The U.S. General Services Admission (GSA) announced it will test and evaluate 16 emerging sustainable building technologies and practices, including high-performance windows, in select federal facilities under its Green Proving Ground program. The GSA says testing will determine the most effective technologies that may then be replicated on a wider-scale basis throughout the GSA inventory with the goal of transforming markets for these technologies.

“GSA is leading the way in sustainable design and construction operations,” says GSA administrator Martha N. Johnson. “By using our real estate portfolio as a test bed for new technologies, we can then provide further innovation in energy efficiency standards and implement best practices that will lead the market.”

The technologies selected were from a pool of approximately 140 projects across GSA’s national portfolio that are currently implementing innovative or underutilized sustainable building technologies. The 16 technologies and practices were selected for evaluation because, according to the GSA, they have the greatest potential to meet its sustainability goals. Examples of the technologies chosen include electrochromic windows, high R-value windows, thin-film photovoltaic panels, among others.

With support from the Department of Energy’s National Laboratories, the Green Proving Ground program will perform enhanced testing, monitoring and evaluation on these selected technologies. Notable findings from all of the projects will be used to support the development of performance specifications for GSA’s real estate portfolio and other federal agencies. The GSA adds that testing these technologies will assist industry in deploying the technology and practices studied.