Recovery.gov - Track the Money

The primary activities that will stem from the $5.546 Billion appropriated to the Federal Buildings Fund include new building construction, repair & alteration, and energy modernization. The scope of these projects will include new Federal construction (including Land Ports of Entry), full and partial building modernizations, limited scope projects such as re-commissioning of existing systems, replacement of existing mechanical equipment with significantly more efficient systems, integrated photovoltaic roof membrane installations, and smaller building projects for energy conservation. Of the funding appropriated, $108 million will be allotted for rental of space in situations where “swing space” is needed for agencies currently occupying buildings selected for renovation. In addition, $127 million of the funding will be available to cover the administrative costs of completing projects, $3 million will be available for on-the-job pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship training programs registered with the Department of Labor. (For a fully detailed list of this Program’s projects visit http://www.gsa.gov/recovery and click on “Public Buildings Service Project Plan”.)

GSA as a whole will leverage the Commission of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO), Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Framework, Federal Managers Financial Integrity Act (FMFIA), and Office of Management Budget (OMB) Circular A-123 to define a process which identifies the potential threats to a successful ARRA implementation. COSO provides guidance on critical aspects of organizational governance, business ethics, internal control, enterprise risk management, fraud, and financial reporting.

PBS will manage the impact of these risks through monitoring, mitigation and elimination. Governance of the risk management process will be conducted through the Senior Assessment Team and reviews incorporated as part of the existing A-123 management review process for assessing internal controls. PBS program managers will rate each identified risk on a scale of 1-5 based on the likelihood that the risk event will occur and the effect on the project’s objectives if the risk event does occur.

At the project level, PBS Managers will use project tracking tools to ensure projects are on schedule, on budget, and that the scope is being implemented as promised. Managers will use a variance tracking tool to identify project problems as quickly as possible and intervene where necessary to get projects back within tolerance.

TRANSPARENCY: GSA’s Public Building Service plans to take advantage of every opportunity to keep the President, United States Congress, client Agencies, Vendors/Contractors, and especially the American taxpayers informed throughout the execution of Recovery Act projects. In keeping with President Obama’s commitment to transparency in government, PBS will maintain an unprecedented level of openness and transparency in operations. Collaboration with the public and with other government agencies will remain a significant agency commitment. In order to promote efficiency, effectiveness, and openness in implementation, PBS will fully disclose key financial and contractual information to the public regarding ARRA funds.

In addition, PBS will maintain a close working relationship with GSA’s Office of the Inspector General (IG) who will act as a key resource in helping to ensure zero waste, fraud, and abuse throughout project execution. Since the inception of the ARRA program, the IG has been heavily involved and will continue to participate in frequent status meetings with the Agency’s Senior Leadership.

GSA will report frequently to the Committees of the House and the Senate on what is being planned and what is being accomplished. GSA will also be taking the lead in launching and managing Recovery.gov – the official website of the Federal government that will report on the progress of the Recovery Act. Financial (and other) systems will be modified to track information at the level required to meet Recovery.gov requirements and to ensure the public can measure the impact of each dollar spent. In addition, contract notifications will be posted on the Federal Business Opportunities website (FedBizOpps.gov) for private firms to search and retrieve.


ACCOUNTABILITY: The Public Buildings Service has established the National Reinvestment Program Management Office (PMO) headed by the Reinvestment Program Management Executive. This executive is accountable to the Commissioner of the Public Buildings Service who is accountable to the GSA Administrator. In addition, the Program Management Executive will establish Zone Recovery Executives in the PMO to oversee and ensure successful implementation of the ARRA. These executives and program managers are accountable for ensuring that ARRA project performance is enhanced by initiating a value-based risk management program while employing a systematic approach to managing all risks from all sources within defined boundaries; such as, effective delivery (optimization of risk/return), efficient delivery (deployment of assets, tangible/intangible), and consistency of results.

GSA selected the best projects for accomplishing the goals of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act based on two over-arching criteria: Ability of the project to put people back to work quickly, and transforming Federal buildings into high-performance green buildings. GSA’s plan resulted in four groups of projects:

New Federal construction, including Land Ports of Entry
Full and partial building modernizations
Limited scope projects
Small projects

Each of these groups will achieve the goals of the Energy Independence and Security Act and the Executive Order 13423 in different ways. New Federal construction projects’ and full and partial building modernizations’ design goals have been or are being changed to incorporate both the requirement to be 30% better than ASHRAE 90.1 (the energy code), and to consume 55% less fossil fuel energy. PBS has prepared a project review process that includes application of all the guiding principles. In estimating the costs of these projects, changes to existing designs have been added to the project budget, although these estimates were of necessity (given the time constraints) approximate. Each major building modernization project has been given an energy efficiency target, based on preliminary energy modeling and CBECS comparable buildings. These will be monitored as construction proceeds to ensure that the goals for energy efficiency, energy efficient capital equipment purchased in installed in the course of the projects, and the fossil fuel generated energy reduction targets will be delivered upon completion. Commissioning agents are being procured for all these projects, and they will verify the performance of the delivered systems and projects. Limited scope projects were selected for the greatest impact on portfolio energy reduction, increased performance and renewable energy generation, and for impact improving working conditions for the occupants of the buildings. These will be similarly verified to ensure that the performance is delivered.

PBS has engaged both the Pacific Northwest and National Renewable Energy National Laboratories (through the Department of Energy) to aid in modeling and measuring the requirements, as well as in the development of specifications designed the maximize the energy-savings and performance potential of these projects.

Lastly, every building that PBS will touch on the identified list will have advanced meters for both electricity and water, and steam if appropriate; and from the small projects line item, all other buildings for which advanced meters are appropriate will be accomplished.

The PBS Recovery Act Program Management Office (PMO) is responsible for ensuring that the projects meet these goals. The PMO is staffed with subject matter experts in both energy and sustainability, and is supported by the PBS Sustainability program office (which has been administratively merged into the Office of Federal-High-Performance Green Buildings), in devising effective measures for each of these goals. For example, in the recent construction management conference, classes on integrated design (sustainable design), lighting, water conservation, solar PV, envelope improvement and energy strategies were provided to 350 people who will be key to achieving these goals. Further, GSA is working with Dept. of Energy’s solar program to maximize the opportunity for solar energy generation in the roofing projects identified in the spending plan, as well as solar hot water.

For a fully detailed list of this Program’s projects visit www.gsa.gov/recovery and click on “Public Buildings Service Project Plan”.