AHPBC Applauds Green Building Language in House Appropriations Report

Washington (June 25, 2014) – The American High-Performance Buildings Coalition (AHPBC), an organization of leading associations representing a wide range of interests in the building and construction industry, issued a statement today in support of green building report language included in the FY 2015 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill passed earlier this week by the House Committee on Appropriations.

“We applaud the House Committee on Appropriations for its continued commitment to improve our federal green building policy. This report language is the strongest to date in its support of the goal of reducing federal building expenses through the efficient use of energy. Importantly the report language strongly encourages competition among green building systems used by the federal government where it states that ‘no third-party certification program has a monopoly on how to attain efficiency, much less sustainability.’ The language further clarifies this point by directing the General Services Administration to ‘encourage competition among systems and savings for federal agencies and U.S. taxpayers by directly and clearly encouraging federal agencies to use any recommended system that meets their needs on a project-by-project basis’ rather than agencies adopting just one system. In a nod toward ensuring that green building systems used by the federal government are developed with expert stakeholder input, the report language indicates that ‘a strong preference should always be expressed for systems that are developed as voluntary consensus standards.’

“The American High-Performance Buildings Coalition views the green building report language included in the FY 2015 Financial Services and General Government Appropriations bill as further evidence of the positive impact we have had on improvements to our federal green building policy. We will continue to advocate for policies that make certain that federal buildings achieve increased energy efficiency, better building performance and deliver sustainable outcomes with real results. With the right policies in place, we can reduce the federal government’s overall energy use, save taxpayer funds and ensure our nation’s approach to energy efficiency is effective, credible and sustainable for the long term.

“This report language is another step in the right direction along this path; we are encouraged and look forward to seeing this bill advance through the legislative process.”

To view the House Financial Services Appropriations Report Language, visit http://appropriations.house.gov/uploadedfiles/hrpt-113-hr-fy2015-fservices.pdf.