Facilities/Construction

  • Many electronic devices contain hazardous materials that can cause environmental damage when sent to landfills. The Postal Service's BlueEarth Recycling Program makes it convenient and safe for agencies to dispose of electronic waste.

    December 20, 2013
  • Audits find contract security personnel, which make up the vast majority of the Federal Protective Service's workforce, receive no meaningful training on how to deal with armed attackers. And many operators of X-ray machines and metal detectors at building entrances likely have never been trained to properly use them.

    December 18, 2013
  • Congress is poised, for the first time since Dwight D. Eisenhower was president, to miss its deadline to pass the one policy bill that's been considered "must-pass" legislation under administrations of both parties. But the measure's only chance of success also torpedoes Pentagon proposals for cutting DoD's internal cost growth. Military personnel would receive a 1 percent pay raise next year.

    December 11, 2013
  • Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), are jumpstarting a new effort to get both sides of the Capitol dome on board with a bill to make it easier for agencies to hang the "For Sale" sign outside their doors. Carper, the chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, and Chaffetz, a member of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, hosted a Capitol Hill roundtable with private-sector real-estate experts and former government officials Wednesday to discuss a new legislative path forward.

    December 06, 2013
  • After five years as chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), Nancy Sutley will leave her position in February 2014. During Sutley's tenure, the Obama administration created the National Ocean Policy and Climate Action Plan.

    December 04, 2013
  • Representatives of the construction and building design industries told lawmakers Tuesday that agencies' practices in issuing design-build construction contracts are dissuading qualified contractors from even offering bids.

    December 04, 2013
  • Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Oversight's Subcommittee on Government Operations, said the Federal Trade Commission and the General Services Administration are "thwarting" his proposal to force the FTC to relocate out of its historic headquarters building and into leased space in Southwest Washington, D.C.

    December 03, 2013
  • Dr. Andrea Morris, BRAC Coordinator and Community Resilience director for Arlington County Virginia, will discuss how the county is being impacted by base closure and realignment, and what officials are doing to boost job growth in the area. November 29, 2013

    November 29, 2013
  • The agencies issued draft guidelines on how best to assess non-governmental environmental standards and ecolabels already in the marketplace for use in government. Comments are due in February.

    November 27, 2013
  • Even stodgy old federal buildings can benefit from the smart design the latest technological advances offer today's building designers.

    November 21, 2013
  • Dr. Andrea Morris, BRAC Coordinator and Community Resilience director for Arlington County Virginia, will discuss how the county is being impacted by base closure and realignment, and what officials are doing to boost job growth in the area. November 1, 2013 (Encore presentation November 8, 2013

    November 01, 2013
  • A new report from the Government Accountability Office fueled a House subcommittee hearing that revealed security concerns regarding the training and certification of contract guards employed by the Federal Protective Service.

    October 30, 2013
  • GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini said a new approach to office space will save money and improve how agencies meet their missions. DHS, HHS, Interior and USDA all are on board to try out the Total Workplace initiative. Read the full story.

    September 20, 2013
  • DHS, HHS, Interior and USDA all are on board to try out the Total Workplace initiative that focuses on open spaces, hotelling and mobile employees. GSA Administrator Dan Tangherlini said a new approach to office space will save money and improve how agencies meet their missions.

    September 20, 2013
  • Dr. Richard Carlin, director of the Navy's Sea Warfare and Weapons Department in the Office of Naval Research, outlines his organization's energy goals and the Navy's increasing investments in its Energy Excelerator program.

    September 18, 2013