SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OVERVIEW
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| Overview: | Sustainable development is the application of
pollution prevention to the life cycle of facilities and infrastructure to ensure the
"best fit" of the built environment to the natural environment. It allows
the armed services to meet mission needs while conserving resources, avoiding
environmental impacts, and creating healthy workplaces that have lasting value. To incorporate sustainable development concepts into building or remodeling projects, it is necessary to begin by developing a project management team that includes a pollution prevention specialist, in addition to the usual members (architects, engineers, operations personnel and maintainers, and the facility's future occupants). This team can review options and set environmental/sustainability goals. These goals are the first step to selecting specific actions to make the project more sustainable. They will help to identify the necessary modifications to the project's planning, design and construction documents to ensure that the project is sustainable. The earlier in the project planning process that sustainability is considered, the more sustainable the project will be. The development of the DD Form 1391 (the project approval document that defines the project's scope and budget) is the optimal time to start. Sustainable development involves incorporating the following concepts into the design phase of building:
Below is a list of information sources that will help to develop a strategy for incorporating sustainable design into your projects:
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| Compliance Benefit: |
Implementing sustainable development strategies will help facilities meet the requirements
under Executive Order 13101, requiring executive agencies (e.g., DOD) to
incorporate waste prevention and recycling in their daily operations, and to consider the
following factors in developing plans, drawings, work statements, specifications, or other
product descriptions: elimination of virgin material requirements; use of recovered
materials; reuse of product; life-cycle cost; recyclability; use of environmentally
preferable products; waste prevention (including toxicity reduction or elimination); and
ultimate disposal, as appropriate. Implementing sustainable development strategies will help facilities meet requirements under Executive Order 13123, which is the clearest directive on the use of sustainable building design. "DOD and GSA, in conjunction with DOE and EPA, shall develop sustainable design principles. Agencies shall apply such principles to the siting, design, and construction of new facilities. Agencies shall optimize life-cycle costs, pollution, and other environmental and energy costs associated with the construction, life-cycle operations, and decommissioning of the facility. Agencies shall consider using Energy Savings Performance Contracts or utility energy-efficiency service contracts to aid them in constructing sustainably designed buildings." -- Sec. 403 (d) Implementing sustainable development strategies also will help facilities meet the requirements under DODI 4715.4, "Pollution Prevention Section 5.4.4", requiring new facilities leased or owned by the Federal government to be designed and constructed in a manner that minimizes the life cycle cost of the facility by using energy efficiency, water conservation, or solar (or other renewable) energy technologies. Sustainable development also helps facilities comply with 40
Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 247: Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG),
which designates items that are, or can be, manufactured using recycled and recovered
materials. Construction, landscaping and park and recreation products are among the
designated items. Federal agencies are required to purchase U.S. EPA-designated
items meeting minimum recycled content standards unless they are not available within a
reasonable period of time; fail to meet reasonable performance standards; are not
available from two or more sources (to maintain competition); or are unreasonably prices
(costs more than comparable non-recycled products). Sustainable development helps facilities comply with Title 10 CFR Part 435, "Energy Conservation Voluntary Performance Standards For New Buildings; Mandatory For Federal Buildings." This Department of Energy regulation applies to all new buildings and multi-family, high-rise buildings. These performance standards are designed to achieve the maximum practicable improvements in energy efficiency and increases in the use of non-depletable sources of energy. Sustainable development helps facilities comply with U.S. Energy Policy Act of 1992 (EPACT). This legislation was signed into law on Oct. 24, 1992, and is a comprehensive energy bill covering many areas, including energy efficiency, fossil fuels, alternative fuels, and federal agency energy management. Air Force Instruction (AFI) 32-7080, "Compliance Assurance and Pollution Prevention", requires the Air Force to employ sustainability concepts throughout the facility life cycle. A new AFI for sustainable development is currently being prepared. Implementing sustainable development strategies also will help facilities meet requirements under the Department of the Army Technical Letter No. 1110-3-491, "Sustainable Design for Military Facilities", released on May 1, 2001. This letter provides basic criteria for incorporating sustainable design concepts in the design and construction of Military facilities. Finally, sustainable development helps facilities to comply with the Department of Navy's Naval Facilities Engineering Command Planning And Design Policy Statement - 98-01: Design of Sustainable Facilities and Infrastructure, June 18, 1998, which requires all facilities and infrastructure-related design and construction to incorporate sustainable design principles. This includes domestic construction for the Navy, Air Force, and Marines, along with about half of domestic Army construction and about half of all offshore military construction. The compliance benefits listed here are only meant to be used as a general guideline and are not meant to be strictly interpreted. Actual compliance benefits will vary depending on the factors involved, e.g. the amount of workload involved.
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| Materials Compatibility: | No materials compatibility issues were identified.
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| Safety and Health: |
No major safety or health issued are associated with incorporating sustainable development
practices. Consult your local industrial health specialist, your local health and
safety personnel, and the appropriate MSDS prior to implementing this technology.
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| Benefits: |
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| Disadvantages: |
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| Economic Analysis: |
Below are several examples of the cost savings associated with implementing sustainable
design measure. Specific comparisons are difficult to obtain due to the number of
different activities that are associated with sustainable development. For the
renovation of NAVFAC's headquarters at the Washington Navy Yard, sustainable design
measure increased first cost by $95,000 (out of a $19.9 million budget), but have resulted
in annual energy savings of $130,000. For a Bachelor
Enlisted Quarters (BEQ) complex in Illinois, a $600,000 reduction in first cost was
achieved in the $60.1 million project and an annual energy savings of $110,000 is
projected. |
| Approving Authority: |
Approval is controlled locally and should be implemented only after engineering approval
has been granted. Major claimant approval is not required.
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| NSN/MSDS: |
*There are multiple MSDSs for most NSNs. |
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| Points of Contact: |
Air Force: Mr. Jeff Merz HQ ACC/CECE 129 Andrews Street, Suite 102 Langley AFB, VA 23665 Phone: (757) 764-3614 FAX: (757) 764-5339 Email: jeffrey.merz@landley.af.mil Mr. Larry Dryden Ms. Karen Kevela Mr. Randall Lierly |
| Vendors: | Building for Environmental and Economic
Sustainability (BEES) U.S. Environmental Protection Agency URL: www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp/bees.htm Environmentally Preferable Packaging (EPP) Tools EPA "Lists of Manufacturers and Suppliers" of
Recycled Content Products GreenSpec Product Directory and Guideline Specifications
Binder Guide to Resource Efficient Building Elements (6th Edition,
1997) The Harris Directory of Pollution Prevention Products for
Home, Office and Garden LEED Green Building Rating System 2.0 Recycling Plus Program Manual REDI Guide to Building Materials URL: http://oikos.com/products Sustainable Building Technical Manual Public Technology, Inc. and the U.S. Green Building Council Guiding Principles of Sustainable Design and The
Sustainable Design and Construction Database DLA Environmental Products Catalog GSA Environmental Products Guides Sustainable Sources Whole Building Design Guide |
| Sources: | Environmental Building News -
Building Green, Inc., 122 Bridge Street, Suite 30, Brattleboro, VT 05301 Greening Federal Facilities, Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) resource manual, U.S. Department of Energy, www.eren.doe.gov/femp/greenfed. Residential Construction Waste Management: A Builder's Field Guide, National Association of Home Builders Research Center, 400 Prince George's Boulevard, Upper Marlboro, MD 20774. Sustainable Building Technical Manual, Public Technologies, Inc., U.S. Dept. of Energy, the U.S. Green Buildings Council and the U.S. EPA, www.sustainable.doe.gov/pdf/sbt.pdf Whole Building Design Guide, www.wbdg.org.
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