Sustainable building design elements which should lead to less energy

The U.S. Department of Energy proposed standards that would require new and renovated federal buildings to include sustainable building design elements which should lead to less energy and water use and less impact on the local environment. The newly proposed rules, if finalized, would require that all new or renovated government buildings are green by design, siting, and construction.  The proposal would also require the installation of on-site renewable energy generation and of solar hot water heaters by the government whenever cost effective over the life of the building, would set a minimum level of daylight in work areas, and establish indoor air quality requirements to protect the health of the public, government employees, and families living in government buildings such as military bases.  The proposed standards would apply to new and renovated federal buildings, such as post offices, courthouses, military bases, social security buildings, and other facilities located throughout the country.
This proposal would move forward on some requirements established by Congress in recent years to make federal buildings more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable. These standards also support the goals of the Executive Order on Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy and Economic Performance issued by President Obama last fall.
DOE stated in the proposal that it will address a host of other important energy efficiency standards that are required by law in separate rulemakings. For example, still remaining are standards to bring existing government buildings up to the level of the latest industry standards established by ASHRAE and the ICC, as well as new standards to reduce new buildings’ use of fossil fuel-generated energy to achieve the required 100% reduction from 2003 levels by the year 2030.  DOE is also required to create an Internet-based tracking system for the public to monitor the progress of federal agencies in achieving energy and water use reduction goals for existing federal buildings. . In 2008, the federal government spent $7 billion to purchase energy for federal buildings, out of a total of $24.5 billion on overall energy costs.