FACT SHEET: GreenGov Symposium Highlights Progress in Federal Sustainability

Contact: press@ceq.eop.gov

As Federal agencies continue to make progress to improve the sustainability of their operations and cut harmful greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, today the White House Council on Environmental Quality and George Washington University are hosting the 2015 GreenGov Symposium to highlight Federal sustainability achievements and discuss strategies for continued improvements over the next decade.

As part of his commitment to lead by example to curb the emissions that are driving climate change, President Obama issued Executive Order 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade in March, which sets aggressive new targets to cut the Federal Government’s greenhouse gas emissions 40 percent over the next ten years from 2008 levels -- saving taxpayers up to $18 billion in avoided energy costs -- and increase the share of electricity the Federal Government consumes from renewable sources to 30 percent. And today, Federal agencies released annual updates showing that the Federal Government is on track to meet the President’s ambitious goals.

With a footprint that includes 360,000 buildings, 650,000 fleet vehicles, and $445 billion spent annually on goods and services, the Federal Government’s actions to reduce pollution, support renewable energy, and operate more efficiently can make a significant impact on national emissions and drive progress across the Federal supply chain.

Today’s GreenGov Symposium brings together Federal and private sector leaders to share best practices and strategies for meeting sustainability targets. At the Symposium, the Administration is announcing new steps to cut Federal emissions and highlighting achievements in Federal sustainability, including:

Capital Solar Challenge:

Last year, the Administration launched the Capital Solar Challenge, which directs Federal agencies and military installations to identify opportunities to deploy solar renewable energy at Federal locations across the National Capital Region. As a part of this challenge, the General Services Administration (GSA) has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for an aggregated procurement project that will bring about 3 megawatts (MW) of solar energy across 18 Federal buildings in Washington, DC. Agencies that are part of this contracting action include the Departments of State, Treasury, Health and Human Services, Navy, the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Archives and Records Administration. 

Also part of the Capital Solar Challenge, the Navy plans to issue an RFP in late June for a solar project at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington D.C.  When complete, the solar capacity of the project will be between 6-8 MW.

Today’s announcements build on progress made through the Capital Solar Challenge this year, including the ground breaking for a 15 MW solar project at the Army’s Fort Detrick base in Maryland and the ribbon cutting for a 1.6 MW solar array at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s George Washington Carver Center in Beltsville, Maryland.

DOD Privatized Housing Solar Challenge:

To date, approximately 72 MWs of solar energy producing infrastructure has been installed on over 60,000 Department of Defense (DOD) privatized housing units. To double down on this progress, DOD is partnering with the White House Council on Environmental Quality to convene the companies that own the privatized housing units to share best practices and encourage them to set goals for increasing the amount of solar energy generated on privatized military housing through the end of 2016. The DOD Privatized Housing Solar Challenge will expand solar energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions while saving military families money on energy bills and making military communities more energy secure.

White House Fleet GHG Improvements:

The White House is announcing that it has updated its vehicle fleet to include more fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles. This update will reduce GHG emissions by roughly 40% from 2014 and optimize the White House fleet composition. This optimization includes reducing the number of fleet vehicles and the acquisition of hybrid electric vehicles in lieu of conventional fueled vehicles. With this update, 25 percent of the replaced White House fleet will be hybrid electric vehicles.

This announcement supports the President's overall Federal sustainability strategy established through Executive Order 13693. The overarching fleet goal laid out in this strategy will reduce per-mile GHG emissions from federal fleets 30 percent from 2014 levels by 2025.

Agency Scorecards:

Federal agencies are releasing their fiscal year 2014 Agency Sustainability Scorecards.  These annual performance scorecards benchmark agencies’ progress and help them to target the best opportunities to improve. Today, the Federal Government announced:

• Greenhouse gas emissions from Federal facilities have been reduced by 17.4 percent since 2008, the equivalent of taking about 1.9 million cars off the road— roughly the same number of cars registered in the state of Maryland;
• Nine percent of Federal Government electricity is from renewable sources, ensuring that we are well on our way to reaching our new goal of 30 percent renewable energy by 2025; and
• Federal Government potable water use was reduced by 21 percent below 2007 levels.

This is the fifth time agencies have publicly released their Office of Management and Budget energy and sustainability scorecards as part of the Administration’s commitment to increasing transparency and accountability in Federal operations.  Based on these FY 2014 benchmarks, agencies will update their annual Sustainability Plans to continue to improve their performance.

To view agency scorecards, visit: http://www.performance.gov/node/3406/view?view=public#supporting-info

E.O. 13693 Implementing Instructions:

CEQ is issuing guidance on the implementation of Executive Order 13693, Planning for Federal Sustainability in the Next Decade. These instructions lay out specific strategies and tools for meeting the Federal sustainability goals outlined in the Executive Order and will serve as a “user’s manual” for implementation through the next decade.  

Sustainability and Climate Change Training for Federal Leaders

The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) has recently launched leadership development courses in environmental sustainability and climate preparedness and resilience for Federal employees as well as State, Local, and Tribal leaders. More than 500 senior executives and managers from 35 Federal agencies participated in this flagship training focused on leading through climate change and sustainability challenges. OPM is developing additional courses through its Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Certificate Program and through new offerings to expand education and training on sustainability across the Federal Government.

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