2010 U.S. Department of State Agency Sustainability Plan

U.S. Department of State Agency Sustainability Plan FY2010 - FY2020 August 30, 2010 Letter from the Senior Sustainability Officer. Section 1: Agency Policy and Strategy. Section 2: Performance review and Annual Update. GOAL 1: Scope 1 and Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction. GOAL 2: Scope 3 Greenhouse Gas Reduction. GOAL 3: Develop and Maintain Agency Comprehensive GHG Inventory. GOAL 4: High-Performance Sustainable Design/Green Buildings. GOAL 5: Regional and Local Planning.. GOAL 6: Water Use Efficiency and Management GOAL 7: Pollution Prevention and Waste Elimination. GOAL 8: Sustainable Acquisition. GOAL 9: Electronic Stewardship and Data Centers. GOAL 10: Agency Innovation. Section 3: Agency Self Evaluation.. List of Supporting Documents. Dear Chair Sutley and Director Orszag: In accordance with Executive Order 13514, as the Senior Sustainability Officer for the U.S. Department of State, I hereby submit this Agency Sustainability Plan on behalf of the Department. The U.S. Department of State is committed to pursuing and promoting responsible environmental stewardship and complying with all relevant environmental and energy statutes, regulations and Executive Orders. Over the next decade, the Department is planning to improve energy efficiency throughout its facilities and vehicle fleet, reducing material consumption and waste, and surveying and lowering its greenhouse gas emissions. The Department has begun renovations on a Charleston, SC, facility with the goal of achieving LEED® Platinum and net-zero energy status, implementing lighting, water and steam efficiency measures for the Department’s domestic building portfolio, and exploring green training opportunities for employee development. The Department is dedicated to ensuring the most effective U.S. foreign policy outcomes and promoting accountability to our primary stakeholders, the American people. With great pride I note that the Department has a record of incorporating sustainability into its operations. By harnessing our employees’ zeal for greening efforts, we intend to make even greater strides over the next decade and beyond. Sincerely, Patrick F. Kennedy Under Secretary for Management Agency Senior Sustainability Officer U.S. Department of State I. Agency Policy Statement - Letter from the Senior Sustainability Officer[1] II. Sustainability and Agency Mission "The core mission of the U.S. Department of State is to advance freedom for the benefit of the American people and the international community by helping to build and sustain a more democratic, secure, and prosperous world composed of well-governed states that respond to the needs of their people, reduce widespread poverty, and act responsibly within the international system."

• Department Mission Statement A primary function of the Department is to share with the international community the story of America, including the nation's values of environmental stewardship. As the Department conducts American diplomacy abroad, its operations model the policies it advocates globally, thus conveying a consistent message and enabling its diplomats to articulate and promote without pretense the environmental policies and aspirations of our nation. The Department is committed to applying environmental sustainability to its business process in a manner that sets strategic goals and priorities, creates relevant programs, monitors activities, collects data and measures progress toward achievement of goals, uses performance and evaluation information to influence program resource and allocation decision making and communicates results to stakeholders. With inherent cost-saving benefits, improved community relations and work environment for employees, environmental sustainability is a natural complement to the Department’s business operations. As the Department advances global diplomacy with an ever-smaller eco-footprint, environmental sustainability will continue to be an essential guiding touchstone. III. Greenhouse Gas Reduction Goals In January of 2010, in accordance with Executive Order (E.O.) 13514, the Department of State established a 20% greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction goal by Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 for its Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, pending the availability of sufficient resources. The reduction goal uses a FY2008 baseline and applies to the Department’s ten domestically owned/delegated facilities. The Department’s domestic fleet vehicles account for less than 2% of its total Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions. Focused on reducing domestic fleet emissions the Department will continue to comply with the requirements for fleet vehicle management in E.O. 13423 and 13514, and EISA. In accordance with E.O. 13514, the Department will establish a GHG reduction goal for its Scope 3 emissions. Separating this goal into two segments, the Department establishes a 2% GHG reduction goal by FY2020 with a FY2008 baseline for its Scope 3 emissions from domestic waste and transmission distribution loss from purchased energy. The second segment of the Department’s Scope 3 emissions, focused on federal employee travel, is currently undergoing development. The Department’s Scope 3 emissions goal will be submitted in aggregate in the Department’s FY2011 Agency Sustainability Plan. The GHG inventory due in January 2011 will be the Department’s first comprehensive GHG inventory of its domestic operations. As the Department proceeds with its data collection and inventory, it will inevitably receive new assignments and changes in resources, thus it may refine its GHG strategy and adjust its reduction goals as appropriate to account for changing operations. IV. Plan Implementation On Earth Day 2009, Secretary Hillary Clinton challenged the Department to address its environmental responsibilities by integrating its policies, operational elements and public diplomacy in a comprehensive, cohesive and coordinated manner. This challenge, part of the Secretary’s Greening Diplomacy Initiative (GDI) [2], asks entities across the Department to account for their environmental footprint, be responsible environmental stewards and promote diplomacy that is ecologically sustainable. In response to this challenge, the Department established the Greening Council (GC)[3] to coordinate capabilities and efforts across the Department. The GC is the senior-level group responsible for overseeing and coordinating the greening of the Department. The GC fulfills its mission by providing strategic direction and guidance, establishing Department-wide greening roadmaps, and evaluating the Department’s overall environmental performance. The GC meets quarterly to discuss sustainability issues and assess progress. The GC, facilitated by the Greening Council Chair (GCC), guides the activities of the Greening Council Working Group (GCWG). The GCWG implements greening policy and initiatives under the general direction of the GC. Its responsibilities include preparing project planning and reports for review and approval by the GC and implementing Executive Orders and other federal mandates across the Department. GCWG’s core functions are to:
• Facilitate department-wide greening and sustainability activities, including internal policies and externally imposed federal mandates
• Facilitate action on ideas put forth by the Department’s employees
• Implement GC communications strategy
• Monitor progress of ongoing and new greening efforts
• Provide a forum for exchanging lessons learned and best practices The GCWG is comprised of bureau-selected representatives. These working-level representatives offer technical expertise, interest in greening and sustainability issues, and are empowered to represent their bureaus in the deliberations and decision-making process. The Greening Council Working Group meets monthly. The GCWG is organized into teams and have coordinator(s) to facilitate each team. The current standing teams are:
• Communications and Outreach – Inform/educate internal and external audiences of the Department’s efforts and accomplishments, coordinate consistent department-wide messaging, and establish the Department’s image of a responsible environmental steward.
• Strategic Sustainability Policy, Programming and Measurement – Facilitate and leverage best practices into a comprehensive and coordinated effort, includes greening and sustainability activities, performance and metrics, and budget and program planning.
• Official Events – Coordinates official department-wide events (e.g. Earth Day, America Recycles Day, Speaker Series, etc.)
• Employee Ideas – Fosters an interactive green dialogue within the Department and encourages employee involvement and suggestions. The Executive Secretariat (ES) is the coordinator and convener for the GC and supporting work groups. The ES prepares for and organizes GC and GCWG meetings, oversees drafting of greening reports and documents, and finalizes strategic planning on behalf of the Council. The ES also facilitates programs and initiatives that further GC objectives. The Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation (M/PRI) serves as the ES. Activities to implement plan are assigned below:
• Internal Coordination and Communication – GCWG Communication and Outreach Team
• Coordination and Dissemination of the Plan to the Field - GCWG ES
• Leadership & Accountability – GC
• Agency Policy and Planning Integration – GC and carried out by the GCWG
• Agency Budget Integration – GC and carried out by the Department’s Bureau of Resource Management (RM). The Department will assess investments that support its ASP as part of the annual budget formulation and execution processes.
• Methods for Evaluation of Progress – GCWG will report back to the GC in quarterly reports, GC will determine if changes are needed. | Originating Report / Plan | Scope 1 & 2 GHG Reduction | Scope 3 GHG Reduction | Develop and Maintain a Comprehensive GHG Inventory | High-Performance Sustainable Design / Green Buildings | Regional and Local Planning | Water Use Efficiency and Management | Pollution Prevention and Waste Elimination | Sustainable Acquisition | Electronic Stewardship and Data Centers | Agency Specific Innovation | | “Sample Plan” | Yes | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | Yes | No | | GPRA Strategic Plan | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | n/a | | Agency Capital Plan | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | n/a | | A-11 300s | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | | Annual Energy Data Report | Yes | n/a | Yes | Yes | n/a | Yes | n/a | n/a | Yes | No | | EISA Section 432 Facility Evaluations/Project Reporting | Yes | n/a | Yes | Yes | n/a | Yes | n/a | n/a | n/a | No | | Budget | No | No | No | No | n/a | No | No | No | No | No | | Asset Management Plan / 3 Year Timeline | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | n/a | No | | Circular A-11 Exhibit 53s | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | | OMB Scorecards | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | n/a | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | | DOE's Annual Federal Fleet Report to Congress and the President | Yes | n/a | Yes | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | No | | Data Center Consolidation Plan | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | | Environmental Health & Safety Management Systems (EHSMS) | No | No | No | Yes | n/a | Yes | Yes | Yes | n/a | No | | Other (reports, policies, plans, etc.) | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | *Existing plans will be updated to incorporate the objectives of E.O. 13514 in future ASP submissions V. Evaluating Return on Investment a. Economic Lifecycle Cost/Return on Investment[4] – The Department uses life-cycle cost (LCC) analysis for decisions on investing in facility systems or equipment installations, and return on investment (ROI) analysis for determining investments in energy savings initiatives. With respect to Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) decisions, the Department evaluates potential projects with the criterion of short to moderate pay-back times (i.e., 5-10 yrs) ensuring recovery of the investment before changes to the building or mission negate the effectiveness of the improvements. The Department also evaluates the financing aspects of ESPCs. b. Social Costs & Benefits – The Department continues to explore how to weigh the social costs and benefits of addressing its GHG emissions with the procurement of goods and services to achieve its mission. In the absence of guidance from the Administration or legislation, the Department will continue to follow the FAR and other federal guidelines when investing in capital assets and services while pursuing, when able, a low environmental footprint.  c. Environmental Costs & Benefits – The Department continues to explore how to weigh the environmental costs and benefits of addressing its GHG emissions with the procurement of goods and services to achieve its mission. In the absence of guidance from the Administration or legislation, the Department will continue to follow the FAR and other federal guidelines when investing in capital assets and services while pursuing, when able, a low environmental footprint. d. Operations & Maintenance and Deferred Investments – The Department evaluates the operations and maintenance costs for both the current and proposed assets in making investments decisions for facilities and equipment. More energy efficient equipment may also be more complicated and so have higher maintenance costs for consumables, spare parts, and technical support. Deferred investments can be for programmatic or budgetary/financial reasons. Climate Change Risk and Vulnerability – With regard to physical structures, the Department does not foresee any considerable risks to its facilities that would hinder its ability to carry out its diplomatic mission. The Department will continue to evaluate its areas of operation for potential climate change effects on its facilities and weigh such impacts with any capital investments. Due to the geopolitical interests in and impacts of climate change and related national policies, a portion of the Department’s diplomatic mission will continue to be affected by climate change. On the political and programmatic levels, the Department will continue to join colleagues across the U.S. Government in directing significant diplomatic and development resources to address climate change, both through international fora such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate, as well as through bilateral and multilateral assistance programs. Government-wide, appropriations for international climate activities total $1.3 billion in Fiscal Year 2010, and the Administration has requested $1.9 billion in appropriations for Fiscal Year 2011. Roughly 40% of these resources are for bilateral activities managed by USAID and State. The U.S. Government uses these resources to support reductions of greenhouse gas emissions as well as increased resilience to the impacts of climate change. e. Other (none) VI. Transparency The Department will continue to share the story of how it conducts the nation’s diplomacy, making available to the public its agency sustainability policy statement, GHG reduction goals and its Department-wide greening accomplishments on both the America.gov and State.gov websites. For the international community, the Office of International Information Programs (IIP) promotes international awareness of the U.S government’s green initiatives through multimedia web features on the America.gov web site, digital video conferences connecting American experts with foreign audiences, web chats, traveling speakers, and print publications. Recent content focusing on the Department’s efforts includes a story about U.S. embassies in Sofia and Panama City having met the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The piece was translated into Spanish, French and Persian and notes the Department goal that all new embassies will meet USGBC standards. I. Summary of Accomplishments – To be submitted in FY2011 submission II. Goal Performance Review – To be submitted in FY2011 submission GOAL 1: Scope 1 and Scope 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Reduction a. Sub-goal (a.)[Buildings] – Goal description: In January 2010, the Department established a GHG reduction goal, pending adequate resources, of 20% by FY2020 relative to a FY2008 baseline for Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions in accordance with E.O. 13514. This amounts to a reduction of 18,810 MTCO2e or the equivalent of taking 3,263 passenger vehicles off the road annually, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The Scope 1 and Scope 2 emission reduction goal was established using the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Development of Agency Reduction Goals (DART) tool. The Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG reduction goal applies to the following domestic portfolio of owned/delegated facilities:
• HST Harry S Truman – Headquarters
• SA-1 Columbia Plaza
• SA-51 Blair House - President's Guest House
• SA-26 Beltsville Information Management Center (BIMC)
• SA-33 Federal Building – International Chancery Center (ICC)
• SA-42 George P. Shultz – National Foreign Affairs Training Center (NFATC)
• SA-58 Portsmouth Consular Center (PCC)
• SA-61 Florida Regional Center (FRC)
• SA-59 Charleston Regional Center (CRC)
• SA-62 Kentucky Consular Center (KCC) In addition to absolute GHG reduction goals, the Department is also committed to reducing facility energy intensity and increasing renewable energy use. b. Sub-goal (a.)[Buildings] – Agency lead for goal: The Department’s Sustainability Plan was developed by cross-functional working groups. The agency lead for Goal 1 is the Bureau of Administration (A). This bureau has program responsibility for domestic facility management, fleet management, real property management, and logistics management. The Office of Management Policy, Rightsizing, and Innovation (M/PRI), the Under Secretary for Management’s central management organization, has overall responsibility for plan development and implementation. M/PRI provides guidance to offices and working groups, and ensures internal coordination and communication of the plan. c. Sub-goal (a.)[Buildings] – Implementation methods: The Department’s strategy to achieve the established FY2020 GHG reduction goal is multifaceted, includes facility energy conservation measures, efforts to reduce consumer/employee energy demand, renewable energy, and changing energy sources. Implementation will leverage existing effective programs such as Environmental Health and Safety Management Systems (covering facility management operations); the Department High Performance and Sustainable Buildings Domestic Implementation Plan[5]; and the Department Electronics Stewardship Plan[6] and Data Center Consolidation Plan[7]. The established GHG goal is rooted in three critical assumptions:
• The 20% Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG reduction goal is limited to the Department’s ten domestically owned/delegated facilities;
• The Department is able to forge appropriate arrangements with its energy suppliers to purchase renewable energy to begin in FY2012;
• The Department has sufficient funding to purchase added renewable energy, absent funding the Department’s attainable GHG goal is 11%. i. Reduce Facility Energy Intensity – The Department intends to meet a significant portion of its GHG reductions at zero net cost through installing energy saving measures, such as efficient lighting and water use, possibly financed through DOE’s Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPCs), depending in part on the financing aspects of the particular ESPC. Under these mechanisms, contractors would install energy saving measures throughout Department buildings and the energy cost savings from these measures would be used to pay contractors. The Department’s current installation of energy saving measures will address 80% of the d