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Federal Green Challenge

2014 Federal Green Challenge Award Winners in the South Central Region

2014 trophy award iconFederal Agencies are recognized through the Federal Green Challenge for outstanding efforts that go beyond regulatory compliance and strive for annual improvements of five percent or more in selected target areas.

Recognition is an important part of the Federal Green Challenge (FGC). Awards were given at the regional level in the categories of Waste, Purchasing, Energy, Water and Innovation.

In the South Central region, the 2014 award winners are the 1 Justice Park Drive Federal Building, Health Resources and Services Administration, Houston Customs House, New Orleans Customs House, Capulin Volcano National Monument and the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center.

South Central Regional Award Winners

Waste

1 Justice Park Drive Federal Building, General Services Administration (GSA), Houston, TX

The 1 Justice Park Drive Federal Building increased the amount of municipal solid waste recycled from 6.16 tons in 2012 to 56.45 tons in 2013, resulting in an 816% improvement.

Innovation

Capulin Volcano National Monument, National Park Service, Department of the Interior (DOI), Des Moines, NM

Capulin Volcano National Monument worked with the City of Raton, NM to create a satellite recycling hub at their facility. Adjacent communities can now deliver items for recycling, and Capulin will transport the material to the Raton Recycling Facility. As this is the only local means to transfer these materials, becoming a satellite recycle hub enables the monument to increase the amount of materials diverted from landfill, and provides them with opportunities to educate their neighbors.

Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation (DOT), Oklahoma City, OK

The Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center was able to reduce their water usage 35% from 2012 to 2013 by replacing water fixture valves with higher efficiency, replaced single pass cooling equipment that blows down potable water during cooling cycle, replaced old cooling towers with high efficiency and variable speed drive fans and implemented a total irrigation water shut down of the entire 25 acre landscape area.

Energy

Houston Customs House, General Services Administration (GSA), Houston, TX

The Houston Customs House decreased their natural gas usage from 93,625 cubic feet in 2012 to 0 cubic feet in 2013, resulting in a 100% improvement.

Purchasing

Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), Dallas, TX

The Health Resources and Services Administration in Dallas reduced the amount of paper purchased from 360 lbs in 2012 to 342 lbs in 2013, resulting in a 5% improvement.

Water

New Orleans Customs House, General Services Administration (GSA), New Orleans, LA

The New Orleans Customs House was able to reduce their use of potable water from 2,699,100 gallons of water in 2012 to 1,376,000 gallons in 2013, resulting in a 49% improvement.

22.9M Kwhs electricity saved = yearly CO2 from 1,440 households, 46.8M gallons H2O avoided = 71 Olympic pools, 13,69 tons waste diverted from landfills, = annual greenhouse gas emissions from 7,689 cars, $2.9M saved reducing water, waste, and energy use

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