May 9, 2011: GSA to Test Emerging Building Technologies and Practices
WASHINGTON - The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced that it will test and evaluate 16 emerging sustainable building technologies and practices in select federal facilities under its Green Proving Ground Program. Testing will determine the most effective - including various HVAC and solar technologies - which may then be replicated on a wider-scale basis throughout the GSA building inventory.
“GSA is leading the way in sustainable design and construction operations,” said GSA Administrator Martha N. Johnson. “By using our real estate portfolio as a test bed for new technologies, we can then provide further innovation in energy-efficiency standards and implement best practices that will lead the market.”
The technologies selected were from a pool of approximately 140 projects across GSA’s national portfolio that are currently implementing innovative or underutilized sustainable building technologies, said the agency. Examples of the technologies chosen include wireless mesh sensor networks, magnetic bearing compressors, variable refrigerant flow, variable speed chiller plant control, condensing boilers, thin-film photovoltaic panels, solar water heating with integrated photovoltaic panels, commercial ground-source heat pumps, chilled beams, and non-chemical water treatment systems.
With support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories, the Green Proving Ground Program will perform enhanced testing, monitoring, and evaluation on these selected technologies. Notable findings from all of the projects will be used to support the development of performance specifications for GSA’s real estate portfolio and other federal agencies. Additionally, said GSA, testing these technologies will assist industry in deploying the technology and practices studied.
For more information on GSA’s Green Proving Ground Program, visit www.gsa.gov/GPG.
Publication date: 05/09/2011
“GSA is leading the way in sustainable design and construction operations,” said GSA Administrator Martha N. Johnson. “By using our real estate portfolio as a test bed for new technologies, we can then provide further innovation in energy-efficiency standards and implement best practices that will lead the market.”
The technologies selected were from a pool of approximately 140 projects across GSA’s national portfolio that are currently implementing innovative or underutilized sustainable building technologies, said the agency. Examples of the technologies chosen include wireless mesh sensor networks, magnetic bearing compressors, variable refrigerant flow, variable speed chiller plant control, condensing boilers, thin-film photovoltaic panels, solar water heating with integrated photovoltaic panels, commercial ground-source heat pumps, chilled beams, and non-chemical water treatment systems.
With support from the U.S. Department of Energy’s national laboratories, the Green Proving Ground Program will perform enhanced testing, monitoring, and evaluation on these selected technologies. Notable findings from all of the projects will be used to support the development of performance specifications for GSA’s real estate portfolio and other federal agencies. Additionally, said GSA, testing these technologies will assist industry in deploying the technology and practices studied.
For more information on GSA’s Green Proving Ground Program, visit www.gsa.gov/GPG.
Publication date: 05/09/2011
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