A New Tool for Green Buildings
A joint Environmental Protection Agency-Booz Allen team has created unique “crosswalk” that makes it easier for federal buildings to go green.
When the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) built a state-of-the-art green building for its Region 8 headquarters in Denver, it wanted to make sure it got the full value and environmental performance from the facility, by implementing sustainable operating and maintenance practices.
The EPA also needed a way to sort through a host of overlapping and sometimes conflicting requirements for federal buildings in energy and water conservation, greenhouse gas emissions, and other environmental concerns. At the same time, the agency wanted the building to meet the parallel set of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria for green buildings, established by the U.S. Green Building Council.
To meet this challenge, the EPA, working closely with Booz Allen Hamilton, developed a “crosswalk,” or matrix, that shows how the various federal and LEED requirements can be met in the most cost-effective and environmentally friendly way.
Although the tool was designed expressly for the Denver headquarters, it is expected to be adapted for use throughout the EPA and across the federal government. The crosswalk tool, which applies to existing and newly built facilities, contributed to the EPA Denver office earning a 2009 White House Closing the Circle Award for outstanding federal environmental stewardship in the Sustainable Buildings category.
The Denver building opened in early 2007, and achieved Gold certification under the LEED New Construction rating system. The EPA is now using the crosswalk to integrate its environmental management system with the LEED for Existing Building Operations and Maintenance rating system—meaning the building will meet certain performance standards for water and energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and other positive environmental aspects.
The crosswalk will enable the EPA to maintain its LEED certification for operation and maintenance, and also meet the various federal requirements, says Joni Teter, who led the crosswalk effort as Green Building Education and EMS Coordinator for the EPA’s Region 8.
The crosswalk incorporates a third element, says Teter. It is designed to coordinate the management of the requirements through an Environmental Management System (EMS). Through such a system, an organization builds greening and sustainability into its everyday business decisions—for example, in deciding what kinds of paints or light bulbs to buy.
“The crosswalk is very useful in capturing all these requirements in one place, describing what you need to do, and presenting the data in a form that everyone is looking for,” says Teter. “In the joint team effort, Booz Allen was able to bring expertise that was very on point to what was needed.”
Booz Allen’s collaboration on the crosswalk was part of its overall support to the EPA’s Safety, Health and Environmental Management Program.
John Casana, a Booz Allen Associate, says that as the crosswalk is adapted for wider use, “it can have tremendous impact in terms of simplifying the requirements and increasing energy efficiencies.”
He notes that buildings are a major contributor of greenhouse gases, and says, “The federal government is a huge owner and operator of buildings. If it takes the lead in designing, constructing and operating high-performance buildings, it can drive the entire domestic and even international market for green buildings and products.”
“In developing the crosswalk with EPA,” says Casana, “Booz Allen brings to the table its expertise in understanding federal green building requirements and LEED building criteria, and its understanding of how to manage those two aspects through an Environmental Management System.”
story posted October 13, 2009
