The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) has adopted the SITES rating system for its capital construction program.
Green Business Certification Inc.’s SITES is a program for sustainable land development and management and is used by landscape architects, engineers, architects, developers, and policymakers to align land development with innovative sustainable design. SITES certification is for development projects located on sites with or without buildings including national parks, corporate campuses, streetscapes, homes, and more.
GSA is one of the largest and most diversified public real estate organizations in the world with a portfolio of 376.9 million rentable square feet in 8,721 active assets, and more than 144,000 acres of land, including ports of entry and historical properties. The GSA determined that incorporating SITES into the program offers a highly effective and efficient way to ensure environmental performance to meet federal goals on various capital project types.
The rating system provides a metrics-based approach to important concepts like ecosystem services and green infrastructure. The GSA’s decision is incorporated in the 2016 version of Facilities Standards for the Public Buildings Service (P-100), which establishes design standards and criteria for new buildings, infrastructural projects, major and minor alternations, and work in historic structures for the Public Buildings Service (PBS) of the GSA. This document contains both policy and technical criteria used in the programming, design, and documentation of GSA buildings and facilities.
Related Stories
| Apr 17, 2013
Fenestration Council allows some shading system, dynamic glazing to be rated for U-Factor
The National Fenestration Rating Council (NFRC) approved changes to its NFRC 100 and NFRC 200 standards, allowing certain shading devices to be rated for U-factor and Solar Heat Gain Coefficient.
| Apr 17, 2013
LEED 2009 quarterly interpretations, addenda now available
Quarterly interpretations and addenda to the LEED 2009 rating systems and reference guides are now available.
| Apr 17, 2013
DOE’s Lawrence Berkeley Lab researchers developing new indoor air pollution standards
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) researchers are working on new building standards after discovering previously unknown indoor air pollutants.
| Apr 16, 2013
RMJM acquired by Duthus Investments for £12 million
Sir Fraser Morrison, the owner and chairman of architect RMJM, is the backer behind the investment firm that bought RMJM for £11m in late March.
| Apr 10, 2013
ASHRAE publishes second edition to HVAC manual for healthcare facilities
The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has published a second edition of its “HVAC Design Manual for Hospitals and Clinics.”
| Apr 10, 2013
Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute accredited by ANSI as standards developer
The Concrete Reinforcing Steel Institute (CRSI) was recently accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as an ANSI Accredited Standards Developer (ASD).
| Apr 10, 2013
DOD should continue LEED-Silver or equivalent rating standard, says NRC
The Department of Defense should continue to require that its new buildings or major renovations to facilities be designed to achieve a LEED-Silver or equivalent rating, says a new report from the National Research Council.
| Apr 10, 2013
EPA proposes emissions rules affecting light construction vehicles
The Environmental Protection Agency has proposed air-pollution standards that it says will reduce the amount of sulfur in U.S. gasoline by two-thirds and impose fleet-wide pollution limits on new vehicles.
| Apr 10, 2013
New skyscraper designs raising the bar on green standards
Though most new skyscraper designs have a traditional look, they are including a wider array of sustainable elements to use energy and water more efficiently and improve human health.
| Apr 5, 2013
Lack of national standards on design of bioterror labs creates higher risk for accidents, panel says
U.S. labs that conduct research on bioterror germs such as anthrax are at risk for accidents because they do not have uniform design and operation standards, according to a Congressional investigative group.