The U.S. Government Finally Goes Green - Sustainable Design

The U.S. Treasury has always been known to give out a little green; however, this time we aren’t talking about money.The Treasury has recently obtained the coveted LEED Gold certification as an energy-efficient building. This certification is awarded on several different criteria, such as: increasing the use of natural daylight to reduce energy consumption, developing and implementing advanced control and management of the heating ventilation and air-conditioning systems, and enhancing recycling and maximizing the conservation of materials.

In 2009, President Barack Obama initiated a federal order that encouraged government agencies to lead the way on sustainability with hopes to manage systems more effectively and less expensively. The U.S. Treasury was the first government agency to successfully convert to an energy-efficient building.

The Treasury building alone has reduced its operating costs by $3.5 million annually. In addition to a 43 percent decrease in the use of drinkable water, a 7 percent decrease in electricity use, a 53 percent decrease in the use of steam, as well as the addition of 164 extra workstations. In this instance, going green definitely paid off. President Obama hopes the U.S. Treasury building can lead by example, and encourage other government buildings to do the same.

"They are leading by example," said Lane Burt, policy director of the Government Green Council. "What they do is incredibly important and progressive because the building is already built. Everything they did was shown to improve their efficiency.”

The U.S. Treasury building is the oldest federal building to earn a top certification, which means the rest of the government should be relatively easy in its conversion to go green.Clearly, by embracing sustainable design, facilities such as the U.S. Treasury have been able to save a great deal of money and energy. Going green lowers your own costs, while eliminating negative effects on the environment.