Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers  

To address the need for a comprehensive guide for procuring green building products and construction/renovation services within the Federal government, EPA has partnered with the Federal Environmental Executive and the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) to develop the Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers. Under the direction of this partnership, the green specs were authored by Dru Meadows, AIA, CCS, FCSI of theGreenTeam, Inc., a national expert in specifying for green building.

NOTE: This resource has not been updated to reflect new guidance to federal agencies per EO 13693, such as EPA's Recommendations of Standards and Ecolabels. EPA anticipates updating the Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers following its pilot assessment of standards and ecolabels for paints/coatings, furniture, and flooring and finalization of its Guidelines approach. To see the current sustainable acquisition requirements— searchable by purchase category—for federal agencies, please go to SF Tool Green Procurement Compilation section its website.

Organized according to CSI MasterFormat™, the 70+ sections provide users with multiple, performance-based options, allowing for flexibility in application.

Objectives: To help federal agencies meet their project-specific environmental goals and mandates including:

• Executive Order 13423, 13514, and the revised Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings
• EPA's Final Guidance on Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
• EPA's Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines for recovered content
• USDA's BioPreferred Program
• ENERGY STAR® & DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Product Efficiency Recommendations
• Energy Policy Act of 2005 and the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007
• ASTM, LEED®, Green Globes, and other rating systems and standards
• And other 'best practices' as determined via industry and public comment

To share comments & suggestions, please contact Alison Kinn Bennett at 202-564-8859 or kinn.alison@epa.gov. For more information about the scope, purpose, and use of the Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers, please see the Frequently Asked Questions.

Click the 'Title' or 'Date' heading to sort by ascending or descending order.

These documents are available in the following format:   Adobe Acrobat (PDF)  |   Microsoft Word (DOC)