Making “green building” improvements to federal buildings saves on energy costs, GSA has said in an analysis of 59 federal buildings where such improvements have been made.
GSA said the buildings were all in states that were the most affected by the exceptionally cold winter of 2013-2014 but that they averaged 5.5 percent less energy consumption compared to the winter before their improvements began. A third of them showed savings of 10 percent or more.
At one building in St. Louis, for example, improvements included advanced metering systems to track energy consumption, repaired building façade and windows, upgraded HVAC systems and controls, retrofitting the building with efficient LED lighting, and installing renewable energy photovoltaic system on the roof. That building achieved an 10.7 percent winter energy consumption saving and a full-year reduction of 20.5 percent, GSA said.
Case studies on savings from building improvements are here: http://www.gsa.gov/portal/mediaId/117638/fileName/Harsh_Winter_Analysis_Recovery_Act_Case_Studies_(1).action
