Nearly $1B Earmarked For Federal Building Retrofits

‍Fifth Wall Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/fifthwall/nearly-1b-for-federal-building-retrofits 

Some federal buildings across the U.S. are getting major clean energy and energy efficiency upgrades, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) recently announced.

• $975 million in Inflation Reduction Act funding will enable 28 buildings to achieve net zero emissions and 100 more will become all-electric
• 40 million square feet will be impacted by the investment which is about 20% of GSA’s federal building portfolio

What do these retrofits entail?

• The work includes electrifying the largest building in GSA's portfolio, the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in D.C. 
• That means installing heat pumps to operate as the primary heating source, 57,000 LED lights, 500 high efficiency transformers, and installing a reverse osmosis groundwater recovery system
• It’ll reduce the building’s energy usage by 40 percent and allow for about $6.3 million in savings every year from reduced energy costs

Reaching net-zero goals: This investment puts GSA three-quarters of the way toward meeting the Federal Building Performance Standard released last year which aims to cut energy use and electrify systems in 30 percent of federal building space by 2030, according to the agency.

Bottom line: “Real estate is responsible for 40 percent of global CO2 emissions,” writes Brendan Wallace, Fifth Wall’s co-founder and managing partner. 

“Even with all of this new development, it's estimated that two-thirds of 2050's building stock is already built. That means it's important to invest in energy retrofits that increase operational efficiency.”