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Federal government will spend $30 million on novel green building technologies

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The Green Proving Ground program will accelerate the drive toward net-zero emissions in federal buildings, according to GSA.  Photovoltaic System

Federal government will spend $30 million on novel green building technologies

The Green Proving Ground program will accelerate the drive toward net-zero emissions in federal buildings, according to GSA. 

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will invest $30 million from the Inflation Reduction Act to increase the sustainability of federal buildings by testing novel technologies.

The vehicle for that effort, the Green Proving Ground (GPG) program, will invest in American-made technologies to help increase federal electric vehicle supply equipment, protect air quality, reduce climate pollution, and enhance building performance. This year the GPG program has selected 20 emerging and sustainable technologies for real-world evaluation in GSA’s real-estate portfolio.

The number of technologies tested this year increased four-fold increase over previous years with added funding from the Inflation Reduction Act.

This year’s GPG program focuses on seven technology areas:

Some of these technologies will be tested at GSA’s Applied Innovation Learning Labs to identify replicable combinations of technologies that deliver net-zero operational emissions.

The Department of Energy released a Request for Information (RFI) for feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on a draft national definition for a Zero Emissions Building.

WSP has released a scenario-planning online game to help organizations achieve sustainable development goals while expanding awareness about climate change.

Class B office properties that are LEED certified command a greater relative benefit than LEED-certified Class A buildings, according to analysis from CBRE. The Class B LEED rent advantage over non-LEED is about three times larger than the premium earned by Class A LEED buildings.

A guide focusing on the critical role of grid interactivity in building decarbonization was recently published by ASHRAE. The Grid-Interactive Buildings for Decarbonization: Design and Operation Resource Guide provides information on maximizing carbon reduction through buildings’ interaction with the electric power grid.

From a bladeless rooftop wind energy system, to a troffer light fixture with built-in continuous visible light disinfection, innovation is plentiful in Building Design+Construction's annual 75 Top Products report. 

After pausing a heat pump mandate earlier this year after a federal court overturned Berkeley, Calif.’s ban on gas appliances in new buildings, Washington state enacted a new code provision that seems poised to achieve the same goal.

The U.S. has the tools to reduce commercial building-related emissions to reach target goals in 2029, earlier than what it committed to when it signed the Paris Agreement, according to a report by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The authors, Perkins&Will and the Healthy Building Network, home in on drywall, flooring, and insulation.The authors, Perkins&Will and the Healthy Building Network, home in on drywall, flooring, and insulation.

A groundbreaking on Oct. 11 kicked off a project aiming to construct the largest Living Building Challenge-certified residence on a university campus. The Living Village, a 45,000 sf home for Yale University Divinity School graduate students, “will make an ecological statement about the need to build in harmony with the natural world while training students to become ‘apostles of the environment’,” according to Bruner/Cott, which is leading the design team that includes Höweler + Yoon Architecture and Andropogon Associates.

Decentralized electrical distribution is broadening recharger installation to several building types.

The Department of Energy released a Request for Information (RFI) for feedback from industry, academia, research laboratories, government agencies, and other stakeholders on a draft national definition for a Zero Emissions Building.

WSP has released a scenario-planning online game to help organizations achieve sustainable development goals while expanding awareness about climate change.

Class B office properties that are LEED certified command a greater relative benefit than LEED-certified Class A buildings, according to analysis from CBRE. The Class B LEED rent advantage over non-LEED is about three times larger than the premium earned by Class A LEED buildings.

A guide focusing on the critical role of grid interactivity in building decarbonization was recently published by ASHRAE. The Grid-Interactive Buildings for Decarbonization: Design and Operation Resource Guide provides information on maximizing carbon reduction through buildings’ interaction with the electric power grid.

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Federal government will spend $30 million on novel green building technologies

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