Sustainability/Energy Scorecard
Sustainability/Energy Scorecard
As part of our commitment to open, transparent government, Interior joins other Federal agencies in posting its fiscal year 2010 Office of Management and Budget Sustainability/Energy Scorecard that rates each agencies sustainability and energy performance. This is the very first time that Federal agencies are posting these scorecards publicly.
Using this scorecard as a benchmark, Interior will continue to identify and track the best opportunities to reduce pollution, improve efficiency, and cut costs. Under Executive Order 13514, President Obama directed Federal agencies to lead by example in clean energy; and to meet a range of energy, water, pollution, and waste reduction targets.
This scorecard serves as an important tool to help us develop targets to reduce greenhouse gases and waste, and increase efficiency in our operations. Based on scorecard benchmarks, Interior will update our Sustainability Plan this June.
Some of the ambitious sustainability goals that Interior has committed to include:
- Reducing direct greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. vehicle emissions) and certain indirect greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. purchased electricity) by 20 percent by 2020
- Reducing other indirect greenhouse gas emissions (e.g. airline business travel) by 9 percent by 2020
- Working toward making15 percent of our existing buildings and building leases meet “green” standards by 2015 (5,000 gross square feet threshold for existing buildings and building leases)
- Reducing potable water consumption intensity by 26 percent by 2020
- Reducing industrial landscaping and agricultural water consumption by 20 percent by 2020
- Diverting at least 50 percent nonhazardous solid waste and construction and demolition debris by 2015
- Ensuring that 95 percent of all new contract actions include green requirements
Interior is meeting goals to decrease energy use per square foot; decrease potable water use per square foot; decrease fleet petroleum use; establish inventories of direct and indirect GHG emissions; and, increase renewable energy use.
Interior has reduced our energy intensity (consumption rate) by 24.5% compared to 2003; uses 7.9% of facility electricity use from renewable sources; has reduced potable water intensity by 9.2% compared to 2007, and reduced fleet petroleum use by 10.8% compared to 2005.
Some notable accomplishments from 2010 include:
- Fish and Wildlife Service Assabet River NWR, Massachusetts, completed the construction of a new 6,670 square-foot Visitor Center. The green building uses a geothermal HVAC system and solar PV electric power. In addition, the visitor center site includes two solar PV-powered gates and several solar PV lights in the parking lots.
- Bureau of Reclamation and Bonneville Power Administration installed energy efficient lights in more than 10,000 fixtures at the northern Washington dam on the Columbia River. The combined energy savings means the 6,809-megawatt dam – the largest power plant in the country – is delivering about one additional megawatt of renewable energy to the region. The nearly 9 million kilowatt hours of added electricity per year could power nearly all U.S. household televisions tuned into the Super Bowl. The Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 10 recognized the $1.2 million lighting retrofit with its 2010 Champions of Environmental Leadership and Green Government Award at the annual Federal Green Challenge Symposium in Portland.
- Seventeen National Park units purchased 9,100 megawatt hours of renewable electricity from their utility providers. Most notably: the National Mall, Washington, DC; Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming; Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado; Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado; and Lincoln Home National Historic Site, Illinois.
- BIA completed the construction of its net zero energy Nazlini Fire Station in March 2011. Net zero energy means that this building generates as much energy as it consumes.
Areas showing a need for improvement include ensuring that 95% of Interior contracts include green requirements and increasing Interior’s percentage of sustainable buildings To address areas that need improvement, Interior will continue to provide quarterly training for procurement staff and implement green strategic sourcing contracts to ensure purchase of green products. Also, a Technical Work Group on Sustainable Buildings, comprising experts from bureaus and offices across the Department, is continuing work on a sustainable buildings strategy and implementation plan to help make 15% of the Department’s building inventory green by 2015.
In order to reach our sustainability goals, we’re tapping into one of our greatest strengths as a Department: the passion and ingenuity of our employees. Therefore, the body we created to oversee implementation of our sustainability programs is the Sustainability Council, a multi-level organization that includes representatives from employees at all levels, from all bureaus.
Every person working at the Department is a part of our sustainability program either directly through the Council or indirectly through its activities. Interior employees should visit the Department’s employee intranet, oneInterior.net, for guidance about how employees can help us meet our sustainability goals.