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Annual Status Report: House of Representatives Continues to Enact Sweeping Internal Energy-Savings Measures

The Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), in partnership with the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), jointly released a report today describing the progress the two organizations have made to date in their combined effort to make the House of Representatives more energy efficient.

The report, "Going Green & Saving Energy," is the first of its kind to assess the totality of all greening programs currently underway at the House, highlighting several energy-saving milestones, including:

• An expected 23 percent reduction in total energy consumption in all House Office Buildings
• An anticipated 32 percent reduction in total water usage across the Capitol Campus;
• A savings of 265 tons of unused paper to date;
• A reduction of 375,000 watts of energy used in the House’s computer center;
• A total of 1,800 tons of paper recycled annually;
• An annual savings of more than 1.1 million kilowatt hours of electricity from the installation of 13,000 CFL light bulbs, and
• The purchase of 120 million –kilowatt hours of clean, renewable wind-generated electricity.

Both the AOC and the CAO, through the Green the Capitol program, have also undertaken initiatives that have greatly accelerated the House’s overall greening program.

“With Congress’s support, we have implemented a number of very successful programs and projects designed to save energy and conserve natural resources,” noted Acting Architect of the Capitol Stephen T. Ayers, AIA, LEED AP. “Working in partnership, we all will continue to be a model of sustainability.”

The report details the AOC’s ESPC contracts for the House Office Buildings and the Capitol Building; public-private partnerships that will help achieve very significant energy reductions over the next several years

The status report also describes the CAO’s push to educate House staff about greening programs that can be implemented in the institution’s hundreds of individual Member and Committee offices. Through the CAO-run Green the Capitol program, over 250 Member and Committee Offices have received “green consultations” and are in the process of enacting energy-savings measures in their operation. Additionally, staff in almost 1,000 District Offices outside of DC have access to a computer program that helps them track and measure any greening measures they enact locally.

“This document is really our report card,” said Dan Beard, Chief Administrative Officer of the House. “And I am pleased to report, in terms of teamwork, both my organization and the AOC get an ‘A’; this report shows, in obvious detail, that our partnership has accelerated the greening of the House and helped to make energy savings not just a priority, but a very real part of our shared mission.”

The report also detailed several other greening accomplishments and can be viewed here.

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About the CAO

The Office of the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) provides operations infrastructure and customer support to the Members of Congress. The CAO oversees payroll, vendor relationships, budget and financials processing, information security and resources and the management of assets, furniture and logistics. The CAO also implements the Green the Capitol program.

About the AOC

The AOC is responsible for the facilities maintenance and operation of the historic Capitol Building, the care and improvement of more than 450 acres of Capitol grounds, and the operation and maintenance of 16.5 million square feet of buildings including: the House and Senate Congressional Office Buildings, the Capitol Visitor Center, the Library of Congress Buildings, the U.S. Supreme Court Building, the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building, U.S. Botanic Garden, and other facilities.