Green building on the chopping block in House spending measure

Bryan Howard, Legislative Director of the U.S. Green Building Council, blogs about proposed GOP budget cuts that could impact green building within the commercial sector.

The most significant cuts:

• $1.6 billion (nearly 20%) of the Federal Building Fund at the General Services Administration (GSA). GSA uses the fund to modernize and update public buildings to make them more efficient.

• $786 million (over 35%) of the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) office at the Department of Energy (DOE). This is the home base for the Building Technologies Program (BTP) which works with industry, researchers and academia to develop technologies, techniques, and tools for making buildings more efficient, productive, and less costly.

• $250 million in funds for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOPE VI program, which leverages private sector dollars to transform existing, blighted public housing into vibrant, livable communities.

• $10 million for the Energy Star program at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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