Department of Energy Requests Proposals for Green Building Recognition
The Department of Energy Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Building Technologies Program (BTP) is looking to recognize groups that qualify to be part of the High-Performance Green Building Partnership Consortia. The Consortia will be consulted to develop a report to Congress. The members of Consortia will represent the private and public sector. The Consortia will have meetings with the BTP to develop a biennial report to Congress on the status of the commercial building initiative and the status of State and local level activities.
For a group to be recognized as part of the Consortia include the following:
1. Design Professionals and national associations of architects and engineers
2. Development, construction, financial and real estate industries.
3. Building owners from the public and private sectors.
4. Academic and research organizations.
5. Building code agencies and organizations.
6. Independent high-performance green building associations or councils.
7. Experts in indoor air quality and environmental factors, intelligent buildings and integrated building information systems and the public transportation industry.
8. Utility energy efficiency programs.
9. Manufacturers and providers of equipment and techniques used in high-performance green buildings.
10. Non-governmental energy efficiency organizations.
All requests for recognition must be submitted by the end of January 2009.
As a side note, the DOE included some interesting statistics in the Notice which, although widely known, always seem to remind me about how important energy efficiency should be to the US.
There are 4.7 million commercial buildings in the US. They have a collective footprint of 74 billion square feet. The public and private sectors spend $286 billion per year in new construction and $177 billion per year in renovations. Commercial buildings consume 18% of the nation's primary energy and 35% of its electricity. Commercial buildings consume 18 quadrillion BTUs annually. The total annual utility bill for Commercial buildings exceeds $155 billion. Together, the private and public sector invests over a $500 billion in the commercial sector of the built environment.
