Energy Efficiency and Net-Zero Buildings: GSA & RMI Answer the Call (Executive Summary)

THE GSA’S COMMITMENTThe nation’s largest landlord is answering President Obama’s call to pursue deep energy savings and net-zero energy in buildings. Earlier this spring, the President and Congress each issued directives that extended aggressive energy efficiency goals into the next decade, drawing attention to topics like net-zero energy and promoting sustainability more broadly in the federal government. Shortly after these mandates were passed, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) held the 2015 Practice Into Performance Workshop, convening the GSA, a variety of other federal agencies, and private energy service companies (ESCOs) to help the federal government achieve deeper energy savings through performance contracting. The event provided the perfect platform for all stakeholders to share past successes, acquire new tools, and break down barriers to achieve deep energy savings.Translating deep energy retrofit best practices into performance is easier said than done, as demonstrated by the relatively low level of savings delivered from energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) throughout the federal government, 19 percent on average. Research and experience demonstrates that we can retrofit buildings economically to deliver much deeper energy, cost, and carbon savings.