On October 5, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order (EO) 13514 – called Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance – aimed at making ambitious and broad improvements in the overall sustainability of the federal government. All federal agencies are required to inventory their greenhouse gas emissions, set targets to reduce their emissions by 2020, and develop a plan for meeting a wide range of goals for improving sustainability, such as water efficiency, reducing waste, sustainable community development planning, high performance buildings, sustainable acquisition, electronics stewardship, and environmental management.
Within 90 Days: Submit Scope 1 and 2 GHG Reduction Targets
By January 4, 2010, all federal agencies must submit greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, relative to an FY 2008 baseline, for the two main categories (or scopes) of GHGs, called Scope 1 and Scope 2. Scope 1 GHGs are direct emissions from the use of fuel, such as gasoline in vehicles, propane in cafeterias, and natural gas in furnaces. Scope 2 refers to indirect GHG emissions resulting from the use of electricity, steam, hot water, and chilled water purchased by the agency.
Within 240 Days: Submit Scope 3 GHG Reduction Targets and Sustainability Plan
By June 2, 2010, each agency must develop reduction targets for the third category of GHG emissions, called Scope 3. These include employee commuting and business travel as well as GHG emissions resulting from the goods and services provided to each agency by their vendors and suppliers. Agencies also have until this time to submit a Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan detailing how agencies will meet the various sustainability requirements of the EO. The scope of the EO is far reaching, going beyond the measurement, reporting, and reduction of GHG emissions to embrace the key fundamentals of sustainability, including:
- Water use efficiency
- Stormwater management
- Minimization of hazardous and solid wastes
- Planning for communities that are more livable and less carbon intensive
- Low-carbon sources of energy
- High-performance, resource-efficient buildings
- Sustainable acquisition
- Electronics stewardship
- Environmental management
The EO requires the Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan to be a comprehensive blueprint covering:
- Sustainability goals and targets, including GHG reduction targets
- Integration with overall agency strategic planning and budgeting process
- All activities, policies, plans, procedures, goals, schedules, & milestones needed to implement the EO
- Performance metrics and evaluation of projects based on lifecycle return on investment
- The involvement of federal employees in achieving the sustainability goals
- Climate change adaptation planning
Every year the Plan is to be updated and progress towards its goals reported.
Within 15 months: Report Comprehensive Inventory of GHG Emissions
Agencies have 15 months – until January 5, 2011 – to submit an inventory of all GHG emissions occurring in FY 2010.
Milestones and Tasks to Reach Sustainability Goals
Each of the sustainability goals in the EO has a set of specific requirements and milestones needed to achieve the goals. Some examples are provided in the table.
Sustainability Goal |
Specific Milestones & Tasks |
Strategic Planning |
- Federal agencies must designate a Senior Sustainability Officer
|
Sustainable Asset Management, BuildingsReduce energy intensity in federal buildings, increase use of renewable energy projects on agency property, reduce the use of fossil fuels by optimizing vehicle fleets, and pursue sustainable strategies in managing current and future assets and their disposal. |
- 15% of existing buildings and leases with more than 5,000 gross sq ft will meet Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings by FY 2015.
- All new buildings built after 2020 designed to be net-zero by FY 2030.
- Petroleum consumption by all agency vehicle fleets with greater than 20 vehicles reduced by a minimum of 2% annually through FY 2020 relative to FY 2005
|
Water Efficiency and ManagementIdentify, promote, and implement strategies to reduce water consumption, promote water reuse, and achieve stormwater management objectives. |
- Water use intensity reduced 2% per year through FY 2020, or 26% by the end of FY 2020, relative to FY 2007.
- Reduce industrial, landscaping, and agricultural water consumption by 2% annually through FY 2020, or 20% by the end of FY 2020, against a FY 2010 consumption baseline
|
Pollution Prevention, Waste EliminationMinimize generation of waste and pollutants, printing paper use, the quantity of toxic chemicals acquired, used, or disposed of, and the amount of organic material in the waste stream. |
- Divert 50% of non-hazardous solid waste by end of FY 2015
- Divert 50% of construction and demolition material and debris by end of FY 2015
|
Acquisitions, Planning, StewardshipIntegrate sustainability efforts with regional and local stakeholders, advance sustainable acquisitions, promote electronics stewardship, and sustain environmental management. |
- Ensure that 95% of new contract actions for new products and services are energy-efficient, water-efficient, bio-based, environmentally preferable, non-ozone depleting, contain recycled content, or are non-toxic or less toxic alternatives
|
How Can Noblis Help?
Noblis is a non-profit science, technology, and strategy organization that helps clients solve complex scientific systems, process, and infrastructure problems in ways that benefit the public. With demonstrated capabilities in strategic planning, climate change adaptation, energy and environmental sustainability advisory, and GHG emissions baselines, reporting, and verification, the Noblis Center for Sustainability is uniquely positioned to help all federal agencies design, develop, and implement the sustainability initiatives required by EO 13514. Noblis has also developed a planning tool for the General Services Administration to assist with GHG inventories and planning GHG reductions strategies. More information is available at http://green.noblis.org/ or by contacting Bob Wassmann at rwassman@noblis.org or 703.610.1744.
Executive Order 13514: Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance