GSA seeks to improve its carbon footprint tool

The General Services Administration is asking industry for help in improving its popular carbon footprint measuring tool.

GSA provides the free tool to help agencies comply with Executive Order 13514, which requires steep reductions in greenhouse gas emissions across government. Currently eight agencies use it, including the Homeland Security and Transportation departments.

The initial tool was built by contractors for GSA to measure its own carbon footprint. After President Obama set higher emissions reduction targets in his October 2009 executive order, "We recognized we had a very good tool and with a little bit of effort we could make it usable" for other customers, said Emile Monette, director of the programs analysis division at GSA's Federal Acquisition Service.

The contract with Truestone Communications that covers the existing tool is set to expire in fall 2011 and GSA has an opportunity to upgrade it, Monette said. "What we have works very well," but the agency is looking for a customizable tool in the next contract, he said.

Right now, the tool is helping agencies measure and report pollution that results from government operations, Monette said. He wants the upgraded version to inform strategic decisions, such as those involving capital investments and human resources.

"We want to provide our customer agencies with a tool that is customizable to each agency's need," Monette added. "All the agencies have to report the same thing to the White House under the [executive order] . . . but each agency has [different requirements]."

He said most changes will be transparent to users: "The look and feel of things is not going to change, other than to get better."

Diane Sullivan, an urban planner who uses GSA's tool at the National Capital Planning Commission, said that while the current version is useful, a customizable version would be better. NCPC uses the tool to calculate its indirect emissions, such as those produced by employees commuting to and from work, and hopes to expand its use to calculate contractor's greenhouse gas emissions.

Enhancing the tool will be a good thing, according to Sullivan. "The more [adaptable] you can make it, the more inclined people will be to [use] it," she said.