Interagency Sustainability Working Group
ISWG Member Site
The ISWG's password-protected member site contains meeting reports, working documents and references such as Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Agency Implementation Plans. All federal representatives can access the password protected site by submitting an email to Perry Luksin.
The Interagency Sustainability Working Group (ISWG) was established in September 2001 in response to Executive Order 13123–Greening the Government Through Efficient Energy Management. Under the new executive order, Executive Order 13423–Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management, issued in January 2007, the ISWG is charged by the executive order Steering Committee to provide interagency assistance for implementing the E.O. 13423 sustainable building design requirements. Chaired by FEMP, the Working Group is composed of approximately 300 representatives registered in the ISWG database. The membership consists of 249 members from 20 Federal departments and agencies and 35 selected members from the private sector, industry, and academia. Forty to fifty active members from the ISWG attend bi-monthly meetings in Washington, D.C. or remotely by conference call to keep abreast on agency-wide sustainable design projects and policies.
The purpose of the ISWG is to:
- Serve as a forum for the exchange of information within the federal government on individual agency sustainable design activities;
- Foster and encourage each Executive Branch department and agency to consider the adoption of sustainable design practices and the technologies in new federally owned, operated, and leased buildings as well as major renovations of existing federal facilities; and
- Identify and propose solutions to barriers for the adoption of sustainable design in the federal sector.
Some of following documents are available as Adobe Acrobat PDFs. Download Adobe Reader.
Accomplishments
- FEMP Working Group Views Sustainable Design Features at Federal Facilities, FEMP Focus 2007 Winter Issue (PDF 1.9 MB) (page 13)
- Detailed summary of the Interagency Sustainability Working Group for 2001-2006, as described in The White House Closing the Circle Awards 2007 Nominations (PDF 259 KB)
- Interagency Sustainability Working Group: Our Mission is to Make Sustainable Design, Construction and Operation in the Federal Sector "Business as Usual" (PDF 260 KB)
ISWG Newsletter
The ISWG newsletter provides timely information on topics relevant to Federal sustainable design activities.
September 2007 Issue (PDF 600 KB)
- SWG Accomplishments
- Overview of Federal Sustainable Design Successes
- Showcase of Federal Resources
- Summary of Non-Federal Resources
- Update on Federal LEED® Certified Buildings
- Recap of Federal ENERGY STAR® Buildings
- Selection of Federal Sustainable Design Case Studies
- Synopsis of Federal Sustainable Design Program
- Calendar of Events
March 2007 Issue (PDF 486 KB)
- ISWG FY06 Accomplishments
- Upcoming Events
- Federal LEED® Certified Buildings
- Federal ENERGY STAR® Buildings
- Other Sustainable Building Rating Systems
- Federal Resources—Selection of Guides, Reports, Studies, and Tools
- Non-Federal Resources—Selection of Guides, Reports, Studies, and Tools
White House Summit on Federal Sustainable Buildings
On January 24-25, 2006, more than 150 top Federal facilities managers and decision makers met at the White House Conference Center for the first-ever "White House Summit on Federal Sustainable Buildings" sponsored by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE).
Two major highlights of the White House Summit were the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings and the introduction of OMB's new Executive Management Scorecards.
On January 24, the MOU was signed by 17 federal agencies including Department of Defense (DOD), Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), General Services Administration (GSA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Interior (DOI), Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Department of Agriculture (USDA) and others. The signatory agencies pledged to make their facilities more sustainable in specific, measurable ways, highlighting energy efficiency. The ISWG developed the guiding principles that were the foundation of the MOU. Strong support for sustainable Federal buildings was expressed by senior officials from agencies including OMB, the Council on Environmental Quality, OFEE, GSA, DOD, DOI and DOE. The complete document, including signatories, is available at FedCenter.gov.
On January 25, OMB introduced the new draft Executive Management Scorecards for environment, energy and transportation. The environmental scorecard now includes sustainable design for buildings. The new scorecard structure resembles the structure of scorecards that OMB uses to assess agency performance in implementing the President's Management Agenda.
For more information on the White House Summit on Federal Sustainable Buildings, including the agenda, conference proceedings, press release, media coverage, participants, and handouts, please visit FedCenter.gov.
Technical Guidance to Implement the MOU for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings
The ISWG is providing technical guidance for the implementing the Guiding Principles of the MOU. This technical guidance information is now available on the Sustainable MOU section of the Whole Building Design Guide.
Highlights of Featured Presentations from ISWG meetings
- Integrating Sustainable Practices into an Environmental Management Systems, presentation by Will Garvey, Environmental Protection Agency (PDF 256 KB)
- ENERGY STAR® Portfolio Manager, Target Finder, and Cash Flow Opportunity Calculator; presentation by Julio Rovi, Cadmus Group (PDF 1.2 MB)
- Evaluating the Energy Performance of the First Generation of LEED-Certified Commercial Buildings, presentation by Christopher Payne, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (PDF 700 KB)
- ISWG Ranked Priorities, presentation by Matthew Gray, Federal Energy Management Program (PDF 282 KB)
- Incorporating the Data Collection Protocol and the MOU Guiding Principles into the High Performance Buildings Database, presentation by Sara Farrar-Nagy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (PDF 425 KB)
- Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design version 3.0, discussion led by Tom Hicks, USGBC Vice President for LEED, and Joel Todd, USGBC Vice Chair for LEED Steering Committee (PDF 89 KB)
- Department of Defense Study on the Impact of the Energy Policy Act with a Focus on Energy Requirements, presentation by Dennis Talton, Naval Facilities Engineering Command, and Bambi Tran, Steven Winters Associates (PDF 237 KB)
- Planning, Budgeting, Acquisition, and Management of Capital Assets, presentation by Cyndi Vallina, Office of Management and Budget (PDF 208 KB), including OMB Circular A-11
- Advanced Building Guidelines, presentation by Jim Edelson, New Buildings Institute (PDF 357 KB)
Federal LEED Accredited Professionals
The US Green Building Council maintains a database of LEED Accredited Professionals (AP). Visit LEED Accredited Professionals, enter an agency in the affiliation field, and click search. The database will generate a list of LEED APs for the chosen agency.