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Sustainable design optimizes building performance and minimizes negative impacts on building occupants and the environment. Pursuant to GSA’s Core Building Standards and Energy Independence & Security Act of 2007 (EISA) § 433(a)(D)(i), GSA incorporates sustainable design and energy efficiency principles into our construction and modernization projects. We focus on cost-effectively meeting our tenant agencies’ mission objectives and functional needs.
Sustainable design is an integrated, holistic approach that positively impacts all phases of a building’s life-cycle and encourages compromise and tradeoffs.
Sustainable design principles aim to efficiently:
Per section 109 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, federal agencies must design buildings to achieve energy efficiency at least 30 percent better than ASHRAE 90.1 standards where life-cycle cost-effective.
Federal agencies including GSA may comply with EISA 433 and Federal Acquisition Regulation 7.103(p)(3) by leveraging content from the 2020 Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings. The Guiding Principles are a proven beneficial and cost-effective framework collaboratively evolved from a 2006 interagency memorandum of understanding. They systematically help optimize applicable buildings’ performance while maximizing assets’ life-cycle value. Federal agencies must report their portfolio’s annual progress toward meeting the Federal Real Property Profile Management System’s “sustainability status” data element. Track GSA’s strategic portfolio-wide progress in our story map.
GSA uses a new EISA 433 Design Checklist to efficiently track new construction and major renovation projects’ sustainable design principle implementation statuses in the categories of integrated design, energy performance, water conservation, indoor environmental quality, and materials.
Per the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 , new GSA buildings and major renovations must, among other things:
In alignment with GSA’s Core Building Standards (CBS) and recent Federal policies including Executive Order 14154 “Unleashing American Energy”, GSA tracks how its major projects meet core and statutory criteria from the Guiding Principles.
View our 2018 Impact of High-Performance Buildings study to see how buildings with sustainable design save money, save water, cost less to operate, produce less waste, and have more satisfied occupants than typical buildings.
Our Clearinghouse provides statutorily-required information relating to high-performance buildings, including technical assistance, tools, and resources for implementing best practices. Clearinghouse lists additional Federal requirements and regulations for high-performance buildings, and has informational sections for energy, water, health, integrative design strategies, workplace strategies, procurement, learning resources, and emerging technology assessments.
To learn more about how we integrate sustainable design into Design, Construction, Operations, Maintenance, and Client Strategy, contact acting GSA Core Building Standards Program Manager Walter Tersch (walter.tersch@gsa.gov) or pbsvend@gsa.gov.
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Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories and possessions are set by the Department of Defense.
Rates for foreign countries are set by the Department of State.
Rates are available between 10/1/2023 and 09/30/2026.
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When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.
U.S. General Services Administration