Isra-Mart srl : US embassies in mission to 'green' the world's buildings

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The US is throwing fresh impetus behind an initiative to provide green makeovers to its embassies around the world, in a move designed to provide a platform for low carbon building technologies and promote the business case for energy efficiency investments.

The US State Department-affiliated League of Green Embassies already has 70 US embassies undertaking work to reduce their environmental impact, and plans to increase the number of embassies signed up to the group to over 100 by the end of the year.
Speaking to BusinessGreen, US ambassador to Finland Bruce Oreck, who also leads the League of Green Embassies, said that a number of embassies from other countries had also joined the group, while others had expressed interest in adopting the best practices established by the League.

In addition to reducing the energy bills and carbon footprint of diplomatic buildings, the group is aiming to promote green buildings and low carbon technologies to businesses and other areas of government.

"The diplomatic world is a space where we are engaged in conversations at a high level, so there is an opportunity to bypass the bureaucracy and start to deliver real action," Oreck explained. "We are providing a great platform to show off new technology and new models, and demonstrate that we are committed to these issues."

According to Oreck, embassies from six different nations have already joined the group with a number of others also expressing an interest in the initiative. Those signing up receive help setting environmental targets and advice on how to implement green building technologies, including systems developed in their own country which they can then use as a showcase.

Oreck was speaking from the sidelines of an event in Brussels to unveil the €110,000 green makeover of the 230 year-old official residence of the US ambassador to Belgium Howard Gutman.

The work was undertaken over the past three months by a group of seven companies brought together by the non-profit Alliance to Save Energy, a business- and government-backed group tasked with promoting energy efficiency.

Kateri Callahan, president of the Alliance, told BusinessGreen that the makeover was expected to deliver significant reductions in energy use for the historic building.

"It is too early to give an overall figure for the savings, but the instrumentation we have installed showed that in the first week the new lighting system had reduced energy use by 25 per cent," she said.

"A typical building saves 20 per cent on its heating and cooling energy use by installing insulation and, given that this is an old building, I would be surprised if the savings we delivered are not equal to at least 20 per cent."

The work was undertaken by 3M, Danfoss, Johnson Controls, Knauf Insulation, Philips, Schneider Electric and Whirlpool, and featured the installation of a number of cutting-edge green technologies, including insulating window films, energy-use controls, new heating equipment and over 500 energy-saving light bulbs.

"While the residence may look like a home rooted in history, it actually represents our energy future," said Gutman in a statement.

"That future boasts public-private partnerships, a comprehensive strategy incorporating appliance efficiency standards, the federal government leading by example in energy efficiency, and yesterday's and tomorrow's homes being more energy efficient."