Going-Going-Green: Strategies Fostering Sustainable New Federal Buildings

Patrick E. Tolan Jr., Barry University School of Law

Abstract

Green building, also known as sustainable building or high performance building, has exploded in popularity over the past several years as construction experience and cost-benefit studies have shown that owners of green buildings derive financial as well as environmental benefits. By smartly designing the building to maximize advantages at the onset, these newer buildings are more friendly to workers, more flexible for future growth, better integrate environmental and comfort factors using a whole building design philosophy, and help conserve energy, water, and other resources. As the world’s largest owner and operator of buildings and the nation’s largest energy user, the federal government must take the lead in demanding green construction. This paper considers evolving federal sustainable building mandates in the form of energy laws, Executive Orders imposing sustainability requirements for all new federal buildings, and regulations imposing guiding principles to foster sustainability. It proposes changes to the Federal Acquisition Regulation to promote high performance buildings even more, to better posture America to meet the environmental and energy security challenges confronting our generation and the next generations of Americans.