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National Archives Releases FY 2012 Environmental Scorecard o

PostPosted: Fri May 31, 2013 10:27 am
by admin
National Archives Releases FY 2012 Environmental Scorecard on Sustainability
Agency Reduces Energy Consumption by 27.3 % in one year alone!
Washington, DC…Today, the National Archives released its Fiscal Year 2012 scorecard on sustainability and energy performance. The scorecard is online at www.archives.gov/about/plans-reports/su ... recard.pdf

The National Archives continues to strive for greater environmental sustainability, and these efforts have been recognized: the agency has received top awards including the prestigious Presidential GreenGov Award for Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance in the “Lean, Clean and Green” category, and a Presidential Award for Leadership in Federal Energy Management. Building on these successes, the National Archives will use this scorecard as a benchmark to further track 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. Based on scorecard benchmarks, the Archives will update its Sustainability Plan by June 2013. The current plan is online at www.archives.gov/about/plans-reports/su ... y-plan.pdf

“This scorecard reflects our ongoing commitment to achieving environmental goals outlined in the Executive Order,” said David S. Ferriero, Archivist of the United States. “We are proud to have met our scopes 1 and 2 greenhouse gas reduction goals well ahead of our 2020 target date,” he added.

Despite the energy-intensive mission of preserving America’s documentary heritage within strict temperature and humidity parameters, the National Archives consistently exceeds all goals to decrease energy use per square foot, decrease potable water use per square foot, establish inventories of direct and indirect GHG emissions, and increase renewable energy use.

The National Archives leads the charge in energy reduction. Due to a strong commitment to sustainable operations, the National Archives has been able to implement these and other significant upgrades within its current budget:

· Achieving 27.3% reduction in energy reduction this fiscal year alone;

· Reducing potable water by 11.4%;

· Meeting greenhouse gas reduction target for scopes 1 and 2 well ahead of the 2020 target date and reducing scope 3 emissions by 6.3%;

· Increasing renewable energy usage by 7.7%;

· Installing 180KW of photovoltaic solar panels on the roof of the National Archives at College Park, MD, in the last three years alone. Another 350KW is planned for this fiscal year;

· Installing a new waste heat capture system to reclaim energy before it is exhausted from the building; and

· Installing a new vegetative green roof at the National Archives at College Park.

Areas showing a need for improvement include decreasing fleet petroleum use and incorporating sustainable building practices. Despite the challenges of ever-greater numbers of records being produced and more numerous requests for record pick-ups and deliveries, the agency will continue to pursue alternative fuel vehicles and seek ways to reduce inefficiencies in our fleet. The National Archives recently completed an analysis of its current fleet operations and has submitted the required Vehicle Allocation Methodology to reduce the fleet. Sustainable building practices present several challenges. “Our Presidential Library system has several historic properties, some dating back to the 1940s, making them very difficult to modernize” said Mark Sprouse, National Archives Sustainability Officer.

In contrast, the William Jefferson Clinton Library has achieved LEED Platinum EB (the first existing Federal building to do so), the newly opened George W. Bush Library is also designed and built to LEED Platinum, and the National Archives at College Park is in the process of achieving LEED platinum, which will move the National Archives to a Green score in the sustainable buildings category of the scorecard. In addition, the National Archives has rewritten the Presidential Library Design Guide to incorporate all recent legislation and Executive orders on sustainable building.

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For press information contact the National Archives Public Affairs staff at 202-357-5300.