Category: US GSA

Source: United States General Services Administration

June 28, 2022

SAN FRANCISCO — Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced its new Pollinator Initiative that supports the federal government’s commitment to protect pollinators, including in San Bruno, California. Saving bees and other pollinators from the risks they face is an important part of a sustainable future because they are critical to agriculture and food production – contributing to the national economy by more than $20 billion each year. This is just the latest step in GSA’s agency-wide commitment to advancing sustainability and confronting climate change.

GSA has established policies and practices to support pollinator habitats through the design, construction, and maintenance of federal properties nationwide. In support of these efforts, GSA has installed honeybee hives at 11 GSA facilities across the country as part of a yearlong pilot.

In May, a pollinator program beehive was installed on the property of the Leo J. Ryan Memorial Federal Building in San Bruno, California. The installation represents the Pacific Rim Region’s first step in supporting the Pollinator Protection Initiative that supports the reversal of the honeybee decline, supports the local ecosystem and improves a broad range of plant life in surrounding neighborhoods through pollination.

The project seeks to enable GSA to lead by example and to create a more efficient and effective design policy that can be modeled by other federal agency partners, builders, and property managers.

“By using data-producing honey bee hives at GSA-controlled facilities to help inform updates to these directives and policies, we can promote sustainability and enhance urban habitats,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “I look forward to how this pilot can uncover new strategies to help promote the health of our local pollinators and to set the foundation for other GSA facilities to expand placement locations and integrate into their sustainability efforts.”

GSA’s Center for Urban Development is managing the pilot program through its Good Neighbor Program with a contract awarded to The Best Bees Company, a major U.S. beekeeping service. Best Bees Company will maintain the hives over the course of a year, analyze honey production from each hive, and identify the plants and landscapes that are specifically beneficial to local pollinators. This information is expected to help guide GSA’s future pollinator-friendly landscape design and maintenance policies and practices.

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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @USGSA.

Source: United States General Services Administration

June 23, 2022

CHICAGO – Today, the U.S. General Services Administration announced its new “Pollinator Initiative” that supports the federal government’s commitment to protect pollinators near federal facilities, including the Federal Archives and Records Center in Chicago and the U.S. Courthouse in Hammond, Indiana.

Saving bees and other pollinators from the risks they face is an important part of a sustainable future because they are critical to agriculture and food production – contributing to the national economy by more than $20 billion each year. This is just the latest step in GSA’s agency-wide commitment to advancing sustainability and confronting climate change.

GSA has established policies and practices to support pollinator habitats through the design, construction and maintenance of federal properties nationwide. In support of these efforts, GSA has installed honeybee hives at 11 GSA facilities across the country as part of a yearlong pilot.

The project seeks to enable GSA to lead by example and create a more efficient and effective design policy that can be modeled by other federal agency partners, builders and property managers.

GSA installed the hives at the Hammond U.S. Courthouse in April and at the Federal Archives and Records Center in May. The program offers neighboring communities an opportunity to learn about and appreciate the honeybees.

“By using data-producing honey bee hives at GSA-controlled facilities to help inform updates to these directives and policies, we can promote sustainability and enhance urban habitats,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “I look forward to how this pilot can uncover new strategies to help promote the health of our local pollinators and to set the foundation for other GSA facilities to expand placement locations and integrate into their sustainability efforts.”

GSA’s Center for Urban Development is managing the pilot program through its Good Neighbor Program with a contract awarded to The Best Bees Company, a major U.S. beekeeping service. The Best Bees Company will maintain the hives over the course of a year, analyze honey production from each hive, and identify the plants and landscapes that are specifically beneficial to local pollinators. This information is expected to help guide GSA’s future pollinator-friendly landscape design and maintenance policies and practices.

Learn more by joining our webinar with The Best Bees Company on June 22 at https://bestbees.com/webinar-gsa/.

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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @USGSA.

Source: United States General Services Administration

June 23, 2022

PHILADELPHIA — Today, the U.S. General Services Administration announced its new Pollinator Initiative that supports the federal government’s commitment to protect pollinators, including in Woodlawn, Maryland. Saving bees and other pollinators from the risks they face is an important part of a sustainable future because they are critical to agriculture and food production – contributing to the national economy by more than $20 billion each year. This is just the latest step in GSA’s agency-wide commitment to advancing sustainability and confronting climate change.

GSA has established policies and practices to support pollinator habitats through the design, construction, and maintenance of federal properties nationwide. In support of these efforts, GSA has installed honeybee hives at 11 GSA facilities across the country as part of a yearlong pilot.

The GSA Center for Urban Development oversees this initiative, and worked with GSA Mid-Atlantic Region to install a pollinator garden at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services headquarters in Woodlawn, Maryland. The bees will make the CMS campus bloom by pollinating the surrounding clovers, sweet acacia, magnolia, oak trees, vegetable gardens and more.

The project seeks to enable GSA to lead by example and to create a more efficient and effective design policy that can be modeled by other federal agency partners, builders, and property managers. The data is shared with research partners such as NASA, Google Earth, MIT, Harvard and sister non-profit The Urban Beekeeping Lab and Sanctuary. This collaboration contributes to understanding the challenges surrounding bee survival.

“By using data-producing honey bee hives at GSA-controlled facilities to help inform updates to these directives and policies, we can promote sustainability and enhance urban habitats,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “I look forward to how this pilot can uncover new strategies to help promote the health of our local pollinators and to set the foundation for other GSA facilities to expand placement locations and integrate into their sustainability efforts.”

GSA’s Center for Urban Development is managing the pilot program through its Good Neighbor Program with a contract awarded to The Best Bees Company, a major U.S. beekeeping service. Best Bees Company will maintain the hives over the course of a year, analyze honey production from each hive, and identify the plants and landscapes that are specifically beneficial to local pollinators. This information is expected to help guide GSA’s future pollinator-friendly landscape design and maintenance policies and practices.

Join our webinar with Best Bees Company on June 22 to learn more: https://bestbees.com/webinar-gsa/

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About GSA: GSA provides centralized procurement and shared services for the federal government, managing a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet, overseeing approximately $75 billion in annual contracts, and delivering technology services that serve millions of people across dozens of federal agencies. GSA’s mission is to deliver the best customer experience and value in real estate, acquisition, and technology services to the government and the American people. For more information, visit GSA.gov and follow us at @US_GSAR3.

Regional list of POC’s: Pollinator Study Regional POCs as of 2_17_22

The 11 sites chosen because of the available space, the safety of the location, fresh water availability, and accessibility for inclusion in this national initiative include:

Source: United States General Services Administration

June 22, 2022

TACOMA, Wash. — Today, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) announced its new Pollinator Initiative that supports the federal government’s commitment to protect pollinators, including in Portland, Ore. Saving bees and other pollinators from the risks they face is an important part of a sustainable future because they are critical to agriculture and food production – contributing to the national economy by more than $20 billion each year. This is just the latest step in GSA’s agency-wide commitment to advancing sustainability and confronting climate change.

GSA has established policies and practices to support pollinator habitats through the design, construction, and maintenance of federal properties nationwide. In support of these efforts, GSA has installed honeybee hives at 11 GSA facilities across the country as part of a yearlong pilot.

As a part of the initiative, two hives, housing approximately 40,000 honey bees, were placed on the roof of the Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in May. The property has already proved to be a welcoming environment for bees; a small hive of local mason bees was installed in the atrium in 2019.

The project seeks to enable GSA to lead by example and to create a more efficient and effective design policy that can be modeled by other federal agency partners, builders, and property managers.

“By using data-producing honey bee hives at GSA-controlled facilities to help inform updates to these directives and policies, we can promote sustainability and enhance urban habitats,” said GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan. “I look forward to how this pilot can uncover new strategies to help promote the health of our local pollinators and to set the foundation for other GSA facilities to expand placement locations and integrate into their sustainability efforts.”

GSA’s Center for Urban Development is managing the pilot program through its Good Neighbor Program with a contract awarded to The Best Bees Company, a major U.S. beekeeping service. Best Bees Company will maintain the hives over the course of a year, analyze honey production from each hive, and identify the plants and landscapes that are specifically beneficial to local pollinators. This information is expected to help guide GSA’s future pollinator-friendly landscape design and maintenance policies and practices.

Join our webinar with Best Bees Company on June 22 to learn more: https://bestbees.com/webinar-gsa/.

Source: United States General Services Administration

June 22, 2022

As part of GSA’s mission to help federal agencies serve the public, both services of GSA’s Mid-Atlantic Region collaborated with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over the past two years on a move to King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.

In March 2021, R3 PBS awarded a new lease for the NRC (photo right). PBS and NRC partnered on a workplace engagement study that analyzed the NRC’s space needs and recommended ways to operate more efficiently. As a result, NRC will reduce their existing footprint of nearly 72,000 SF by 53%, saving $1.85 million in annual rent and avoiding $10.5 million lease cost over the life of the lease. Construction is nearing completion, anticipating occupancy by late summer.

In May 2022, the FAS Office of Personal Property Management used its full disposal, acquisition and recycling capabilities to help the NRC dispose of personal property they will no longer need in their new space. They transferred used property valued at $219,387 to other federal and state agencies, and helped over a dozen regional organizations acquire excess property from the NRC to furnish their own offices at little or no expense.

FAS PPM also helped the NRC avoid environmental hazards by using the safest certified and sustainable recycling options for all remaining materials.
The total effort saved the NRC thousands of dollars in relocation costs and helped them “go green” by keeping surplus materials out of landfills.
The NRC praised both the PBS and FAS project teams for their work. “Beyond the fiscal and environmental successes of this project, GSA helped us develop an office space that is inviting, enables staff collaboration, and supports our new hybrid work environment,” NRC Region I Administrator David Lew said.

PBS is achieving taxpayer savings by avoiding increased lease costs through the timely replacement of expiring leases. As part of this program, the new NRC lease is reducing lease costs through square footage reduction and negotiating more favorable lease rates through its Automated Advanced Acquisition Program tools.