U.S. Capital Going Green

During fiscal year 2006, the House released an estimated equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 17,200 cars.

Mairi Beautyman -- Interior Design, 4/30/2007

The United States Capitol is to receive a green revamp, as part of a project head up by House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer. Energy-saving and environmentally-friendly design features will be implemented into the landmark complex, as part of an overall goal to reduce its carbon footprint.

A series of six recommendations will be addressed, according to the preliminary Greening of the Capitol Report. During fiscal year 2006, an estimated 91,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions came from the House, reports the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. This amount is equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 17,200 cars

The recommendations are:
- Operating the House in a carbon neutral manner
- Shifting to 100 percent renewable electric power
- Aggressively improving energy efficiency
- Adopting sustainable business practices
- Continued leadership on sustainability issues
- Offsets to ensure carbon neutral operations

“The good news is that green building reduces emissions by 30-50 percent,” says Rick Fedrizzi, president, CEO, and founding chair of the U. S. Green Building Council. “The U.S. Green Building Council applauds the Greening of the Capitol project as a showcase for sustainable practices that will inspire other projects around the country and the world to make an immediate and measurable impact on climate change by building green.”