Executive Order 13423 Technical Guidance - Utilizing Rating Systems & Standards
Technical Guidance
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) requires Federal agencies to "use technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary consensus standards bodies" unless such use is inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. Under OMB Circular A-119, agencies can also use other technical standards in cases where no voluntary consensus standards exist.
There was great wisdom in Executive Order 13101 and the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act (NTTAA) in guiding Federal agencies to use and develop voluntary consensus standards. Consumers benefit from standards in that they provide confidence in a product or service's quality, safety, and reliability. Businesses benefit from standards in that they reduce cost, provide interoperability, promote regulatory compliance, reduce liability exposure, and provide organizations with a competitive advantage. Governments benefit from standards in that they achieve public policy objectives for a host of environmental concerns, lower regulatory and procurement costs, promote exports, trade, and economic growth, and comply with the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Green building standards are at the forefront of environmental preferability standards in many ways: taking an holistic, systems approach; pushing the science of life cycle analysis; asking the tough questions about chemicals of concern; and balancing environmental, economic, and social considerations. And, the leaders in green building standard development are engaging stakeholders in a very open, transparent process. These standard methodologies, rating systems, and other metrics provide a larger framework in which to organize and implement green programs at the national level. The use of green building standards fits well in the government context, considering the Federal government's massive size, hierarchical structure, and typical way of doing business. The use of green building standards will also make the job of implementation easier, reducing the duplication of background research by the many parties working on green building, and giving an official stamp of approval to justify sustainable design and construction work.
The Office of the Federal Environmental Executive encourages the development of sustainable buildings using agreed upon criteria that are determined in a scientific and life cycle based manner, and can be verified by a process that is credible and transparent to the public. To date, the LEED® has been the main and "best" mechanism available to do that. As a result, many federal agencies, including GSA, EPA, and DOD, have made LEED a policy for their facilities. However, we are open to other models and tools as they become available, and at the same time, applaud those who use LEED to enhance their buildings and have received various levels of certification.
In the interim, we are working with USGBC to address environmental performance criteria and standards development process issues as they move into new standards and later versions of the existing standards. We are also working with Green Globes and other organizations as they develop sustainable building standards.
Major Resources
WBDG
Sustainable Building Rating Systems Summary
Model Contract and Specification Language
Publications
- ASTM Inst. Standards on Sustainability in Building—CD-ROM of 111 standards.
Other
- LEED®/MOU Mapping Guide (PDF 491 KB)
- USGBC LEED® Rating System
