by Julia K. Stevenson
The DC government is planning to construct a new building on the campus of the University of the District of Columbia that will house the DC Archives. As an important civic and institutional asset, it seems reasonable that it be sited there because of the many opportunities that could evolve for the students of UDC.
And yet this building, as designed, fails us all because it fails to meet net-zero energy standards that the District has committed to, and that we should expect as residents. The plans show that the building’s energy needs will be generated by gas boilers, burning fossil fuels on site.
There is a better way, one that is required by DC law, and I hope you’ll consider signing this Sierra Club DC Chapter petition if you agree.
Let the proposed DC Archives building serve as a showcase for green design
The Archives project is a prestigious enterprise, clearly intended to be a showcase venture for DC. We have an opportunity here to create not just a building that dazzles, but more importantly, one in alignment with sustainable energy principles.
After all, this is the law in the District of Columbia. It’s called the Greener Government Buildings Amendment Act, or GGBA.
GGBA is the District’s current net zero energy building code, and net zero is a term used to convey the goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions to zero, or as close to zero as we can possibly get. Climate change is widely understood to be triggered by very high levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, largely attributable to the burning of fossil fuels for energy. “Human activity is the cause of increased greenhouse gas concentrations,” says NASA’s Global Climate Change website, compounding the planet’s greenhouse effect and accelerating global warming.
These conditions present an enormous challenge to preserving life on earth, and overhauling our energy systems requires aggressive action. Limiting emissions in the next decade is critical to regaining future resiliency.
GGBA is an important piece of energy legislation, meant to place us on the road to recovery. It specifies that new District-owned and financed construction projects be required to maintain net-zero energy compliance, which means that a building must satisfy its energy needs with energy from renewable zero-emission sources. And while as much energy as possible is to be produced cleanly on site, any remaining energy needs are to be procured from renewable sources off site.
The DC Department of Energy and the Environment (DOEE) understands GGBA’s purpose and, tasked with reviewing the Archive’s plans, wrote: “DOEE believes that… the project does not appear to comply with the (GGBA) of 2022…. DOEE urges the applicant to incorporate all-electric, net-zero energy design strategies in order to comply with this law.”
It is confounding to me that the DC government wouldn’t wish to display the best in clean-energy technology in all of its new buildings. Rather, there are troubling indications that it is looking for ways to justify circumventing this law, certainly where the Archives building is concerned.
In October 2023, the law firm retained by the DC Department of General Services (DGS) wrote in a DC Zoning Commission exhibit (pages 4 and 5): “The Applicant testified that it is working with its Office of General Counsel to assess whether the legislation applies.” And in January 2024, DGS told the Washington Informer that the agency was “still exploring the operational impacts this legislation will have on its current projects and will continue discussing requirements and obligations as part of the ongoing building permitting process.”
Importantly, making the needed modifications to bring it into alignment with the GGBA would not add significantly to its cost, according to the energy experts at the DC chapter of the Sierra Club.
Fortunately, as recently as the beginning of February, we were told that the Archives building is still in the design phase. There is still time to get this right.
The mayor’s commitments
Mayor Muriel Bowser has promised that we will achieve carbon neutrality by 2045, and DOEE wrote in its Archives report that “[all]-electric, net-zero energy buildings are essential for the District to achieve its climate commitment” by then. With each green building built, we are taking a step in the direction of reducing carbon emissions since, according to the District’s own Carbon Free DC strategy, building emissions (heating, cooling and power) account for 71% of DC’s total carbon output.
But we will never meet this goal if the city backs away from its obligations.
This is about our energy future
Clean energy is crucial for mitigating climate change, improving air and water quality, protecting biodiversity and fostering a more sustainable and resilient world. Clean energy sources create healthier communities; air pollution is one of the leading drivers of disease. “We can be no healthier than the environments we live in,” says Aaron Bernstein, co-director for Harvard’s Center for Climate Health and the Global Environment.
When I consider the world my children will inherit, it is the many efforts being undertaken now in regard to clean energy production and sustainability that will have the most profound impact on their lives and the lives of those around them. It is by committing ourselves to clean energy sources that we will most intensely affect the future that our children will be living in.
We should not let this chance pass us by.
The Sierra Club’s DC chapter is circulating this petition, urging Mayor Bowser “to ensure the new Archives [building] follows the law and uses clean energy.” Please read and consider signing it.
Julia K. Stevenson is a lifelong resident of Washington DC. She is on ANC 3F’s Streets and Sidewalks Committee. She lives with her family on Albemarle Street.
Scott Williamson says
Agree entirely. DGS has built other net-zero buildings and can build this one to that standard as well. Doing this right is worth the effort.
Travis Lee Price III, FAIA says
As a major architect in ecology since 1973, and as well as designing the $1.3M square feet office complex for TVA in Chattanooga TN I am keenly interested. The TVA building is 90% off gird, See the website below under the category “Institutional.”
I am interested in knowing the current design’s percentage before making a judgment. If not, then let’s see what can be best done to work on it.
The rhetoric is clear but show the numbers, please. The current law sounds good, but the numbers are critical.
Thanks,
Green Eyeshades says
The Zoning Commission just issued its final order on March 6, 2024 in the case of UDC’s Building 41.
The final order is here:
https://app.dcoz.dc.gov/CaseReport/ViewExhibit.aspx?exhibitId=336702 .
Buried near the end of that order, on page 20 of 23, in ¶ 15 of conclusions of law, the Zoning Commission (ZC) states “The Commission takes no position on the applicability of the Greener Government Buildings Amendment Act of 2022.”
So the ZC admits it cannot absolve UDC or the DC Archivist or DGS of their duties to comply with DC law, including the GGBA. In my opinion, the ZC abdicated its legal duty to issue a ruling on that key question of law, but the ZC also refused to give UDC or DGS or any other DC government agency a shield against public demands to enforce the Greener Government Buildings Amendment Act.
The final order issued just 12 days ago can also be located at the end of the ZC docket on the UDC Building 41 case, which is here:
https://app.dcoz.dc.gov/CaseReport/ViewExhibitsReport.aspx?case_id=20-33B
Go to the end of the exhibits at that link and click on Exhibit 94 on the last page of the docket.