Got your eye on an interesting piece of green building technology? Or do you have a Kickstarter account backing the next greatest green tech offering? The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) wants to know about it and is giving the building industry a chance to speak up. The GSA is now seeking information on “innovative, transformational green building technologies” for use in its Green Proving Ground program, which tests these offerings for use in federal buildings. The goal: to find technologies that improve economic and environmental performance. For example, should we nominate thin-film photovolatics, pictured at left, which we dug into this week?
The Green Proving Ground program uses GSA’s real estate portfolio, which comprises 9,200 buildings around the country, as an active test bed. The current request for information is for the 2014 program. One catch: to be considered, the building technologies must be donated or provided via testing agreements. (There are more requirements, of course. Click here to see the formal request for information.)
In 2012, the most recent year for which an assessment is available, the GSA chose technologies in five categories: building envelope; HVAC/energy management; lighting; on-site power generation; and water. The projects ranged from electrochromic windows that switch from a clear to dark state with a small electrical current to a wireless lighting control system to a solar thermal collector that employs a honeycomb shape to improve heat gain on the energy-collecting surface.
Submissions for the 2014 program will be accepted until 5 p.m. ET on Monday, Dec. 9.