Figure  1 also shows that DOD, the Department of State (State), GSA, and USPS  lease the most space. A set of federal laws, regulations, executive orders, and executive  memorandums direct federal facility managers to reduce the energy and  environmental impacts of the buildings they manage. In enacting the  Federal Energy Management Improvement Act of 1988 (FEMIA),  Congress recognized, among other things, that the federal government is  the largest single energy consumer in the nation, and that the cost of  meeting the federal government’s energy requirements is substantial. The Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT) was intended to further enhance  federal energy management practices. Several executive orders direct agencies to employ green practices in  facility and fleet management, and executive memorandums encourage  agencies to use energy saving performance contracts and environmentally  friendly landscaping practices. Alternative fuels include ethanol, methanol, natural gas, propane, and  electricity. Examples of Agency Efforts to Apply Green Principles

By using the principles of sustainable, green design, agencies are trying to  improve energy efficiency, reduce life-cycle costs, and reduce  environmental impacts in the design, construction, and operation of  federal facilities. Some examples of facilities where these approaches have  been applied are the White House, the Pentagon, and the Zion Canyon  National Park Visitor Center. Some Agencies Have Identified Obstacles to Using Energy Efficient, Green Approaches

Despite the possible benefits of using energy efficient, green approaches in  federal construction and renovation projects, available data indicate that  some agencies believe they face significant obstacles in implementing  these approaches. Some of the benefits of green buildings are difficult to quantify. Agencies’ Use of Alternative Fuel Vehicles

In addition to efforts to make federal facilities more energy efficient, other  initiatives have attempted to reduce the nation’s consumption of  petroleum fuels in transportation through the use of alternative fuels in the  federal vehicle fleet.
Why GAO Did This Study

GAO testified that constructing and operating buildings requires enormous amounts of energy, water, and materials and creates large amounts of waste. How agencies manage their facilities, along with the vehicles they use to accomplish their missions, has significant cost implications and greatly affects the environment. According to the Department of Energy, energy management is one of the most challenging tasks facing today's federal facilities manager, and sound energy management includes using energy efficiently, ensuring reliable supplies, and reducing costs whenever possible. The federal role in energy conservation was also highlighted in the President's National Energy Policy, in which the President directed heads of executive departments and agencies to "take appropriate actions to conserve energy use at their facilities to the maximum extent consistent with the effective discharge of public responsibilities."

What GAO Found

With approximately 3.3 billion feet of facility space and over one-half million automobiles, the federal government is the largest single energy consumer in the nation. Various laws, regulations, and executive memorandums direct federal facility managers to reduce energy consumption and environmental impacts of the buildings they manage. Agencies also must follow other requirements for the acquisition and use of alternative fuel vehicles, which use fuels like methanol, propane, and natural gas, to name a few. In constructing and renovating facilities, agencies have begun using "green" design approaches, which are intended to result in energy efficiency and minimal impact on the environment. Such approaches have been used at the White House, Pentagon, and the Zion National Park Visitor Center. Despite the possible benefits, some agencies believe they face obstacles in employing green practices in construction and renovation projects. These include key stakeholders--architects, engineers, agency staff--who are not familiar with green approaches, higher initial costs of green projects, difficulty getting agency management buy-in, and difficulty quantifying the benefits of green facility designs. In addition to efforts to make federal facilities more energy efficient, the federal government has also attempted to reduce the nation's consumption of petroleum fuels in transportation through the use of alternative fuel vehicles in the federal vehicle fleet.