Agencies will have to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent over the next decade under an executive order to be signed by President Obama March 19.

The reduction would save agencies $18 billion in avoided energy costs, according to the White House. The order will also require agencies to increase the amount of renewable energy they use to 30 percent of overall energy use.

The new executive builds on a previous 2009 executive order asking agencies to cut greenhouse gases by 17 percent and increase renewable energy use to 9 percent.

Some federal contractors are also announcing a concurrent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions timed with the release of the order. The companies, such as IBM, Honeywell, GE and SRA International, each represent more than $1 billion in government business and account for $45 billion in total contract spending. These companies are committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 5 million through 2020, according to the White House.

The combined agency reductions and federal contractor commitments will reduce emissions by 26 million metric tons by 2025 from 2008 levels, the equivalent of taking nearly 5.5 million cars off the road for a year.

The executive order also requires agencies to:

  • Ensure 25 percent of their total energy use is from clean energy sources by fiscal 2025.
  • Cut back energy use in federal buildings by 2.5 percent a year between fiscal 2015 and 2025.
  • Reduce emissions from federal fleets by 30 percent by 20205 and increase the number of zero emission and hybrid vehicles in agency fleets.

The executive order also requires agencies to reduce their water use per square foot in federal facilities by 2 percent a year through 2025.

Denise Turner Roth, the acting administrator at the General Services Administration, said the agency is proud to lead the effort to make the government more sustainable by meeting the new goals – and exceeding them if possible.

"As GSA has already demonstrated, addressing climate change is good for the environment and American taxpayers. We look forward to furthering our sustainability efforts through 2025 and beyond," Roth said.

The agency will also be ramping up its use of energy savings performance contracts to achieve the new goals, Roth said. ESPCs allow contractors to pay for and install energy efficiency upgrades in buildings in exchange for payments from reduced energy bills.

"Since buildings account for 98 percent of GSA's operational greenhouse gas emissions, a large part of achieving this goal will require GSA to increase its use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts and other retrofitting strategies to make federal buildings more energy efficient," Roth said.

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