This message has been cross posted to the following Discussion Forums: Public Architects Committee and Committee on the Environment .
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Feds tap IBM for building energy-efficiency project By Heather Clancy ' May 23, 2012, 8:30 AM PDT
Smart Planet - CBS Interactive
"Over the past few months, we've reported about the various energy efficiency projects being embraced by government agencies, including various branches of the military.
These initiatives are cropping up in response to the directive signed by President Obama in October 2009 calling for more sustainable operations strategy across the federal government. There's a certain amount of pressure to act, as the feds have roughly three more years to get their act together on this, and I doubt that even a change in the White House administration would reverse this particular initiative. After all, this is about saving taxpayer money.
Because of the vast amount of real estate used by the federal government, energy efficiency measures have been highlighted as a major part of the push to eliminate waste. Various statistics project that commercial buildings use roughly 40 percent of the energy in the United States on an ongoing basis - and the federal government owns approximately 182 million square feet of office space nationwide.
This is why the U.S. General Services Administration's move this week to put IBM in charge of its smarter building projects makes sense. If things go right, it could save more than $15 million annually - working toward the GSA's goal of reducing energy usage across federal buildings at least 30 percent by 2015."
Read more:
http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/business-brains/feds-tap-ibm-for-building-energy-efficiency-project/24267 -------------------------------------------
Ann Harris
The American Institute of Architects
Washington DC
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