[Federal Register Volume 80, Number 13 (Wednesday, January 21, 2015)]
[Notices]
[Pages 2935-2937]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2015-00861]
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GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
[Notice-MG-2014-04; Docket No. 2014-0002; Sequence No. 25]
GSA's Analysis of the Alignment of LEED v4 With Federal Green
Building Requirements
AGENCY: Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings; Office of
Government-wide Policy (OGP), General Services Administration (GSA).
ACTION: Request for information.
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SUMMARY: GSA is seeking public input on its analysis of the latest
version of the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED v4) green building certification
system and its alignment with Federal green building requirements. GSA
is also seeking public input on several questions related to the
Government's use of LEED v4 and future GSA reviews of green building
certification systems.
GSA used the findings from its supplemental review to consult with
other Federal agencies in the EISA 436(h) Interagency Ad-hoc Discussion
Group (Interagency Discussion Group) on the Federal Government's use of
LEED v4. GSA will be using the deliberations from the Interagency
Discussion Group as well as public input from this Federal Register
notice and a to-be-scheduled public listening session to augment GSA's
October 25, 2013 recommendation to the Secretary of Energy. The
information being asked for in this notice is not for the purpose of a
proposed GSA rulemaking or a GSA regulation.
DATES: Interested parties should submit written comments by one of the
methods shown below on or before March 23, 2015 to be considered in the
formation of GSA's updated recommendation to the Secretary of Energy.
ADDRESSES: Submit comments in response to Notice-MG-2014-04 by any of
the following methods:
Regulations.gov: http://www.regulations.gov. Submit
comments via the Federal eRulemaking portal by searching for ``Notice-
MG-2014-04''. Select the link ``Comment Now'' that corresponds with
``Notice-MG-2014-04''. Follow the instructions provided on the screen.
Please include your name, company name (if any), and ``Notice-MG-2014-
04'' on your attached document.
Fax: 202-501-4067.
Email: [email protected].
Mail: General Services Administration, Regulatory
Secretariat (MVCB), ATTN: Ms. Flowers, 1800 F Street NW., Washington,
DC 20405.
Instructions: Please submit comments only and cite Notice-MG-2014-
04, in all correspondence related to this case. All comments received
will be posted without change to http://www.regulations.gov, including
any personal and/or business confidential information provided. Visit
http://www.gsa.gov/gbcertificationreview for more information.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Bryan Steverson, Program Advisor,
GSA Sustainability and Green Buildings, at telephone 202-501-6115 or
email [email protected].
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Request For Public Input: GSA is seeking public input on questions
that arose during the Interagency Discussion Group meetings:
1. GSA is seeking public input on what LEED v4 credits agencies
should consider focusing on. In its 2013 recommendations, GSA
recommended that agencies should focus on achieving those credits or
points that align with federal green building requirements. In
discussions with the Interagency Discussion Group, agencies believed
[[Page 2936]]
that GSA should avoid making recommendations on specific credits
agencies would be required to pursue if using LEED v4, and that any
credit prioritization or requirement should be left up to the
discretion of each department or agency. The Ad-hoc Discussion Group
also believed GSA should develop guidance that maps LEED v4 credits to
federal green building requirements in order to inform agencies as to
those credits that agencies could achieve to determine conformance with
federal green building requirements.
2. While several agencies, GSA included, have had subject matter
experts participate on technical committees and other advisory roles
for green building certification systems in either their development or
implementation, how else can the Federal Government better contribute
and collaborate with green building certification system owners to
ensure that the Federal Government's voice is heard in both the system
development process and in the overall effort to push the built-
environment to be more sustainable?
In order to improve future green building certification system
reviews, GSA would like to seek public input on several questions on
how to strengthen the analysis and improve GSA's review process:
3. While GSA believes its analysis provides a good source of
information for other agencies and the public at large, GSA would like
input on where GSA's future certification system reviews could be
stronger. In its supplemental analysis of LEED v4, GSA used the same
criteria and methodology as it used in its 2012 green building
certification system study. GSA had this analysis peer reviewed by
other federal agencies, private sector high performance green building
experts and notable members of academia as well as the U.S. Green
Building Council.
4. GSA is seeking public input on other ways to visually illustrate
certification system alignment with Federal green building
requirements. During the peer review process for GSA's supplemental
analysis of LEED v4, several peer reviewers suggested GSA should
revisit how it visually illustrates certification system alignment with
Federal green building requirements in Table 1 (page vii) and Table 3-1
(page 3-6) of the report (available at http://www.gsa.gov/gbcertificationreview). The tables show several differently shaded
circles that are defined as follows:
Full Circle--Federal requirement met automatically because
certification system includes prerequisite that fully aligns with the
Federal requirement;
Three-quarters circle--Certification system has a credit that meets
the Federal requirement;
Half-circle--Certification system has a credit that is related to,
but not specifically aligned with, the Federal requirement;
Empty circle--Federal requirement is not an identified component
within the certification system.
5. GSA is seeking comment on how GSA and the Federal Government can
better carry out its responsibilities in Section 436(h) of EISA, and do
so in ``real-time''. During GSA's 2012 review of green building
certification systems, both Green Globes and LEED were in the process
of being revised. GSA's recommendation number five (from GSA's October
25, 2013 letter to the Secretary of Energy) suggested that a process be
established to keep current with revisions to green building
certification systems and to review certification systems once they
have been released to the public. While GSA still believes this process
is critical in staying current with the evolving green building
certification system marketplace, the reviews GSA conducts have proven
to be time-consuming, and, in some cases, have overlapped with a
release of a new version to a certification system not part of that
current review.
Background
GSA is seeking public input on its analysis of LEED v4 and its
alignment with Federal green building requirements. Section 436(h) of
the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA, Pub. L. 110-
140) requires the Director of GSA's Office of Federal High-Performance
Green Buildings to evaluate green building certification systems every
five years and to identify a system and certification level that ``will
be most likely to encourage a comprehensive and environmentally sound
approach to the certification of green federal buildings''. EISA
requires the GSA Administrator to provide a recommendation to the
Secretary of Energy, who then consults with the Secretary of Defense
and the GSA Administrator, to identify the system(s) appropriate for
use in the Federal sector.
In October 2013, GSA recommended that agencies, if they choose to
use a green building certification system, use one of two certification
systems as best suited to agency missions and portfolio needs: The
Green Building Initiative's Green Globes and USGBC's LEED v2009. GSA
submitted additional recommendations on how the Government should stay
involved with green building certification systems as they evolve over
time, including the establishment of a process to keep current with
revisions to green building certification systems.
In November 2013, the USGBC released an updated version of LEED,
LEED v4, for use in the marketplace. In keeping with its
recommendation, GSA completed a supplemental review of LEED v4 in
August 2014 and focused the analysis on LEED v4 BD+C: New Construction,
LEED v4 O+M: Existing Buildings, and LEED v4 ID+C: Commercial
Interiors. GSA considered this review a supplement to its previous 2012
study (found at http://www.gsa.gov/gbcertificationreview) and used the
same criteria and methodology in its evaluation of LEED v4. While no
recommendations are offered in the supplemental study, the analysis
shows that LEED v4 aligns well with Federal green building
requirements. For a copy of the analysis and associated appendices,
please visit http://www.gsa.gov/gbcertificationreview.
In recognition that there was a high level of interest in the green
building certification system review, both within and outside the
Federal sector, GSA asked the Department of Energy (DOE) and the
Department of Defense (DoD) to co-chair an Interagency Discussion Group
to discuss the Federal Government's use of LEED v4. The Interagency
Discussion Group included representatives from major Federal real
estate portfolio holders, including GSA, the DoD, the DOE, the
Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), the Department of State (DOS), the Department of Health and
Human Services (DHHS), the Department of Interior (DOI), the Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of Justice (DOJ). The
Interagency Discussion Group met two times in September and October
2014 to discuss the Federal Government's potential use of LEED v4,
credits within LEED v4 that agencies should focus on, and the need for
guidance that maps LEED v4 credits to Federal green building
requirements.
It should be noted that on October 14, 2014, the U.S. DOE published
its final rule that formally identifies criteria that green building
certification systems must meet in order to be used by the Federal
Government. This GSA request for information is not for the purposes of
that final rulemaking, but to inform GSA on its related
responsibilities to study green building certification systems and
recommend ones to the DOE that may fit within the framework
[[Page 2937]]
of the final rule. DOE's final rule can be found at http://www.regulations.gov (docket number EE-RM/STD-02-112 or RIN number 1904-
AC13).
Dated: January 13, 2015.
Kevin Kampschroer,
Federal Director, Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings,
Office of Government-wide Policy, U.S. General Services Administration.
[FR Doc. 2015-00861 Filed 1-20-15; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-14-P