Obama, an FM in disguise?

15 January 2009

US president-elect Barack Obama sounds much like a facilities manager as a commander in chief, according to a US business publication.

Obama is keen to get to grips with energy efficiency, given federal regulations to cut energy costs, and all this from a man “inheriting two wars and a shattered economy”.

“Uncle Sam is the single biggest energy consumer in the nation, so Obama's focus on federal facilities is understandable,” notes the author of a feature on the website of Government Executive, a daily publication for senior US government managers, many with procurement responsibilities.

“Agencies now are required to cut energy and water consumption by 30 percent by 2015, and the 2007 law further requires them to reduce fossil fuel use in new and renovated buildings by 55 percent by 2010, and 100 percent by 2030. Twice last week he pledged to modernize more than 75 percent of federal buildings to make them more energy efficient. In a December radio address, he discussed the need to replace old heating systems and to install more efficient light bulbs.”

Obama’s comments have surprised and delighted federal building engineers and others who toil in the usually overlooked world of facilities management, the article continues.

"There was a lot of excitement to hear the president-elect say the first thing on his list of infrastructure investment is to improve the energy efficiency in federal buildings," said Kevin Kampschroer, acting director of the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings.

The office, set up in 2007, has considerable clout in the construction market. It owns or leases more than 352 million square feet of office space in more than 8,600 facilities nationwide and spends more than $1.2 billion in construction funds annually.

The full article is on the publication’s website.