The Federal Aviation Administration’s Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center has established an exceptional Sustainable Federal Building Program and has implemented a new Integrated Facility Assessment Process (IFAP) in 2022 to further enhance the program. Between 2013-2023, the Aeronautical Center was able to certify 17 buildings at the Center as sustainable, in accordance with the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings. This represents 61% of all buildings in the FAA and 53% of all buildings in the DOT that have been certified as sustainable. Previous directives required that federal agencies certify 15% of their existing buildings as sustainable and make progress toward 100%. As of 2023, the Aeronautical Center has certified almost 38% of its qualifying facilities as sustainable.
The team that has launched these efforts forward in the Office of Facility Management consists of: Russell Goering, Kevin Coker, Osvaldo Diaz, Vicki Ray, and Jerry King.
Various Executive Orders such as 13423, 13834, 14057, and the 2007 Energy Independence Security Act (EISA) requires that federal agencies certify their facilities as sustainable by incorporating the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings originally set forth in the Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding (2006).
Back in 2013, the MMAC initially certified five buildings and has continued to increase the number of certified buildings annually. The Guiding Principles contains approximately 30 different metrics divided into six categories including both core (required) and non-core (optional) requirements to determine compliance. In addition to the required metrics specific to each evaluated building, the MMAC worked with management to establish sustainable practices and policies. Such metrics include Integrated Design Management, Storm Water Management, and Recycling/Waste Management. To ensure the integrity of the assessment and that the results are auditable, the MMAC developed a Microsoft Excel Workbook document to address each metric individually, including screenshots of documented evidence to demonstrate how the metrics were addressed.
The success of the program reached a new level in 2022 with the incorporation of the process to be part of a new Integrated Facility Assessment Process (IFAP) effort led by the Office of the Secretary of Transportation (OST). The IFAP combined with the Sustainable Federal Building assessments with the required EISA Energy and Water Evaluations and Climate Hazard Risk Evaluations into a single, time-saving process.
Congratulations to the team and the Office of Facility Management for exceeding federal mandates and creating a best practice to benefit any federal agency.
