Testimony of Lara Levison
Energy Committee Chair, Sierra Club Washington DC Chapter
at the
Facilities & Procurement Public Oversight Roundtable (Virtual Platform)
regarding the
Department of General Services Sustainability and Energy Management Division
Councilmember White, congratulations on your reelection, and thank you to the committee for the opportunity to testify at this oversight roundtable.
The Sierra Club strongly supports the work of the Sustainability and Energy Management Division of the DC Department of General Services. DGS is responsible for the District’s real estate portfolio. To meet the District’s climate change commitments—50% greenhouse gas reductions by 2032 and carbon neutrality by 2050—the DC government has to do its part. Our government buildings will need to go through a major transformation in the coming years. This transformation will also benefit DC residents by cleaning up local air pollution.
Staffing of DGS-SE
The Sustainability and Energy Management Division plays a critical role in improving energy efficiency, increasing the use of renewable energy, and managing trash and waste. For this division (SE) to carry out its mission, DGS needs to hire, retain, promote, and empower top-notch staff. The Sierra Club is concerned that the position of associate director heading up SE was vacant for several years, briefly filled this summer, and now is vacant again. We are also concerned that the latest job description omitted a key responsibility for the associate director, which is oversight of programing to improve management of waste generated in DC buildings. One of my Sierra Club colleagues will testify (has testified) on waste and sustainability.
In addition to needing an associate director, SE will need more staff to carry out its critical mission, and we encourage Mayor Bowser and the Council to deploy more resources to this agency in the FY22 budget. Training DGS staff in the management of modern net-zero energy buildings is also essential and requires organizational commitment and funding. There is room for improvement in high-performance buildings that are underachieving their energy savings goals. For example, last year, Dunbar High School, a LEED-Platinum project, achieved an ENERGY STAR Score of 49, or slightly below the median high school nationally.
Councilmember White, thank you for including funding in the current DC budget for an additional position to carry out the survey of DC buildings for suitability for renewable energy, that’s a step in the right direction.
Net zero buildings
Looking at DC buildings from a big picture perspective, we need a transformative approach that will move this fleet of buildings toward net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible. New and renovated DC buildings should not include any on-site combustion of fossil fuels, such as gas boilers for heating. Other cities are requiring new buildings to be powered by clean energy, not fossil fuels, and DC should too. Technologies such as electric heat pumps and geothermal heating and cooling are available and are much cleaner and more efficient than conventional technologies. We understand that DGS is in the planning stages for two net-zero buildings, and we encourage rapid progress on those projects.
Not only are these new technologies good for the health of the planet—they’re good for the health of DC residents, because they reduce local air pollution. I look forward to the day when I don’t see a layer of soot on the windowsills of my home—because then I’ll know there will be far fewer dangerous particulates going into my lungs, and into the lungs of DC’s children, far to many of whom suffer from asthma.
Sustainable Energy Management Plan
The CleanEnergy DC Omnibus Act directed DGS to prepare a strategic energy management plan to reduce energy and water use across the DGS portfolio of buildings by January 1, 2020 and provided $250,000 for that purpose. The study must include timelines and cost estimates for an energy retrofit across at least nine percent of DGS buildings between 2021 and 2024 and a net-zero energy retrofit program across at least 12.5% of DGS buildings between 2026 and 2032.
We recognize that the pandemic has caused delays in many activities, but we are concerned that this study is still in its early stages, and a draft may not be available this year. The study was already delayed for a year before the pandemic started, and the climate crisis is not waiting for the pandemic to be over. We ask the committee to keep tabs on the progress of this study and encourage DGS to keep it moving forward, while ensuring sufficient time and opportunities for the public to comment on the plan.
Building Energy Performance Standards
The CleanEnergy DC law also established a new program to increase the energy performance of DC’s large buildings, including DC government-owned buildings as well as commercial buildings. The regulations for the new program, called the Building Energy Performance Standard, are still being developed, but it’s important to note that the Council in writing this law expected the District government to be a leader in meeting these new standards that will greatly improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from DC government buildings.
To achieve greater efficiency, DGS should leverage the existing and growing network of buildings connected with Building Automation Systems (BAS) by exploring use of Distributed Energy Resources technologies. This idea was promoted by DOEE as early as 2014 and should be explored to help reduce the operations cost of the portfolio and at the same time help achieve the District’s climate commitments.
Electric vehicle infrastructure
The CleanEnergy DC law does not require electric vehicle charging infrastructure in DC government buildings, but it does direct the Mayor to establish a sweeping transportation electrification program. Electric vehicles are the wave of the future. Vehicle prices are coming down, batteries are improving, and the electricity powering electric vehicles is increasingly generated from clean renewable sources. The Sierra Club prioritizes transit and alternatives over driving motor vehicles, but motor vehicles will continue to be necessary for some, and they should be electric.
For all new and renovated DGS buildings that include parking, electric charging infrastructure should be incorporated during construction or renovation. Investing in this infrastructure during major construction will save the city money later by avoiding costly retrofits as the market shifts toward electric vehicles.
Power Purchase Agreements for Renewable Energy
The SE Division is responsible for purchasing power and other utilities for the DC buildings. We commend the agency for the steps they have made to purchase renewable energy, especially through power purchase agreements, and we encourage increased purchases of wind and solar energy. Renewable energy is rapidly becoming the most affordable source of electricity generation. Just last month, the investment bank Lazard Ltd. published a study reporting that wind and solar are now the cheapest forms of power generation in many parts of the world. In the U.S., wind generation compares favorably with new combined-cycle gas plants, and solar plants beat gas peaker plants.
Councilmember White, in the 1990s I worked for an organization called the Union of Concerned Scientists, and our researchers published a book titled Renewables are Ready. Well, renewables like wind and solar weren’t quite ready then, but they are now!
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.