EPA's Potomac Yard Headquarters building in Arlington, Virginia, has earned LEED Platinum certification for existing buildings operations and maintenance.

EPA makes an effort to maintain all of its facilities in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner that ensures the health and safety of building occupants. Detailed information on EPA buildings and laboratories at 40 locations across the country can be found on EPA’s Sustainability Map.

Many Agency facilities are older buildings with less efficient infrastructure. EPA has implemented several strategies to enhance sustainability, including:

• Conducting retro-commissioning and re-commissioning to improve energy performance
• Using the most efficient heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment and lighting
• Assessing for compliance with ventilation and thermal comfort standards
• Installing renewable energy systems
• Replacing plumbing fixtures with higher efficiency models
• Installing advanced energy and water meters
• Reducing irrigated landscape areas
• Retrofitting buildings and landscapes with low impact development features
• Using integrated pest management techniques
• Contracting green cleaning services
• Purchasing environmentally preferable materials
• Implementing materials reduction, reuse, recycling and composting programs

EPA has historically implemented many of these practices as a way to demonstrate its mission to protect the environment. EPA also uses the following to achieve results:

• Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings
• Third-party High-Performance Building Certifications such as ENERGY STAR^® and LEED^®

Read fact sheets about some of EPA’s sustainable construction and renovation projects.