Energy, Environment, and Fleet Program

Energy, Environment, and Fleet (EEF) Program Service facilitates VA’s efforts to comply with Federal mandates related to energy and water management, environmental management, fleets, high-performance Federal buildings, building and operational resiliency, and energy purchasing. EEF formulates and supports the development of VA-level policy; provides oversight, guidance, and training; and completes required Department-level reporting. EEF also coordinates enterprise-level operations of VA’s energy and fleet portfolio, including managing VA’s Energy Performance Contracting Program and VA’s Fleet Management Program.

Learn about VA’s sustainability efforts from the White House Council on Environmental Quality page for VA.

David Wagner

Director

Energy, Environment and Fleet (044E)
energy@va.gov

Our Teams:

Program service achievements

Reduce energy use

$1.87B+

More than $1.66 billion in long-term avoided costs for VA facilities

40%

40 percent less energy per square foot for average VA vs. national average for hospitals

Improvements in energy and water infrastructure

$1.3B

Almost $1.3 billion in upgrades at 95 medical centers through contracts with private sector investment since 2011

2024 VA Sustainability Awards were presented to the following facilities:
Facility Name Project
John L. McClellan Memorial Veterans Hospital, Little Rock, AR Renewable Electricity Initiative
VA Caribbean Healthcare System, San Juan, PR Installation of Trihalomethane (TTHM) Removal System
VA Jefferson Barracks Medical Center, St. Louis, MO Optimization of Chilled Water Plant
VA Northern Indiana Healthcare System, Marion, IN Aeroponics Towers in Nutrition and Food Service
VA Saint Louis Healthcare System, St. Louis, MO Floor Care Process Improvement Project
Martinsburg VA Medical Center, Martinsburg, WV Sustainable Wildlife Management Conservation Concept Plan
James E. Van- Zandt VA Medical Center, Altoona, PA Decommissioning of buildings slated for demolition

Energy and water management

VA recognizes that, when conducting its mission to care for Veterans, it has a responsibility to minimize environmental and energy-related impacts. This can be accomplished through measures to conserve energy and water usage. VA employs a variety of methods to ensure its facilities are as efficient as possible by conducting building surveys, performing assessments, upgrading equipment and infrastructure, and tracking energy and water usage.

Energy and water assessments

Every four years, each of our 168 medical centers conducts energy and water assessments to determine how to upgrade and improve the facility’s efficiency. These assessments yield results for investments and energy conservation measures, which range from replacing windows and lighting to upgrading the heating, ventilation and air conditioning or control systems. The assessments have identified potentially 3,921 billion BTU in annual energy savings, $59.9 million in annual energy cost savings, 1,022 million gallons in annual water savings, and $3.08 million in annual water cost savings. Additional data regarding energy and water assessments can be found through the FEMP EISA 432 Compliance Tracking System website

Commissioning

All VA medical centers go through commissioning every four years.

Commissioning is a cost-effective approach that helps facilities control utility costs by ensuring that building systems can be operated and maintained according to the facility’s needs. It provides benefits such as extended equipment life and lower operating costs and leads to better building efficiency.

Metering

VA has installed electric metering systems at all VA medical centers to track energy usage and intensity. VA has also installed non-electrical meters that track a facility’s use of water, chilled water, steam and natural gas. These meters help VA determine the ideal locations for conducting energy and water conservation measures.

 

Energy performance contracts

Energy savings performance contracts (ESPCs) and utility energy service contracts (UESC)s are contracting vehicles that allow Federal government agencies to partner with private sector companies and utilities to install energy and water conservation measures without the need for upfront appropriations. Private sector companies take on the performance risk of the equipment and obtain competitive financing from a third-party lender. The government agency pays them back over time from the energy and water savings associated with the more efficient equipment. These contracts provide a solution to more immediately upgrade aging infrastructure and critical building systems when appropriations are not readily available.

 

VA has awarded almost $1.3 billion in upgrades at 95 medical centers through ESPCs and UESCs with private sector investment since 2011. These contracts are repairing and replacing critical energy and water infrastructure and are expected to avoid more than $1.8 billion of energy and water costs for VA facilities over the life of these contracts.

 

VA awards ESPCs through our ESPC SDVOSB IDIQ, which was originally awarded to four companies on May 21, 2020, with an additional two on-ramped in March 2022. The current list of awardees is:

  1. CTI-OES Joint Venture (OES is now Engie)
  2. TLS-CES Joint Venture (CES is now RWE)
  3. US2 (now partnered with Southland)
  4. HICAPS (partnered with Trane)
  5. HSGS-Ameresco Joint Venture

The Department of Energy provides additional information and resources about ESPCs and UESCs.

 

For additional information on VA’s Energy and Water Management Program, please see VA Directive 0055.

High performance sustainable buildings

The Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings align with the definition of a high-performance green building outlined in the Energy Independence and Security Act (EISA) of 2007 (42 U.S.C. § 17061(13)), and serve as guidelines for Federal agencies to assess progress towards the sustainability metrics associated with their real property assets, in accordance with the statutory duties of executive agencies (40 U.S.C. § 524)

EEF manages VA’s annual assessment with the Guiding Principles for selected existing VA facilities. The assessment includes a web-based briefing for key VA staff, facility self-evaluations via a Guiding Principles survey, third party on-site verification of the survey, and a written report for each building assessed. For more information on VA’s High Performance Sustainable Building Program, please see:

Environmental management

Green purchasing

VA procures environmentally preferable or sustainable products and services. This applies to all types of acquisitions and procurements. The agency also educates employees about green purchasing.

Learn more about green purchasing.

Waste prevention and recycling

VA follows “reduce, reuse, and recycle” for materials and waste and maintains life-cycle cost-effective waste prevention and recycling programs to the maximum extent practicable. The agency educates employees on waste prevention and recycling requirements and programs.

Chemicals management and pollution prevention

VA aims to reduce the quantity of toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials acquired, generated, used and/or disposed of, to the extent possible. The agency reports and monitors actions being utilized to reduce the release and use of toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials.

Electronics stewardship

VA aims to acquire electronic products that are EPEAT-registered, ENERGY STAR, FEMP-designated, FEMP low-standby power products; enable the ENERGY STAR and other power management features on agency computers, monitors and other electronic equipment (as appropriate per VA’s healthcare mission); extend the useful life of its electronic equipment, to the maximum extent practicable; and use environmentally sound practices with respect to the disposition of electronic equipment that has reached the end of its useful life. 

Environmental compliance

VA monitors its progress towards meeting or exceeding requirements of all applicable executive orders and Federal, state, and local environmental laws and regulations. It also reports compliance information to internal and external stakeholders.

Environmental management systems

VA implements Environmental Management Systems (EMS) at appropriate VA facilities and organizational levels as the primary management approach for addressing environmental compliance and the environmental aspects of VA’s operations and activities.

Additional information

For more information on the VA Environmental Management Program, as well as additional resources that may be of interest, please feel free to explore the following links.

Vehicle fleet management

VA’s Fleet Management Program within EEF serves as the Department-level vehicle fleet management office while providing fleet management leadership, policy, and guidance to VA organizations. The VA Fleet Management Program monitors, coordinates and reports on fleet management activities at the Department level.

  • VA currently has over 23,000 vehicles with over 300 fleet locations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Manila to support to Veterans with patient care, benefits solutions, and interment services.
  • 78% of VA’s vehicles are leased through the General Services Administration (GSA), which provides safe, reliable, and low-cost vehicle solutions to meet mission requirements. Fleet management | GSA
  • VA Publications VA Vehicle Fleet Management Program Directive – 0637
  • Motor Vehicle Management Policy overview | GSA

Archived Office of Management and Budget scorecards