GSA Blog

GSA’s Greater Southwest Region continues to succeed in our efforts to become a more sustainable and energy efficient government. In fact, I recently participated in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) awards ceremony for this year’s Federal Green Challenge (FGC) where GSA accepted two awards for our green achievements. The FGC is a national effort led by the EPA to challenge federal agencies nationwide to lead by example in reducing the federal government’s environmental impact.

This is the third year in a row the Greater Southwest Region, which includes Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, took home FGC awards. This year, the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse in Houston received an award for improvements made in the target area of energy. GSA reduced the amount of natural gas consumed at this facility from 980,500 cubic feet in 2014 to 821,800 cubic feet in 2015, resulting in an 16 percent improvement.

The Fort Worth Federal Center in Fort Worth, Texas, received an award for improvements made in the target area of water. GSA was able to reduce the center’s use of potable water by over 500,000 gallons from 2014 to 2015, resulting in a 29 percent improvement.

Programs like the FGC help push the envelope of sustainability across the nation and they help the federal government set the standard when it comes to sustainability. Receiving these awards let us know that we are making a difference in reducing GSA’s environmental footprint and in many cases providing significant cost savings to the American people.

To learn more about GSA’s sustainability efforts, visit GSA’s Greening of Federal Buildings.