecard [XLSX - 183 KB] benchmarks and measures quality improvements between existing and new workplace conditions. It is best if the same people complete the evaluation for both existing and new workplaces. There are 100 possible points, with extra credit available to supplement the score of facilities with limiting factors.
In Appendix B — Checklist for Existing Buildings, Guiding Principle criteria 4.9, occupant health and wellness, provides agencies with the option to demonstrate that they have met the criteria by completing section 2 of the Total Workplace Scorecard [XLSX - 164 KB]. The section consists of 74 multiple choice questions, including extra credit, with instructions and resources.
Full documents
- Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings and Associated Instructions [PDF]
- Appendix A: Assessing a Building Using the Guiding Principles Federal Criteria Checklist for New Construction and Modernization [PDF]
- Appendix B: Assessing a Building Using the Guiding Principles Federal Criteria Checklist for Existing Buildings [PDF]
- Appendix C: Assessing a New Construction, Modernization, Major Renovation or Existing Building Using Third-Party Building Certification Systems [PDF]
- Appendix D: Assessing a Building Using the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings Reassessment Criteria Checklist [PDF]
- Appendix E: Sustainable Buildings Reporting Instructions [PDF]
- Appendix F: Definitions [PDF]
Resources
- Green building certification systems
- Crosswalk of sustainable federal building requirements and certification standards [XLSX - 104 KB]
- Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
- EPA | WaterSense water-smart landscapes [PDF]
- DOE | Distributed energy and energy procurement
- DOE | Federal renewable energy use statutory requirement
- 40 U.S.C. §524: Duties of executive agencies
- 42 U.S.C. §17093: Federal green building performance
- 42 U.S.C. §17144: OMB Government efficiency reports and scorecards
Life cycle cost resources
- OMB Circular A-94 [PDF]: Guidelines and discount rates for benefit-cost analysis of federal programs
- OMB Circular A-11 Part 7 [PDF]: Capital programming guide
- NIST-FEMP Handbook 135: Life-cycle costing manual for the Federal Energy Management Program
- 10 CFR 436 Part A: Methodology and procedures for life cycle cost analyses
Checklist resources
These resources for new construction and existing buildings are referenced and linked throughout the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings and Associated Instructions, December 2020.
- 2018 IgCC Section 501: Site sustainability
- 2018 IgCC Section 1001: Construction and plans for operation
- 2018 IgCC Appendix F: Integrated design
- 41 CFR §102-76.20: What issues must federal agencies consider in providing site planning and landscape design services?
- 42 U.S.C. §6364: Operation of battery recharging stations in parking areas used by federal employees
- 42 U.S.C. §8253: Energy management requirements
- 42 U.S.C. §17094: Storm water runoff requirements for federal development projects
- ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 202: Commissioning Process for Buildings and Systems — paid resource, check with your agency for access
- DOE FEMP | Commissioning for federal facilities guidance [PDF]
- DOE FEMP | Facility energy management guidelines and criteria for energy and water evaluations in covered facilities [PDF]
- Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
- EPA | Smart growth — location and green building
- National Environmental Policy Act — 42 U.S.C. §4321
- National Historic Preservation Act — 54 U.S.C. Subtitle III, Division A
- Secretary of the Interior — Standards for Rehabilitation and Illustrated Guidelines on Sustainability for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings
- USDA Pollinators
- 10 CFR 433 and 10 CFR 435
- 42 U.S.C. §6834: Federal building energy efficiency standards
- 42 U.S.C. §8253: Energy management requirements
- 42 U.S.C. §8259b: Federal procurement of energy efficient products
- 42 U.S.C. §15852: Federal purchase requirement
- 2018 IgCC Section 701: Energy efficiency
- 2018 IgCC Section 1001: Construction and Plans for Operation
- ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1: Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings — paid resource, check with your agency for access
- DOE | Federal metering guidance [PDF]
- DOE | Federal building energy use benchmarking guidance [PDF]
- Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 [PDF]
- Energy Policy Act of 2005 [PDF]
- ENERGY STAR products
- FEMP-designated products
- 42 U.S.C. §6834: Federal building energy efficiency standards
- 2018 IgCC Section 601: Water use efficiency
- 2018 IgCC Definition of Water: Alternate on-site sources
- DOE | Federal building metering guidance
- DOE FEMP | Water efficiency in federal buildings and campuses
- DOE FEMP | Water Evaluation Data Tool
- EPA WaterSense
- EPA WaterSense | Outdoors
- 41 CFR §102-74: Facility Management
- 41 CFR §102-80: Safety and Environmental Management
- 42 U.S.C. §17092: High-performance green Federal buildings
- ASHRAE Standard 62.1 or 62.2: Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality — paid resource, check with your agency for access
- ASHRAE 55: Thermal Environmental Conditions for Human Occupancy — paid resource, check with your agency for access
- 2018 IgCC Sections 801: Indoor Environmental Quality
- 2018 IgCC Section 1001: Construction and Plans for Operation
- EPA | Drinking water resources
- EPA | Introduction to integrated pest management
- EPA | Volatile organic compounds’ impact on indoor air quality
- EPA | Integrated pest management principles
- Buildings and health
- Enhancing health with indoor air
- Health and wellness guidance crosswalk [XLSX - 72 KB]
- HHS | Food service guidelines for federal facilities [PDF]
- 40 CFR §260.10: Hazardous waste management system definitions
- 40 CFR §239-282
- 7 U.S.C. §8102: Federal procurement of bio-based products
- 42 U.S.C. §6962
- 42 U.S.C. §7671k: Safe alternatives policy
- 42 U.S.C. §7671l: Federal procurement
- 42 U.S.C. §9601
- 2018 IgCC Section 901: Materials and resources
- Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act or CERCLA
- Resource Conservation and Recovery Act or RCRA
- EPA | Recommendation of Specifications, Standards, and Ecolabels for federal purchasing
- EPA | Significant New Alternative Policy or SNAP
- EPA | Waste management hierarchy
- USDA BioPreferred
- FEMP | Technical resilience navigator
- Naval Facilities Engineering Command | Climate change installation adaptation and resilience planning handbook [PDF]
- NIST | Community resilience planning guide for buildings and infrastructure systems
- NIST | Economic decision guide software or EDGe$ online tool
- U.S. Army | Climate resilience handbook
- U.S. Army Corp of Engineers | Climate preparedness and resilience planning tools
- U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit