Sustainability Green Building Energy Efficiency Renewable Energy
Myers Verde is a sustainability consulting firm offering a wide range of consulting services for the strategic development of environmentally responsible businesses and government organizations, providing compliance documentation and strategic planning to meet local and federal sustainability and energy efficiency goals.
Implementing Sustainability in Federal Agencies: Do your buildings meet the Federal Guiding Principles?
Myers Verde has partnered with Sandia National Laboratories to provide technical assistance and training to the U.S. Department of Energy and other Federal agencies on meeting the Guiding Principles for High Performance Sustainable Buildings. In 2010 Myers Verde and Sandia National Laboratory presented trainings on how to meet the Guiding Principles for High Performance Sustainable Buildings at Federal sites coast to coast.
Executive Order 13514 requires at least 15% of each agency’s existing facilities and building leases (above 5,000 gross square feet) to meet the High Performance and Sustainable Buildings (HPSB) Guiding Principles by the end of fiscal year 2015. To meet this goal, most agencies must upgrade at least some portion of their existing building stock. A separate set of HPSB Guiding Principles were developed for new construction and existing buildings. The HPSB Guiding Principles for Existing Buildings has been incorporated into the Federal High Performance Sustainable Buildings Checklist (or Guiding Principles Checklist), now available through EPA’s ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager, an interactive web-based tool that allows users to track and assess energy and water consumption across entire building portfolios. The Executive Order requires agencies to measure, manage, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions toward agency-defined targets. It describes a process by which agency goals will be set and reported to the President by the Chair of CEQ. The Executive Order requires agencies to meet a number of energy, water, and waste reduction targets, including:
- 30% reduction in vehicle fleet petroleum use by 2020;
- 26% improvement in water efficiency by 2020;
- 50% recycling and waste diversion by 2015;
- 95% of all applicable contracts will meet sustainability requirements;
- Implementation of the 2030 net-zero-energy building requirement; and
- Implementation of the stormwater provisions of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, section 438.
Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant
Do you know that in 2009, the U.S. Department of Energy funded for the first time the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) Program representing a Presidential priority to deploy the cheapest, cleanest, and most reliable energy technologies we have—energy efficiency and conservation—across the country. Funding for the EECBG Program under the Recovery Act totals $3.2 billion in grants that were distributed to over 2400 municipalities, counties, tribal governments and states to implement energy efficiency projects.
Your city, county or tribal government may have received funds. Find out how the funds are being used. Take part in your community. For more information go to:
http://www1.eere.energy.gov/wip/solutioncenter/
Build Green Today !
In 1992 the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development held in Rio de Janerio (the Earth Summit) honored the City of Austin’s Green Building Program and Mr. Myers attended the Earth Summit and brought home the International Honors bestowed to the City of Austin’s Green Builder Program.
Now nearly 20 years later it is time for states and all communities to build green. All new homes should have a Home Energy Rating of 65 or better. Use the Department of Energy’s E-Scale interactive tool to compare estimated cost and energy savings of new and existing homes.
Take action today! Inform your city or county leaders to adopt a “green building “ policy for all new homes.