Sustainability and Energy Performance
sector architects and engineers who design GSA facilities
is based foremost on their talent, creativity, and ingenuity.
GSA is committed to incorporating principles of
The entire architect/engineer (A/E) design team must
sustainable design and energy efficiency into all of its
demonstrate its ability to satisfy the comprehensive
building projects. Sustainable design seeks to design,
project development and management requirements of
construct and operate buildings to reduce negative
the Federal Acquisition Regulations (FAR). The Design
impact on the environment and the consumption of
Excellence Program incorporates peer professional in
natural resources. Sustainable design improves building
the selection of A/E design teams and the review of
performance while keeping in mind the health and
proposed designs. The peer professionals are distin-
comfort of building occupants. It is an integrated,
guished architects, engineers, landscape architects, urban
synergistic approach, in which all phases of the facility
designers, public arts administrators, design educators
lifecycle are considered. The result is an optimal balance
and critics from across the Nation. The main goal of the
of cost, environmental, societal and human benefits
Design Excellence Program is to realize the objectives of
while meeting the mission and function of the intended
the Guiding Principles of Federal Architecture.
facility or infrastructure.
The main goal of the Construction Excellence Program
is to ensure that GSA's construction program delivers
Costs
exceptionally well-built facilities economically, efficiently,
It is imperative that Federal Facilities be designed with the
and professionally. Like the Design Excellence Program,
objective of achieving lowest life cycle cost for the taxpayer.
the Construction Excellence Program depends on a strong
To do so, a project's design program must comprehensively
working relationship with the private sector design and
define reasonable scope and performance requirements,
construction community.
and must match those needs to an appropriate overall
budget. Consistent with programming and budgetary
Flexibility and Adaptability
constraints, designed building systems/ features that
Federal buildings undergo many changes during their
influence operating costs must then be analyzed and
lifetime. As government missions change and priorities
selected to achieve lowest overall life cycle cost.
change, Federal agencies are created, expanded, and
Life cycle costing will always require the application of
abolished. As a consequence, requirements for space and
professional judgement. While life cycle cost assessments
services change frequently, and space must be reconfigured
can often be based upon the merits of single system/
often. The flexibility to accommodate continual change
feature comparisons, the A/E is expected to expand the
needs to be "built in" to the building design from the
analysis to include other systems/features when necessary
outset and respected in subsequent alterations. Systems
to establish synergistic effects and first cost trade-offs.
flexibility is necessary in GSA buildings.
There will also be instances where involved life cycle cost
elements are not well defined within the industry, defying
05
GENERAL
REQUIREMENTS
1.2
General Design Philosophy
Revised March 2005 PBS-P100
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