January 26, 2009
Change
So Barack is in office and we are all wondering how exactly he will address the economic situation that we find ourselves in the midst of. As a sustainable buildings researcher, I have been particularly tuned in to his words addressing the clean energy market and building energy efficiency. Therefore, I found Barack’s first weekly address to be quite interesting. He is calling for:
- Doubling our alternative energy generation wihtin three years
- Laying new cable to transport this energy
- Renovating 10,000 schools
- and (my favorite) saving $2 billion annually by making 75% of federal buildings more energy efficient
Listen for yourself (if you don’t have 5 minutes, listen for one minute starting at 1:40):
And why is it significant to improve energy efficiency of buildings? Because 70% of electricity consumed in the US is consumed by buildings and 39% of the carbon dioxide emissions in the US come from buildings. Barack is pushing for increased energy efficiency in federal buildings which is a task that the federal government has experience in. Consider the Chicago FBI building that recently received the highest rating under the LEED EBOM certification standard which is now owned by USAA Real Estate Company, a company with industry-leading experience managing sustainable buildings. USAA is also a leader in Sustainability Roundtable Inc.’s Sustainable Corporate Real Estate Roundtable (SCRER).
USAA and others who manage large portfolios of office space understand that there is a need for research on best practices in managing specific types of real estate more sustainably. This is exactly what I am doing with Sustainability Roundtable Inc. in partnership with the more than a dozen firms that have signed up as Charter Members of the SCRER to achieve cost savings via SRI’s shared-cost research model.
The new administration’s move to boost the energy efficiency of federal buildings will influence the commercial sustainable buildings industry. The industry-leading firms who are Members of the
SCRER will be able to stay abreast of the changes coming to the indusry and be prepared to implement new strategies that will keep them at the forefront of the industry.