February 27, 2009—The new American Reinvestment and Recovery Act significantly increases resources for the US General Services Administration to green federal buildings and buy more alternative-fuel vehicles, say GSA officials.
The legislation includes $5.55 billion for building projects and $300 million for fuel-efficient vehicles. In addition, GSA will play a prominent role in advancing the goals of the legislation through its pre-existing contracts and energy-efficient product offerings. GSA’s current Environmental Initiatives are listed on its Go Green Web page.
GSA’s Public Buildings Service is responsible for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of thousands of federally-owned facilities for more than one million civilian employees of the government at 60 different agencies.
The Recovery Act directs $750 million to renovate and construct federal buildings and courthouses, $300 million to renovate and construct land ports of entry, and $4.5 billion to convert federal buildings to high-performance green buildings. GSA says these funds will flow to the building industries—construction workers, electricians, plumbers, air conditioning mechanics, carpenters, architects, and engineers.
Vehicle acquisition is another service GSA provides for federal agencies through the Federal Acquisition Service. The current GSA fleet contains about 80,000 alternative-fuel vehicles. GSA will work with federal agencies to determine the best method to evaluate vehicles eligible for replacement and fund those that would provide the largest benefit through decreased use of fuel and emission reduction.
