It's not the White House anymore.

On Earth Day six years ago, President Clinton vowed to green 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., turning the 200-year-old structure into a model of energy and environmental health. Judging from an interim report issued yesterday, the chief executive has done just that.

According to the "Greening of the White House," a host of conservation measures taken since 1993 have saved taxpayers nearly $1.4 million to date and are now avoiding spilling at least 845 metric tons of carbon into the atmosphere every year. That's the equivalent of taking more than 600 cars off the road.

Among other things, the roof has been replaced to improve the thermal integrity, a new HVAC was installed, energy-saving office machines have replaced older models, steam traps have been replaced to prevent heat loss, and new insulation is being installed around all pipes.

Also, the White, err, Green House fleet has been converted to cleaner burning alternative-fuel vehicles, and a shuttle service for official visits to Capitol Hill has been instituted to minimize trips by automobile.

And one more thing worthy of note: Due to security documents, most documents are shredded into fibers too short for traditional recycling. So instead, the remains are now being shipped to an off-site composting facility, where it is mixed with yard trimming to make a product called LEAFGRO. LEAFGRO is used as a compost on the Green House grounds.

The Green House didn't say what it has spent, but it did trumpet the results in detail:

• Using compact flourescent instead of incandescent bulbs saves $22,000 annually.
• Improvements in the HVAC system save $30,000 more.
• Adjusting and replacing sprinkler heads and adjusting timers saved 15,000 gallons of water in one year.

What's more, the Administration isn't done. According to the report, the solarium and greenhouse are being redesigned to include energy-efficient glazings, electric swimming pool heaters are being replaced with either solar or natural-gas fired units, and a system is being put into place to recycle nickel-cadmium batteries.

The 800,000-square-foot complex the Green House compound includes the adjacent Old Executive Office Building and the Jackson Place townhouses along the west side of Lafayette Park may not be the epitome of efficiency and conservation, but it's getting there.

The effort is part of a government-wide program to improve the performance of all federal buildings, an endeavor that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2.4 million tons the equivalent of removing 1.7 million cars from the road and savings taxpayers $750 million annually. And it's all being done with "off-the-shelf" materials and products available to any home owner.

Now the government isn't suggesting that you and I go out and spend the kind of money it is laying out on this little project. But as Carol Browner, administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, pointed out in a Green House ceremony yesterday, "every home in the country can become more energy efficient."

To help us, the Clinton team has placed a major emphasis on the Energy Star program, a voluntary public-private partnership that promotes efficient products through labeling and consumer education. The program was started in 1993, but when Browner took over at the EPA, only one single product had earned the label. Now, though, 3,400 products in 28 categories qualify.

According to the government, the typical family spends close to $1,300 a year on home utility bills, a large part of it on wasted energy. But if you were to purchase an Energy Star washing machine when the time comes to replace your old one, you can save 7,000 gallons of water, and enough electricity to power your refrigerator for a year, Browner said.

And if all households and businesses used ES products instead of conventional new equipment, the nation's energy bill would be reduced by about $100 million over the next 15 years, and the reduction in noxious carbon dioxide emissions would be the same as taking 17 million cars off the road for each of those 15 years.

Energy Sec. Bill Richardson suggested we start by purchasing a compact flourescent light bulb. "An excellent stocking stuffer," he said, it costs less than $10 but saves $26 in energy costs over its estimated five-year life. A regular bulb costs under $2, but it lasts, what, three months, tops.

Published: December 3, 1999

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