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Sustainable design optimizes building performance and minimizes negative impacts on building occupants and the environment. We incorporate sustainable design and energy efficiency principles into our construction and modernization projects, balancing cost, environmental, societal, and human benefits that help meet our tenant agencies’ mission objectives and functional needs.
Sustainable design principles aim to:
Sustainable design is an integrated, holistic approach that positively impacts all phases of a building’s life-cycle and encourages compromise and tradeoffs.
Per the 2005 Energy Policy Act , federal agencies must design buildings to achieve energy efficiency at least 30 percent better than ASHRAE 90.1 standards.
Federal agencies must follow the 2020 Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings and optimize buildings’ performance while maximizing assets’ life-cycle value. Federal agencies must make annual progress toward 100 percent portfolio compliance with the Guiding Principles. Track our progress to meeting federal guiding principles and practices of sustainable buildings in our story map.
Use the Sustainable Design Checklist [PDF - 80 KB] to track new construction and major renovation projects’ compliance with the Guiding Principles in the categories of integrated design, energy, water, indoor environmental quality, materials, and resilience. Regional project delivery teams report Guiding Principles compliance, among other sustainability details, via GSA’s Kahua Sustainability App.
Per the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 [PDF] , new GSA buildings and major renovations must:
Per Executive Order 14057 (which superseded prior sustainability Executive Orders 13423, 13514, 13693, and 13834), federal government agencies must, among other things:
View our 2018 Impact of High-Performance Buildings study to see how buildings with sustainable design save money, save water, cost less to operate, produce less waste, and have more satisfied occupants than typical buildings.
We use the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green building certification system to evaluate and measure achievements in sustainable design. New construction and substantial renovation of GSA-controlled facilities must be LEED® Gold at a minimum.
Use the Sustainable Facilities Tool as a resource regarding sustainable building principles, materials, and systems. Targeted to help project personnel identify and prioritize cost-effective, sustainable strategies for small projects, the tool helps users understand and select environmentally preferable solutions for renovations, alterations, and leases.
To learn more about how we integrate sustainable design into project delivery, contact Lance Davis (lance.davis@gsa.gov) or pbsvend@gsa.gov.
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Rates for Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories and possessions are set by the Department of Defense.
Rates for foreign countries are set by the Department of State.
Rates are available between 10/1/2022 and 09/30/2025.
The End Date of your trip can not occur before the Start Date.
Traveler reimbursement is based on the location of the work activities and not the accommodations, unless lodging is not available at the work activity, then the agency may authorize the rate where lodging is obtained.
Unless otherwise specified, the per diem locality is defined as "all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city, including independent entities located within those boundaries."
Per diem localities with county definitions shall include"all locations within, or entirely surrounded by, the corporate limits of the key city as well as the boundaries of the listed counties, including independent entities located within the boundaries of the key city and the listed counties (unless otherwise listed separately)."
When a military installation or Government - related facility(whether or not specifically named) is located partially within more than one city or county boundary, the applicable per diem rate for the entire installation or facility is the higher of the rates which apply to the cities and / or counties, even though part(s) of such activities may be located outside the defined per diem locality.
U.S. General Services Administration