Opportunities To Excel With GSA Bucky Green, Chief Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Federal Environmental Symposium June 6, 2007
Part 1: It’s a Thinking Thing… Know what real estate transactions you have coming up Understand the GSA processes involved Engage GSA early in the process
Part 2: It’s a Thinking Thing… Know what you want Tell people what you want Part 3: It’s a Thinking Thing… Stay involved with GSA in the process Support GSA to get what you want
Part 1: It’s a Thinking Thing… Know what real estate transactions you have coming up Understand the GSA processes involved Engage GSA early in the process
Boston Regional Office GSA-owned building construction Renovation of a 1930’s GSA Courthouse and Post Office EPA will be the lead tenant
Boston Regional Office (continued) Dec. 2000: General Project Scoping Meeting: GSA must hire a design team to develop plans for the building Apr. 2001: Letter to GSA Chief Architect, Ed Feiner: “EPA views environmental performance as an intrinsic part of Design Excellence” Nov. 2001: Commerce Business Daily Notice for Boston A/E Services includes energy efficiency, green building and LEED ® in experience requirements
Boston Regional Office (continued) Spring 2002: Evaluations of design teams resulted in a team that had the basic skills, plus: –Extensive experience in historic preservation –Strong LEED and energy experience FY Design completed FY Renovations started FY 2009/ EPA begins occupancy as lead tenant
Denver Regional Office GSA lease with private developer Built to suit Two-stage design competition
Denver Regional Office (continued) First Stage Evaluation of development teams. Only five teams to move forward to second stage Evaluation factors included: –Experience with LEED buildings –LEED professionals on team –History of green building projects –Involvement with projects of similar complexity –Quality of design of completed projects –Ability to perform
Denver Regional Office (continued) Second Stage Evaluation of offers Evaluation factors: –Environmental performance –Functionality –Design quality Offerors knew what the evaluation criteria would be
Seattle Regional Office GSA lease extension Update environmental performance requirements in the lease Seattle: Quarterly energy reporting by landlord to EPA Next lease renewal: quarterly recycling and solid waste reporting
Part 2: It’s a Thinking Thing… Know what you want Tell people what you want
Know What You Want Big Picture Don’t need all the answers on day one But, you need to be thinking about what you want from day one No, the answer to this question is not: “I need 100,000 square feet of office space in this geographic area.” You also need to know what your environmental project goals are: – I want a building that my clients and customers will want to work in – I want and energy-efficient building – I want a LEED Silver certified building – I want a water-efficient building
Know What You Want (continued) Focusing and Firming Up Requirements Need to include energy efficiency requirements in the GSA documents –Design requirements: 30% better than ASHRAE –Performance requirements: ENERGY STAR ® Building certification required –Include LEED-EB requirements in the lease –Require submission of energy models
Know What You Want (continued) Minimum LEED Silver certification requirements: –Make offerors submit their preliminary scorecard with their offers –Make some LEED points mandatory –Add your own minimum environmental performance criteria
Know What You Want (continued) Use multiple approaches to specifications—design standards and performance standards Many sources of specifications, lessons learned, technical support GSA is continually updating and upgrading the environmental requirements of its standard SFO
Tell People What You Want Internal agency environmental goal statements Goals statement with GSA team Pre-bid conference, stressing environmental as well as other requirements Include a vision statement early in SFO Let competing firms know they will be evaluated on environmental performance criteria General and specific design and performance standards
Part 3: It’s a Thinking Thing… Ask about what you want Be involved in the process Support GSA to get what you want
Ask About What You Want What you ask about tells the team (GSA/developer/contractor) what is important to you Monitor submissions, ask questions Require monthly meetings on environmental issues Ask for environmental performance documentation early—reminds the entire team what is important
Be Involved in the Process Don’t be afraid to treat GSA as a paid consultant You are being charged a hefty fee and deserve good services for what you are paying for Support your GSA contracting officer: –Moral support –Engagement –Technical support –Agency management to GSA management support
Engage early. Know the process. Partner with GSA!
Contact Us EPA’s Sustainable Facilities Practices Branch Bucky Green