SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS POLICY FOR NEW AND
VA RENOVATION CONSTRUCTION
A. ISSUE:
VA's commitment to design and construct sustainable buildings is set forth in Federal Leadership
in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).
B. BACKGROUND:
VA along with other 16 federal agencies signed a Federal Leadership in High Performance and
Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding and committed itself to federal leadership in
the design, construction, and operation of High Performance and Sustainable Buildings.
C. DISCUSSION:
The highlights of guiding principles for federal sustainable buildings stated in the MOU are:
1. Employment of integrated design principles including total building commissioning to ensure
that design requirements are met.
2. Optimization of energy performance by establishing a whole building performance target;
designing to earn Energy Star targets and reducing the energy cost budget by 30 percent
from American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc.,
(ASHRAE), Standard 90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Building Except Low-Rise Residential
to the baseline building performance mandated by the 2005 Energy Policy Act; and
employment of building utility meters in new major construction and renovation projects to
track and continuously optimize performance.
3. Protection and conservation of water by employing strategies that use less potable water,
efficient use of outdoor water for landscape and irrigation, including water reuse and
recycling to conserve water.
4. Enhancement of indoor environmental quality by meeting current ASHRAE standards 55-
2004 and 62-2004; moisture control to prevent building damage and mold contamination;
employment of day lighting; use of low-emitting materials; and protection of indoor air quality
during construction.
5. Reduction of environmental impact of materials by using EPA designated products meeting
or exceeding EPA's recycled content recommendations; bio-based content meeting or
exceeding USDA's bio-based content recommendations; construction waste management
for recycling or salvaging materials; and elimination the use of ozone depleting compounds
during and after construction.
D. VA POLICY:
1. Projects shall be designed to comply with MOU located in the Technical Information Library (TIL)
at www.va.gov/facmgt/standard . VA must meet the goal and objectives of MOU.
E. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Contact Kurt Knight at 202-565-4980 or Satish Sehgal at 202-565-5032, in the Facilities Quality
Service (181A).
25 April 2006
FM-181A-DA-127
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