The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has announced plans to invest $80 million from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into smart building technologies that will help reduce emissions, increase efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance comfort across an estimated 560 federal buildings.
The GSA said the investments, impacting 49 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Washington, D.C., will also help create jobs and accelerate progress toward achieving net-zero emissions in the federal building portfolio by 2045, as well as other goals of President Joe Biden’s Federal Sustainability Plan.
“These smart investments through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda will drive down energy costs for taxpayers while making buildings more sustainable in the long-term,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “Through the Inflation Reduction Act, GSA is going to make our building operations better, faster, and cheaper—all while creating good-paying jobs in communities.”
GSA intends to enhance operations through granular controls, expand available reporting with more advanced metering sources, and optimize the operator experience through this IRA investment, including:
- Optimize federal building operations and energy use by installing approximately 1,000 new meters to measure electricity, water, and gas performance. These meters allow the GSA to monitor the operations of the building, identify inefficiencies, and take immediate steps to resolve them.
- Improve comfort level and building occupant experience in more than 70 federal buildings by installing smart sensors. The GSA will measure indoor air and environmental quality, carbon dioxide levels, and other conditions to adjust building operations based on real-time data.
- Make it easier for the GSA to manage operations with real-time data through a new unified user interface for more than 150 federal buildings. This will consolidate information currently residing in separate applications to improve the work environment through more direct access to data about equipment operation, energy usage, and sustainability performance.
- Implement “best-in-class HVAC controls” (based on ASHRAE Guideline 36) for approximately 15 buildings. This investment will reduce energy usage, greenhouse gas emissions, and utility costs while increasing comfort for building occupants.
“GSA is paving the way for a brighter, more sustainable future for our federal footprint and commercial facilities across the United States,” said Elliot Doomes, GSA Commissioner for Public Buildings Service. ”These advanced systems will provide granular data that will reshape how our federal buildings are operated, maintained, analyzed, and experienced.”
The IRA is the largest climate investment in U.S. history. It includes $3.4 billion for the GSA to build, modernize, and maintain more sustainable and cost-efficient, high-performance facilities. This funding includes $975 million specifically for emerging and sustainable technologies, as well as related sustainability and environmental programs.
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