WASHINGTON – The U.S. General Services Administration cleared the way for federal agencies to easily obtain green products and services to fulfill their goals under President Obama’s sustainability executive order and under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

President Obama issued an executive order on sustainability in October 2009 calling on the federal government to lead by example in greening and modernizing our nation’s infrastructure. To help agencies meet these goals, GSA set energy service agreements with 18 companies to perform services, including energy audits, energy performance monitoring, and implementation of renewable energy solutions, that will promote sustainability across the federal government.

“The President’s Sustainability Executive Order calls on federal agencies to lead by example in environmental, energy, and economic performance,” said Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality. “Innovative programs like these energy service agreements from GSA will help the federal agencies leverage their purchasing power to help build a clean energy economy and create local jobs.”

“GSA has answered President Obama’s call to create a more sustainable government by giving agencies a powerful tool to meet their greenhouse gas, water conservation, and energy efficiency goals,” said GSA Acting Administrator Stephen R. Leeds. “These solutions will help to increase energy efficiency across government while saving taxpayer dollars and stimulating emerging green jobs and technologies.”

These agreements give agencies the necessary resources to achieve LEED certification for government facilities; ensure that all buildings and renovations are designed to reduce fuel consumption as required by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007; and help agencies plan, monitor, and report results with Energy Star and other energy efficiency initiatives.

“Innovation is the hallmark of every good government initiative, and these agreements are no exception,” said GSA Federal Acquisition Service Commissioner James A. Williams. “Not only are we making it easier for customers to meet their sustainability goals, we are also ensuring that small businesses with their new energy technologies have easy access to the government market.”

As one of the largest purchasers of goods and services in the world, GSA is leveraging the government’s purchasing power to help save taxpayer dollars. Several companies offered discounts from their already published, competitively priced GSA schedule rates to offer their energy services and products to agencies.