Biden Admin Spending Nearly $1 Billion On Upgrading Fed Buildings With Green Tech

The Biden administration will spend nearly $1 billion upgrading more than 100 federal buildings with green technology like heat pumps and solar panels, using funds from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

The General Services Administration (GSA) — which manages the U.S. government’s properties —  is planning to make 100 federal facilities all-electric and 28 net-zero emissions, on a budget of $975 million,  according to The Washington Post. [emphasis, links added]

The GSA is hoping that will attract roughly another $925 million in private sector investment, bringing total funding to roughly $1.9 billion, in an effort to revamp 40 million square feet of federal property, which is roughly 20% of all buildings managed by the GSA.

“GSA is really trying to lead by example in these new kinds of buildings,” Jetta Wong, senior climate advisor at the GSA, told the Post. “If we can do it in the federal government, the private sector can do it, too.”

Among the planned updates is the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, which the GSA intends to spend up to $13.5 million dollars to fully electrify, the Post reported.

The agency will completely retrofit the building — the fourth largest under its management — installing 57,000 energy-efficient LED lightbulbs, electric heat pumps, boilers, and other green upgrades.

The administration’s spending could stimulate private sector demand for similar upgrades, Victor Olgyay, architect at electrification think tank RMI told the Post. RMI partially funded a study central to recent efforts by the Biden administration to regulate gas stoves.

“When the GSA says, ‘We’re going to replace this gas water heater with an electric heat pump water heater,’ that helps change the market and send a signal to the private sector,” Olgyay told the Post.

In some cases, however, such as laboratories and data centers, it could cost less to simply tear down and rebuild older buildings rather than attempt to electrify them, said Olgyay.

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