The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced more than $20 million in high-end technical assistance to federal agencies to help ensure the widest possible implementation of leading-edge energy-efficiency technologies across the federal government. Under President Obama, the federal government is committed to leading a transformation to a low-carbon emission future. To assist federal agencies in achieving this goal, DOE's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) will make available the technical expertise from DOE's National Laboratories for projects, such as cool roofs, greenhouse-gas reductions, renewable energy, smart grids, zero-energy homes, sustainable buildings, and energy and water retrofits.
Fifteen agencies will share more than $20 million in technical assistance:
Architect of the Capital
Department of Homeland Security
Department of Commerce
Department of Defense
Department of Energy
Department of Interior
Department of Justice
Department of Labor
Department of Transportation
General Services Administration
Health and Human Services
National Archives
Treasury Department
United Stated Department of Agriculture
Department of Veteran Affairs
The federal government, as the nation's largest energy consumer, has an opportunity and responsibility to lead by example. FEMP is central to this responsibility, guiding agencies to use funding more effectively in meeting federal and agency-specific energy-management objectives and goals, including reducing federal energy intensity by 30 percent by 2015 from 2003 levels, reducing water intensity by 16 percent by 2015 from 2007 levels, and generating or purchasing renewable electric energy equivalent to at least 7.5 percent of its electricity use by 2013.
Many projects will help create new jobs and expand a clean energy economy. Seventeen-million dollars will be used to enhance and accelerate FEMP service functions to the federal government, $3 million to develop a comprehensive greenhouse-gas management and abatement program, and $2.5 million to develop an energy, water, and emissions reporting and tracking system for federal facilities.
For more information on these and other Recovery Act-related funding opportunities, visit DOE's Recovery and Reinvestment Web site.
This announcement is being made during the 12th-annual GovEnergy conference. As the federal government's energy training workshop and tradeshow, GovEnergy provides federal employees with training to address the challenges of federal energy management. For more information on GovEnergy, visit the GovEnergy Web site.