The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has upgraded its requirement regarding LEED certification for all new federal building construction and substantial renovation projects. LEED Gold certification will now be a minimum requirement for these projects. Previously LEED Silver was the required target. GSA’s Facilities Standards will be updated to reflect this change by the end of the 2010 calendar year.
Projects funded prior to Fiscal Year 2010 that are currently in design will be required to incorporate LEED Gold where possible, with consideration of budget and schedule constraints. For GSA’s leased properties, the requirement will remain at LEED Silver certification for new construction lease projects of 10,000 square feet or more. In addition, for leases in existing buildings, LEED for Commercial Interiors remains option at the request of tenant agencies.
“Sustainable, better-performing federal buildings can significantly contribute to reducing the government's environmental footprint,” says Robert A. Peck, GSA's commissioner of public buildings. “This new requirement is just one of the many ways we're greening the federal real estate inventory to help deliver on President Obama's commitment to increase sustainability and energy efficiency across government.”
Currently, the GSA has a portfolio of more than 361 million square feed of space in 9,600 federally owned and leased facilities. To read more about GSA’s sustainable design initiatives, visit gsa.gov/sustainabledesign.