Presidential Federal Sustainability Awards

On February 2, 2023, the Department of Defense (DOD) cut the ribbon on the Edwards Air Force Base Solar Array, a record-setting solar project located in California. This solar array is a critical element of the larger Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage Project, which encompasses more than 4,000 acres of private and public land.

The Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage Project is one of the world's largest solar and battery storage projects, the result of a novel land management agreement that marks the largest private–public partnership within the DOD. Under the Air Force's Enhanced Use Lease program, private developers can lease and develop Air Force property in exchange for cash or in-kind consideration at or above fair market value. The Edwards Sanborn Solar Storage Project is anticipated to yield cash rent consideration of over $75.8 million over the life of the 35-year lease while providing up to 1,300 megawatts (MW) of clean, carbon-free electricity to the grid—enough to power 238,000 homes annually. The project’s battery energy storage system provides 970 MW of energy storage.

With more than 1,000 workers contributing to the construction of this project, the Edwards Air Force Base Solar Array project demonstrates how the Federal Government can lead by example with tackling the climate crisis while catalyzing America's clean energy jobs and industries.

On July 28, 2023, the Department of Energy (DOE) launched its innovative Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, which seeks to initially transform more than 34,000 acres of DOE-owned lands—many of which were formerly used for the nation's nuclear weapons production and government-sponsored nuclear energy research—into sites of clean energy generation. Working with industry, Federal entities, Tribes, communities, states, and local officials, DOE is exploring opportunities to lease DOE land for the buildout of utility-scale carbon pollution-free electricity (CFE) projects at the following five sites: Hanford Site, Richland, Washington; Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, Idaho; Nevada National Security Site, Nye County, Nevada; Savannah River Site, Aiken, South Carolina; and Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, Carlsbad, New Mexico.

On June 5, 2024, DOE announced the first two proposed projects selected under this initiative that would produce 400 megawatts (MW) of solar power—enough to power 70,000 homes—within the 890-square-mile INL site. Through its Cleanup to Clean Energy initiative, DOE has answered President Biden's call for Federal agencies to transition to 100% CFE by 2030 and to authorize the use of Federal real property assets for the development of new clean electricity generation and storage. DOE plans on announcing more sites before the end of the year.

On April 18, 2023, the U.S. Mission in Japan became the first U.S. diplomatic mission with multiple facilities in a country to procure 100% carbon pollution-free electricity (CFE), demonstrating climate leadership on the international stage. Transitioning to CFE required Mission Japan, in collaboration with staff at the Department of State’s Washington D.C.-based Greening Diplomacy Initiative, to seek out CFE power providers for the U.S. Embassy and Ambassador's Residence in Tokyo and the five Consulates throughout Japan. With this shift to CFE, Mission Japan is able to eliminate the harmful greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil-fueled electricity sources, thereby becoming a better neighbor to their communities while providing a blueprint for other diplomatic missions to follow.

Since 2023, both the U.S. Embassy in Bogota, Colombia, and the Consulate in Porto Alegre, Brazil, have replicated the model, and more are expected to follow over the coming year. The U.S. Mission in Japan demonstrates how Federal agencies located abroad can accelerate progress toward President Biden's net-zero Federal emissions goal and advance President Biden's charge for the Federal Government to lead by example in tackling the climate crisis.

On October 23, 2023, the Biden-Harris Administration made history by entering into a first-of-its kind 24/7 carbon pollution-free electricity (CFE) contract with the utility Entergy Arkansas to power Federal facilities in Arkansas with locally supplied 100% CFE. The agreement marked the first-ever whole-of-government commitment to procure 24/7 CFE and was the result of an ambitious effort led by the General Services Administration (GSA). Procuring locally supplied 24/7 CFE means that the Federal Government's real-time demand for electricity is met at every hour with clean energy that is produced within the same regional grid where the electricity is consumed.

GSA's approach allowed the U.S. Government, as the nation's largest electricity consumer, to use its buying power to spur demand for clean CFE while saving taxpayer dollars.

Along with GSA, the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, Health and Human Services, the Interior, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs have all committed to use Entergy Arkansas' newly created 24/7 CFE green tariff product.

Through this action, the Federal Government's demand for 24/7 CFE will drive new clean energy projects and jobs in Arkansas while delivering cleaner air for Arkansans.

In 2022, U.S. Army Fort Hunter Liggett (FHL) in California broke ground on a state-of-the-art microgrid that incorporates solar generation and battery energy storage. A microgrid is a self-contained electrical distribution system that is capable of operating during a utility grid outage. FHL's microgrid project includes adding 3.75 megawatts (MW) of photovoltaic electric generation to the 3 MW already existing, a 5 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery storage system, and 13 new smart electrical distribution switches. Expected to be completed in Fall 2024, FHL's microgrid will enable the base to maintain critical operations for at least 14 days in the event of a grid power disruption, while also making it the first U.S. Army base to achieve net-zero energy status. Notably, in 2022 the U.S. Army announced its strategy to install a microgrid on every Army installation by 2035.

As one of eight installations that Army has designated as Net Zero Energy pilots, meaning an installation produces as much energy as it uses annually—FHL is on a sustainability journey in which the microgrid is just the latest step. Staff have already reduced the installation's energy use intensity by over 60%, phased out the use of fuel oil, reduced propane use by over 70%, and incorporated a variety of heat pump solutions. President Biden set bold goals for Federal sustainability in his Federal Sustainability Plan, and Fort Hunter Liggett's efforts to achieve net-zero energy emissions help the Federal Government achieve those goals.

In 2018, Tyndall Air Force Base (AFB) in Florida, a critical asset for the nation's defense strategy, sustained a direct hit from Hurricane Michael, destroying almost 500 buildings on base. The Department of Defense used Tyndall AFB’s reconstruction as an opportunity to redevelop Tyndall AFB into a resilient, sustainable, and technologically advanced "Installation of the Future."

A significant part in bolstering the resilience of the base is addressing the risks that arise from coastal flooding and erosion. As part of its master plan, the Tyndall AFB Rebuild Team is executing a series of pilot projects that use nature-based solutions to reduce coastal flood risks. Whereas coastal defenses can take many forms, such as walls and levees, nature-based solutions leverage natural features to increase resilience by slowing flooding or dampening waves.

Staff at Tyndall AFB are implementing the use of a "living shoreline," a long, narrow structure composed of natural materials like plants, rocks, and sand that can stabilize eroding coastlines. Staff are also exploring building an oyster reef breakwater, a structure composed of seagrass and oysters, with the goal of having the oysters build and repair wave blocking reefs on their own.

By integrating nature-based coastal resilience solutions into its rebuild plan, Tyndall AFB is serving as a model for other coastal Federal facilities that need to adapt to the changing climate.

As part of its Lifting Communities Up initiative, focused on rebuilding underserved communities by creating good Internal Revenue Service (IRS) jobs for people in those communities, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) selected Puerto Rico in 2020 as the site for what would become the largest call center of any Federal agency. Today, eight centers of the new IRS call site are in operation, with the remaining center set to open in December 2024. Not only will this new call site create up to 2,000 new jobs in an area with a median household income of less than $21,000, but Treasury built all of the centers to withstand extreme weather events.

Due to Puerto Rico's location, it is particularly vulnerable to hurricanes, which can cause widespread destruction and impose a disproportionate economic, environmental, and public health burden on the American families living there. The new IRS call site was built with resiliency features to minimize the risk of weather-related disruptions to operations, including full-load facility generators, showers for critical personnel, and clean water availability. The call centers, which are strategically located across the island, can also serve as shelter for employees if needed. Treasury's new hurricane-resilient customer call site in Puerto Rico is a best-in-class example of what President Biden is trying to achieve through his Federal Sustainability Plan: strengthening the Federal Government's climate resilience while creating good paying jobs and building safer communities.

In 2018, the Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaboration convened a group of partners who had been working together on restoration projects for over a decade; together, they formed the Rogue Forest Partners (RFP). Composed of other Federal agencies, state agencies, and non-profits, RFP has set an ambitious goal of reducing wildfire risk by 70% across a span of over 4.6 million acres of public and private lands, while enhancing wildlife habitat and creating good jobs in the process.

Following the latest science and using a collaborative approach, the RFP has applied a multi-year phased strategy to increase the resilience of the forestlands within the Rogue Basin through controlled burns and ecological thinning. In addition to reducing forest density and lowering wildfire risks to communities and old-growth habitats, these practices also create good jobs in timber thinning and revenue for local mills. The RFP receives funding from a variety of sources, including under President's Biden Investing in America agenda, and serves as replicable model of using partnerships to accelerate progress while delivering on President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan goal to strengthen the resilience of Federal agencies and lands to the impacts of climate change.

Understanding, adapting to, and mitigating climate change impacts requires cooperation across every level of a Federal agency. With this in mind, the senior leadership of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recognized the importance of understanding the principles of climate change so that its 260,000-strong workforce could make more informed decisions about anticipated climate impacts to DHS's infrastructure, programs, and operations.

In January 2022, the Department launched a two-year program to recruit recent graduates and current Federal employees to support the Department's growing focus on adapting to climate change and improving resilience to deepen climate literacy across its large workforce. The Climate Change Professionals (CPP) Program was established through the Secretary's Honors Program and is managed under the leadership of the DHS Climate Change Action Group. The CCP Program is instrumental in helping the Department adapt to our changing climate with hands-on experience and guidance to young professionals interested in adaptation and resilience.

Together, the CCPs produced the Department's first-ever Climate Literacy Strategy to ensure all employees across the Department have a sufficient understanding of climate change and its relevance to the DHS mission. As an objective under the Climate Literacy Strategy, the CCPs also produced a DHS Climate Change 101 training. DHS's innovative CCP Program quickly boosted the Department's capacity to meet President Biden's Federal sustainability goals while also bolstering employee engagement and training to meet those goals.

In the last 20 years, global annual production of plastic has more than doubled. Plastic packaging alone accounts for 40% of all plastic produced, and many of these packaging products are single-use, unrecyclable, difficult to recycle, or frequently littered. To address this challenge, President Biden's December 2021 Federal Sustainability Plan charged agencies to take action to maximize the procurement of sustainable products and services.

In June 2022, Secretary Deb Haaland signed Secretary's Order (S.O.) No. 3407, which announced the Department of the Interior's goal of phasing out single-use plastics on Interior-managed lands by 2032.

Since the signing of S.O. 3407, Interior facilities across the nation, including national parks, national wildlife refuges, and conservation lands, have made progress by installing water bottle filling stations; increasing recycling; and working with concessionaires to reduce sales of single-use plastic bottles, plastic utensils, bags, straws, and other plastic products. These actions are captured in bureau and office-specific action plans that Interior publicly posted in 2023.

Interior's goal to phase-out single-use plastics on Department-managed lands by 2032 represents a meaningful step forward for President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan and serves as a model for others to follow.

In December 2021, President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan charged the Administration to launch a Federal Buy Clean Initiative (Buy Clean) that would promote the use of American-made, lower-carbon construction materials in Federal and Federally-funded projects.

In response to the President's call, staff with the General Services Administration (GSA) expeditiously collaborated with manufacturers and others to develop and pilot a set of requirements for the procurement of American-made, lower-carbon asphalt, concrete, glass and steel products for use in GSA-led projects.

Since the launch of GSA's pilot, manufacturers have published a total of 17,000 additional Environmental Product Declarations—a key tool for gaining visibility into a product's environmental impacts throughout its lifetime. GSA has also incorporated the low-embodied carbon requirements piloted through Buy Clean into the construction specifications for more than 150 GSA-led Federal building and infrastructure projects nationwide.

GSA's leadership on the Federal Buy Clean Initiative has catalyzed the market for American-made, lower-carbon construction materials, strengthened U.S. leadership in cutting industrial emissions, supported good jobs for American workers, and accelerated the Biden-Harris Administration's efforts to achieve a net-zero emissions Federal footprint.

On June 20, 2023, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced its plans to electrify the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center—the largest building in Washington, D.C. and one of the largest in GSA's nationwide portfolio. By transitioning the 3 million-square-foot building from fossil fuel-based steam to all-electric heat pump technology and making other energy efficiency upgrades, GSA expects to cut the amount of energy the building uses by almost 50%, reduce greenhouse gas emissions by over 50%, and save taxpayers $6.2 million annually in energy costs.

As part of President Biden's Investing in America agenda, GSA is making this investment through a combination of funding from the Inflation Reduction Act and more than $90 million in private sector funding under an energy savings performance contract (ESPC). An ESPC is a financial tool allowing Federal agencies to pay for today's needed renovations with tomorrow's anticipated energy savings. This project, which is expected to finish construction by Spring 2025, is just one of more than 100 buildings that GSA plans to upgrade with emerging and sustainable technologies in its effort to achieve President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan goal of net-zero emissions from Federal buildings by 2045.

On March 29, 2023, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a memorandum requiring all military departments to take steps to maximize the use of all-electric technologies in new construction, major renovation, and building maintenance projects carried out on military installations. This memorandum embeds the principles and expands the impact of the Federal Building Performance Standard, a component of President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan. To further support implementation, each military department has since developed its own service-level guidance on building electrification.

As the manager of the largest Federal real property portfolio, DOD is accelerating the Federal Government's ability to achieve the Biden-Harris Administration's goal of a net-zero emissions Federal building portfolio by 2045 while supporting American innovation that will lower energy costs, save taxpayer dollars, and cut pollution.

On May 11, 2023, the General Services Administration (GSA) announced the completion of improvements to the Oklahoma City Federal Building, which demonstrate for the first time how Federal buildings can be transformed into high-tech clean energy hubs that generate their own energy and dynamically interact with the power grid to make it more resilient for the surrounding community.

The Oklahoma City Federal Building project was made possible through a utility energy service contract and is expected to reduce energy use by more than 40% and save taxpayers $400,000 annually in energy and water costs. The building will achieve these savings through a 300-kilowatt (kW) solar photovoltaic system and a battery energy storage system; new lighting and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning controls; and innovative grid-interactive efficient building (GEB) technologies. GEB technologies connect the Federal building with the power grid in a way that dynamically adjusts with the needs of the grid to coordinate energy loads, manage energy demands, and optimize energy use, making the power grid more resilient and cutting emissions and costs.

Thanks to GSA staff's innovative thinking and perseverance, the Oklahoma City Federal Building has become a groundbreaking model that other Federal agencies can replicate in their pursuit of President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan goal of achieving net-zero emissions buildings by 2045.

The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is leading by example by building one of the world's largest electric delivery vehicle fleets helping to advance President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan's goals, resulting in cleaner air, better health, and good-paying jobs in communities across the country. In December 2022, USPS announced its commitment to put 66,000 electric delivery trucks on the roads over the next five years and the expectation that its Next Generation Delivery Vehicle fleet purchases will be all electric starting in 2026. This represents one of the largest commitments to vehicle electrification in the nation. With this announcement, USPS is voluntarily exceeding the Federal fleet electrification requirements in President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan.

To power these vehicles, as part of its delivery network transformation, USPS is expeditiously installing electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the nation, with 14,000 charging ports in progress to be installed over the next few years. Charging port installations will continue at least through 2028 at hundreds of facilities to support these vehicle purchases. Through its actions, USPS is setting an example for the Federal Government in advancing President Biden's charge to electrify the U.S. Government's 600,000 vehicles.

The Department of Navy's non-tactical vehicle fleet is one of the Federal Government's largest, with approximately 60,000 vehicles across 80 bases and installations worldwide. The Department has long been a leader in fleet electrification due to the associated operational and national security benefits, with the Navy in 2020 acquiring more electric vehicles (EVs) for its non-tactical vehicle fleet and installing more EV charging ports than any other Federal agency.

The Department's non-tactical vehicle fleet electrification efforts accelerated after President Biden issued his December 2021 Federal Sustainability Plan, which requires all Federal agencies to acquire only zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035. Since 2021, the Navy has significantly increased its ZEV non-tactical vehicle fleet and has more than doubled its EV charging ports. The Department of Navy has set the pace for other Federal agencies to follow as they meet President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan goal of all-electric vehicle acquisitions for the Federal fleet.

On April 22, 2021, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) set a goal of electrifying half of its vehicle fleet by 2030—an ambitious complement to President Biden's Federal fleet electrification goal of achieving 100 percent vehicle acquisition of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) for light-duty vehicles by 2027, and for all vehicles by 2035.

In September 2022, DHS set another Federal sustainability record by becoming the first Federal agency to "upfit" a ZEV for law enforcement use. Upfitting refers to the process of adding special equipment, such as lights and dashboard electronics, so that the vehicle can perform law enforcement functions. With a fleet of more than 50,000 vehicles, 60% of which are law enforcement vehicles, DHS is uniquely positioned to work with U.S. vehicle manufacturers to create electric vehicles (EVs) that are suitable for law enforcement purposes.

DHS is currently testing a variety of upfitted ZEVs across its varied law enforcement missions and is committed to sharing its learnings with other law enforcement agencies. As it performs this critical research, the Department is also on a path to quadruple the number of ZEVs in its non-law enforcement fleets by the end of 2024, and is in the process of installing nearly 900 EV charging ports at 61 sites. DHS's Electric Vehicle Program is a prime example of how President Biden's Federal Sustainability Plan is catalyzing innovation, saving taxpayers money, and creating good jobs for America's workers.

In 2022, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Kennedy Space Center (KSC) in Florida became one of the first Federal agencies to leverage a public-private partnership to install electric vehicle charging ports on Federal property, saving taxpayers $1 million in construction costs. KSC's Transportation Team partnered with the local electric utility to install 28 dual-port charging stations; the utility will also oversee operation and maintenance of the charging stations over the next 10 years. The stations are open to both government and employee-owned vehicles.

Due to this success, Kennedy's Transportation Team is now working with the utility to install an additional 31 dual-port charging stations by September 2024. NASA's use of an innovative public-private partnership is a model for other Federal agencies to follow as they work toward achieving the President's Federal Sustainability Plan goal of a zero-emissions Federal vehicle fleet.

In 2017, the General Services Administration (GSA), acting on behalf of the Department of Transportation (DOT), entered into a first-of-its-kind property exchange with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Through this agreement, MIT agreed to design and construct a new home for DOT's John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center on 4 acres of DOT's 14-acre campus in the heart of Kendall Square, Cambridge, Massachusetts. In exchange, the Federal Government agreed to convey the remaining acreage to MIT for development that would benefit the local community.

In September 2023, the new DOT Volpe Center opened its doors. Replacing the former Center's six sprawling buildings and surface parking lots is a new highly efficient and climate-resilient structure with numerous sustainability features. GSA and DOT expect the new building will cut emissions in half compared to a traditional building.

MIT is now collaborating with the local community and City of Cambridge to create a mixed-use center on the remaining 10 acres, connecting the surrounding neighborhood with new open spaces, affordable housing, and science and innovation spaces. This partnership illustrates how the Federal agencies can meet President Biden's ambitious Federal sustainability goals in ways that also benefit the communities we serve.