The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed by President Obama on February 13, 2009, called for major new construction and the energy-efficient modernization of federal office buildings, courthouses and land ports across the country. This article—which profiles the Denver Federal Center Solar Campus—is the second in a series in which we examine some of the […]
The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (EISA) established new energy-related requirements and standards for federal buildings and for the agencies that oversee them. Specifically, it required GSA to establish an Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings to coordinate green building information and activities within GSA and with other federal agencies. Since then, GSA has […]
In his recent address on climate change at Georgetown University, President Obama announced a new series of federal requirements for energy efficiency. Among them are rules published by the Department of Energy (DOE) requiring new federal buildings to meet or exceed more ambitious energy standards. On July 9 in the Federal Register, the DOE updated the […]
In keeping with our recent focus on investigative and law enforcement agencies, today we’re profiling the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), the nation’s oldest and most versatile federal law enforcement agency. Now a division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ), its mission is to enforce federal laws and support virtually all elements of the federal justice […]
This time last year, we were reporting on the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) surprising delay of membership voting on an updated version of the dominant green building certification system, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). Launched for new construction in 2000, LEED was adopted in 2007 by the federal government for new and […]
“I like it because nothing like it has ever been done that way before.” – Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt commenting on the unique design of the planned War Department headquarters This “Sunday Edition” of our Memorial Day weekend series takes a look at the slice of U.S. history that led to the construction of the […]
When the new Department of the Interior (DOI) headquarters opened in 1936, employees enjoyed the latest in building amenities and technologies: a gymnasium, movable steel office partitions, a soda fountain, and the first air conditioning system…
Donald Trump’s campaign rallies leading into the 2016 election were energized by his pledge to “Drain the Swamp” in the Nation’s Capital. Little did rally-goers know how politics and circumstance would stand in the way of this top Trump administration goal—a complete reorganization, downsizing and dispersion of bureaucracy. The only physical manifestations of those efforts […]
Expatriat British novelist and travel writer Lawrence Durrell, writing in Reflections on a Marine Venus, described a “rare but by no means unknown affliction of spirit” that he dubbed “islomania.” “These are people,” he stated, “who…
On May 30, Portland, Oregon, celebrated the completion of a $139 million renovation of the 18-story Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building (EGWW). First opened in 1975, the boxy, concrete-and-steel high rise, aging home to the IRS,…
Is your bathroom tissue squeezably soft? Does your soap leave your hands germ-free? Advertisers lie awake at night worrying about whether consumers are worrying sufficiently about such things. And as for the federal government—well, officials there have been worrying that suppliers and agency managers haven’t been paying quite enough attention to the environment, whence a […]
Constitution Center (photo: CoStar) As was recently reported in Real Estate Finance and Investment, MetLife is under contract to acquire Constitution Center for what could be the highest total price paid for a building in Washington, DC this year. David Nassif Associates listed the 1.4 MSF office building located at located at 400 7th Street, […]
Among federal agencies, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) score at the top of the class for green building. That’s according to the annual Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Sustainability and Energy Scorecards, released by OMB and the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) on May 31. Since […]
Near the end of his Administration, on December 16, 2016, President Barack Obama made a Republican politician very happy. Jeff Denham, first elected to Congress from California’s 19th District and reelected three times from the redrawn 10th District, had made it a central plank of his first run for the House of Representatives that the […]
