More About Today’s Guest

Kevin Kampschroer is the Director of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings at the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). He has created the framework for which GSA responds to the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions reductions and of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s mandate to move GSA’s Federal building inventory toward high-performance green buildings.

Mr. Kampschroer was the Project Manager for the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, and he has lectured at various universities such as MIT, Harvard and Yale. His most recent publication as a contributing author is the first medical study showing the link between building characteristics on office worker stress and heart function-which showed the beneficial results of good lighting, natural light and IEQ. He has worked for GSA for over 35 years and is a graduate of Yale University.

GSA is responsible for almost 430,000 buildings totaling 3.34 billion sq. ft. and the agency is pioneering green building for the federal government, committed to building to LEED® Gold standards. Beyond LEED®, GSA is examining how and when people use space and adapting design (and rehab) to create workspace that is both efficient and pleasant to work in.

“What excites me is the people component and that’s really what’s new about this office,” says Kampschroer. “A lot of what we do is take existing research on building performance and then study the interaction between building system and people and ask: ‘Why are we doing this?’”

Some improvements come from looking at past designs and asking “what would our great-grandfathers do?,” he says. “In the past, buildings were built around natural ventilation and opening and closing windows. We’re re-learning things that have been forgotten with our reliance on mechanical engineering. Maybe the natural systems are the ones we need to exploit the most.”

Part of the mission of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings is to provide a forum for high-performance building design in the federal government and apply sustainable design practices. “The big challenge for the building industry is that it’s very fragmented,” says Kampschroer. “There are thousands and thousands of firms and that makes it tough to make changes.”

Kampschroer maintains that “There’s a lot of opportunity for people to be creative in a tight money environment. We can take the lessons about how collaboration, information technology and cloud computing have changed the way people interact and use our buildings more intensively and thus need fewer buildings,” he says. “That frees up money to make the buildings perform better.”

As Director of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings, Kampschroer has created the framework for which GSA responds to the challenges of greenhouse gas emissions reductions and of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act’s mandate to move GSA’s Federal building inventory toward high-performance green buildings.

Mr. Kampschroer was the Project Manager for the Ronald Reagan Building & International Trade Center, and has lectured at various universities such as MIT, Harvard and Yale. His most recent publication as a contributing author is the first medical study showing the link between building characteristics on office worker stress and heart function-which showed the beneficial results of good lighting, natural light and IEQ. He has worked for GSA for over 35 years and is a graduate of Yale University.

Top Resources from the Podcast

In Episode 19, Kevin discusses the top resources for inter-agency communication about higher-performance green building. They are:

• Fedcenter.gov
• YouTube
• GSA.gov
• Whole Building Design Guide
• Sustainable Facilities Tool

About CEIL

The Center for Environmental Innovation and Leadership (CEIL) is an independent organization designed to facilitate information and education exchange among government professionals charged with identifying, specifying, and buying green goods and services and with the vendors, contractors, and consultants that provide green goods and services. CEIL provides an interactive environment for government and industry professionals engaged in green activities that includes educational events, website, podcasts, webcasts, news and a social media. Learn more at www.CEILeadership.org.

CEIL is the sponsor of GOVgreen Conference and Exposition (November 30 – December 1, 2011, Washington Convention Center) which offers educational tracks on facilities, energy, transportation and conservation and an exhibit floor of companies that provide green products and services to the government. GOVgreen’s conference program is free to government and military professionals. Learn more about CEIL at www.GOVgreen.org.

Welcome back to another edition of CEIL’s Federal Sustainability and Green Government Podcast. In our latest episode, we chat with Peter Christensen, Commercialization Manager at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Peter is an electrical power systems engineer by training and worked for many years as a systems protection and control engineer for a regional utility. In his position with PNNL he looks at how to partner with industry to develop new technology in the energy sector. We talk with Peter about PNNL’s recently patented Grid Friendly Charger Controller for electric vehicles.

More About Today’s Guest

Peter Christensen is an electrical power systems engineer by training and worked for many years as a system protection and control engineer for a regional utility. In addition to designing protection and control schemes for generation, transmission, and distribution systems, he also performed a large number of interconnection studies for distributed independent power producers. After earning a law degree, Peter then worked for an energy consulting company where he helped large industrial users prepare for and take advantage of the increasingly complex and changing electrical power markets during the mid to late 1990’s. During that time, Peter became well known as a national expert on competitive power markets.

Recognizing the value of distributed generation in a restructured market, Peter then went to work for a leading PEM fuel cell developer as its VP of engineering and intellectual property. Eventually, this experience led him to his new position with PNNL where he looks at how to partner with industry to develop new technology in the energy sector.

Electric vehicle owners can plug in their cars and forget about them, knowing they’ll get the cheapest electricity available and won’t crash the grid – using a new technology called the Smart Charger Controller. Developed at the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, the controller automatically recharges electric vehicles during times of least cost to the consumer and lower demand for power. Widespread use of these devices could help advance a smart power grid.

Electric vehicles will ultimately reduce the nation’s dependency on oil. While the new vehicles will serve as an additional source of power demand, they also could contribute to an even “smarter” grid if equipped with controller technology.

If a million owners plug in their vehicles to recharge after work, it could cause a major strain on the grid,” said PNNL engineer Michael Kintner-Meyer. “The Smart Charger Controller could prevent those peaks in demand from plug-in vehicles and enable our existing grid to be used more evenly.”

That efficiency translates to a more stable grid and cheaper power.

“Using the device could save up to $150 a year for electric vehicle owners who pay based on when they charge their vehicle,” Kintner-Meyer said.

How it Works

Electric vehicles will become widely available starting in 2011. The current Administration supports a goal of one million electric vehicles on the road by 2015. A previous PNNL study showed that America’s existing power grid could meet the needs of about 70 percent of all U.S. light-duty vehicles if battery charging was managed to avoid new peaks in electricity demand.

The Smart Charger Controller does just that. Owners program the controller to charge at a specific time of day or night or at a set price point. The controller uses a low-range wireless technology to communicate with the power grid and determine the best and cheapest time to recharge vehicles. By charging vehicles during off-peak times, the controller saves consumers money.

Previous PNNL studies with household appliances show that “smart” technologies also save the grid from brown-outs with little impact to the consumer. Grid Friendly™ technology inside the Smart Charger Controller senses stress conditions on the grid. When the grid says more power is needed, the controller can temporarily stop charging the vehicle until the stress subsides.

This instant reduction in charging load, multiplied on a large scale with many vehicles, could serve as a shock absorber for the grid. The technology would relieve load instantly and give grid operators time to bring new power generation sources on line to stabilize the grid – a process that usually takes several minutes.

To learn more about the Grid Friendly Charger Controller and other available technologies from PNNL, visit: http://availabletechnologies.pnnl.gov/default.aspx

At the EDTA 2011 Conference & Annual Meeting? Check out this technology at booth #635!

In our latest edition of the Green Government Podcast, we talk with Maureen Roskoski, a senior professional at Facility Engineering Associates. In her 15 years of practice, Maureen has worked with existing facilities on LEED certification, energy management, and sustainability policies. Maureen has also worked with federal facilities on energy audits, preparing Sustainability Performance Plans, and energy and sustainability training.

This podcast focuses on the importance of training and continuing education for facility managers and previews upcoming educational opportunities provided by Facility Engineering Associates. We asked Maureen about:

• The individual and organizational benefits of training
• How recent government initiatives are affecting the training needs of government employees and contractors
• The learning objectives and benefits of an upcoming Facility Engineering Associates training session

About Maureen Roskoski

Maureen Roskoski has worked with existing facilities on LEED certification, energy management, and sustainability policies during her 15 years of practice. Maureen graduated from Mary Washington College with an Environmental Earth Science degree. She has taken several clients through the LEED – EB certification process. Maureen has worked with federal facilities on energy audits, preparing Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans, and energy and sustainability training. Maureen has presented in her area of expertise at several leading conferences including IFMA’s World Workplace, Greenbuild (2006 and 2009), and NFM&T.

In addition, Maureen has led workshops on sustainability in existing buildings for the New York Regional Chapter of APPA and Jones Lang LaSalle. She is one of the primary developers and Instructors for George Mason University’s Professional Certificate in Sustainability for Existing Buildings Program. Maureen is the leader of FEA’s USGBC Education Provider program and also helped organize the GSA Heartland Sustainability Forum in December of 2010. Maureen is a co- author of the IFMA How To Guide Series publications on ENERGY STAR and Green Building Rating Systems. Maureen’s past teaching experience includes:

• How the LEED – EB Certification Process Transforms Your Operations and Engages People: A Panel Discussion With Facility Managers and LEED APs, Greenbuild, (served on panel with Kimberly Dominguez, CFM, NEA, Teena Shouse, CFM, IFMA Fellow, FEA, and Cynthia Smith, CFM), November 10, 2009, 200+people, 90 minutes
• Improving Building Operations Efficiency through the LEED for Existing Buildings Certification Process, ERAPPA, October 5, 2010, 100 people, 60 minutes
• EO 13514 & GSA’s Strategic Plan, GSA Heartland Forum, Dec 1, 2010, 25 people, 60 minutes
• Getting Started with Sustainability, CCIFMA Sustainability Summit, April 22, 2010, 50 people, 60minutes
• Saving Energy, Water, and the Environment with LEED EB, webinar hosted by Maintenance Solutions, June 25, 2009 (co-presented with Laurie Gilmer), 100+ people, 60 minutes

Join us for a chat with Graham Parker as he discusses the Department of Energy’s Windows Volume Purchase Program. In a few months DOE will launch Phase 2 of the program, which will introduce tools for commercial and government building projects.

Graham Parker began his career at PNNL over 36 years ago. His recent work has focused on managing PNNL’s technical support to the Department of Energy (DOE) in the development, promulgation and codification of federal equipment standards. Other significant work has involved identification of technologies and strategies to bring new technologies to the market and assist the private and public sectors to meet energy- and water-efficiency goals and mandates. As part of this focus, he is currently leading the development of a DOE technology procurement for the next generation of high performance windows.

Join us for a talk with Steve Ressler, founder of GovLoop.com, the leading social and professional networking site for government employees and contractors. GovLoop boasts over 40,000 members and features message forums, videos and other engaging and dynamic social content.

In this podcast we chat with Steve about the reasons he founded GovLoop and how the site has evolved to meet the needs of its growing membership. We also talk with Steve about the value and importance of social networking in government in the 21st century, and how social networking can help government employees become more efficient and innovative in the workplace.

Green Government Podcast: Episode 14

Interview with Daniel Fiorino, Director of the Center for Environmental Policy at American University

In our first podcast of 2011 we talk to Daniel Fiorino, the director of the Center for Environmental Policy at American University. Daniel’s teaching, research, and writing focus on environmental policy and politics, the executive branch, and the role of analysis and innovation in policy making. His articles have appeared in a wide range of policy, law, and social science journals.

In this short podcast we talk with Daniel about Executive Order 13514 and the power of policy and purchasing in helping the government become more sustainable. You can learn more about the Center for Environmental Policy by visiting: http://www.american.edu/spa/cep/

Green Government Podcast: Episode 12

Interview with Ryan Daley,
Senior Director of Government Outreach for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative

Join us for a special 5-minute podcast with Ryan Daley, Federal Fleet Program Task Leader at National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). At the GOVgreen Conference and Exposition, Ryan will be speaking on day 1 at the session entitled Transporting People and Goods Sustainably.

Have you registered yet? Don’t miss the GOVgreen Conference
and Expo next week in Washington, D.C. REGISTER TODAY!

Green Government Podcast: Episode 11

Interview with Nadine Block, Senior Director of Government Outreach for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative
In today’s podcast, we chat with Nadine Block, Senior Director of Government Outreach for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI). SFI is an independent, non-profit organization responsible for maintaining, overseeing and improving a sustainable forestry certification program that is internationally recognized and is the largest single forest standard in the world.

In this 15-minute podcast you’ll hear Nadine speak about SFI goals, partnerships and the impact that the purchasing power of the federal government for sustainable forestry products.

Green Government Podcast: Episode 10

Interview with Jeff Harris, Vice President of Programs at the Alliance to Save Energy

In our 10th episode of the green government podcast, we chat with Jeff Harris, Vice President of Programs at the Alliance to Save Energy. ASE promotes energy efficiency worldwide to achieve a healthier economy, a cleaner environment and greater energy security.

In this 15-minute podcast you’ll learn more about the Alliance to Save Energy and the impact the government can have on energy efficiency. Also, hear how Executive Order 13514 and other government initiatives are shaping the energy efficiency market.

Want to learn more about ASE and its work with energy efficiency? Check out the video below.

Green Government Podcast: Episode 9

Interview with Scott Belcher, President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America

Join us for a conversation with Scott Belcher, President and CEO of the Intelligent Transportation Society of America, the leading advocate for technologies that improve the safety, security and efficiency of the nation’s surface transportation system.

In this 15-minute podcast you’ll learn about intelligent transportation solutions and how they can lead to a greener and more environmentally sustainable transportation industry.