EISA Projects Cut 7.1 Trillion Btu Per Year

As they try to comply with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, federal agencies have so far implemented efficiency projects that save around 7.1 trillion Btu of energy and 4.4 billion gallons of water each year, according to government figures.

These projects have so far cost just over $2 billion, according to the latest figures from the Federal Energy Management Program’s EISA 432 Compliance Tracking System.

As of May 9, 2013, comprehensive energy evaluations have been completed on 5,044 of the 6,937 EISA “covered facilities” – those sites that make up at least 75 percent of an agency’s total facility energy use and designate an energy manager responsible for implementing parts of the Act.

Federal agencies have identified around $9.6 billion in potential investments in efficiency measures, according to the US Department of Energy. Agencies have also reported annual benchmarking metrics for 1,613 metered buildings, which help them track performance over time and against similar buildings.

Covered facilities comprise 2.7 billion square feet of building space and use 89 percent of the energy consumed at federal facilities.

The energy management practices required by Section 432 of EISA include:

• Performing comprehensive energy and water evaluations at each covered facility every four years to identify potential energy and water efficiency and conservation measures,
• Implementing efficiency projects at covered facilities and reporting costs and estimated savings,
• Following up on implemented projects and reporting measured savings, and
• Annually benchmarking metered buildings that are, or are a part of, covered facilities and reporting performance.

Click here to view the entire data set.

In March, an official advisory committee recommended that the federal government continue to use LEED as its main standard for energy efficiency and other green building attributes. The Green Building Advisory Committee, set up to advise facilities management agency the General Services Administration, concluded by a 10-6 vote that LEED was the best standard to help the government comply with EISA. Kevin Kampschroer, the director of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings at GSA, said the committee studied more than 160 tools and standards, and found that only three addressed buildings in their totality.