"Green" House of Reps Closer to Reality.

After six months, "greening" of the Capitol achieves significant progress

WASHINGTON -- The first six months of the greening of the Capitol have brought measurable successes--from beginning the process of relighting the Capitol Dome with environmentally-friendly lighting to eliminating environmentally-unfriendly Styrofoam[R] from House food services--and the initiative promises to deliver more exciting gains in 2008.

"We're thrilled with the progress that we've made so far," Chief Administrative Officer Daniel P. Beard said. "We're looking forward to even more improvements in the way we do business and getting the House community involved in reducing our carbon footprint."

Beard's organization just released the Green the Capitol Initiative's six-month progress report, which can be found here: http://cao.house.gov/greenthecapitol/progress-booklet-2007dec.pdf

Much like the Jefferson Memorial, the Capitol Dome may soon be lit with environmentally-friendly lighting. "The Capitol Dome shines as a symbol of democracy and soon it may also be a symbol of environmental responsibility," Beard said.

Food services have already been revamped as part of the Green the Capitol Initiative mandated by Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

The recent transition to the new food service vendor brought not only healthier dining options to the Hill, but also 100 percent biodegradable food service containers. The changeover was important because the House complex is responsible for producing an estimated 250 metric tons of waste every year, half of which is comprised of food service waste, Beard added.

The House is not only evaluating what it puts into the ground, but also what it puts into the air.

It has already purchased carbon offsets to account for 30,000 metric tons of the greenhouse gases it emits. The remainder will be eliminated, in part, by using natural gas instead of coal in the Capitol Power Plant to power the House.

"Natural gas is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels and burns much cleaner than coal," said Grant Scherling, Executive Director of the Green the Capitol Office. "Natural gas has fewer emissions of carbon, sulfur and nitrogen and releases much less ash into the environment."

The plant's partial conversion to natural gas will decrease the number of offsets by 10,000 metric tons. The $2.75 million fix is included in the legislative branch appropriations bill.

The House will also buy wind power to provide 100 percent of its electricity.

Beard said getting the House community involved in going green is another essential goal of the initiative, with outreach to House employees beginning in earnest this year.

"It's not only a matter of changing the way we do business," Beard said. "We also have to get people thinking about changing their habits and encourage them to go beyond doing things as they've always been done."

The goals of the Green the Capitol program are steadily being realized: to make the House carbon neutral by the end of the 110th Congress and reduce energy consumption by 50 percent in 10 years.

Beard said he's confident the initiative will meet its objectives. "We're on track to achieve our goals and make the U.S. House a model of both sustainability and environmental responsibility."

About the Green the Capitol Office or Initiative:

http://cao.house.gov/greenthecapitol/

About the Office of the Chief Administrative Officer:

http://cao.house.gov/