Washington, DC Projects Office

Green the Capitol Initiative

In 2007, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi directed [link to letter below] the Chief Administrative Officer of the US House of Representatives to "undertake a critical initiative to address energy conservation, efficiency and cost savings for the U.S. Capitol and congressional office buildings."

Chief Administrative Officer Dan Beard [link] contracted with LBNL to provide technical assistance in support of this effort, dubbed the "Green the Capitol Initiative." Staff from Washington, DC and Berkeley were recruited to assess House facilities and operations and to recommend actions to reduce the House's environmental impact. Based on LBNL's recommendations, the House adopted three goals with accompanying strategies and actions:

1. Operate the House in a carbon-neutral manner by the end of the 110th Congress (calendar year 2008).
2. Reduce the carbon footprint of the House by cutting energy consumption by 50% in 10 years.
3. Make House operations a model of sustainability.

Chief Administrative Officer Beard created a new Green the Capitol Office within the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to implement these goals. LBNL staff support the Green the Capitol Office by:

• Advising Green the Capitol and Architect of the Capitol [link] personnel to design and implement energy efficiency and sustainability policies and projects.
• Making specialized technical assistance available to the staff of the Green the Capitol Office and the Architect of the Capitol.
• Providing technical analysis documenting environmental impacts of specific projects.