Testimony of Lara Levison
Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter
Oversight Hearing on the Department of General Services
Committee on Facilities
January 29, 2026
Councilmember Lewis George, thank you for this opportunity to testify at this oversight hearing on the Department of General Services, and thank you for your leadership. My name is Lara Levison, I’m the Energy Committee Chair for the Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter, and I’m testifying on behalf of the organization. The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters, including 7,000 DC residents. In this testimony, I will touch on the energy efficiency and use of fossil fuels in District-owned buildings, the procurement of solar energy sited on District-owned facilities and spaces, and DGS’s role in fully implementing the Zero Waste DC Plan, including composting in schools.
ENERGY
Greener Government Buildings Act
On average, people spend about 90% of their time indoors, eating, sleeping, and working, and otherwise living their lives. District residents often benefit from, interact with, and work in government buildings including schools and recreation centers, which is why it is paramount that DGS protect and enforce existing laws to make DC government buildings greener.
We urge the committee to reject any new attempts to repeal or weaken the Greener Government Buildings Act (GGBA). This law requires buildings owned by the DC government, or with significant DC government funding, to be built to net-zero energy standards. This requirement applies to new and substantially renovated buildings.
Net-zero energy buildings have three main characteristics. First, they do not burn any fossil fuels on site; they are all-electric and do not contain methane gas equipment for space heating, water heating, or cooking. Second, they are highly energy efficient. Third, they maximize their use of electricity from renewable energy resources, including solar, ground-source geothermal, and wind power.
Of these three characteristics, the all-electric requirement is the most crucial. A new building with methane gas equipment will continue to burn polluting fossil fuels for decades to come. Construction and operation of all-electric government buildings saves taxpayer dollars now and in the future since electric heat pumps are so much more efficient than methane gas equipment. According to the International Energy Agency, heat pumps for space heating are three to five times more energy efficient than gas boilers. Also, as more customers leave the gas distribution system, gas will become increasingly expensive for the customers remaining on the gas system. Last but not least, eliminating fossil fuel combustion removes harmful combustion fumes from inside the building, eliminates outdoor air pollution from venting of exhaust fumes to the outdoors, and reduces carbon dioxide emissions that are causing climate change.
Making our DC government buildings highly energy efficient is important as well. Constructing buildings to be highly efficient, and maintaining them well, reduces the District’s utility bills. With utility costs climbing now due to a variety of reasons–including the willingness of the DC Public Utilities Commission to give Pepco and Washington Gas whatever huge rate increase they ask for–energy efficiency becomes all the more important for stewardship of the District’s taxpayer dollars. Efficient buildings also maintain more stable and comfortable indoor air temperatures, increasing comfort and productivity for building occupants, which include schoolchildren, teachers, and government workers across the agencies.
Regarding the renewable energy requirement, DGS should incorporate solar energy and ground-source heat pumps into the design whenever the space is available for those systems on the site. The law calls for DGS to enter into power purchase agreements (PPAs) with renewable energy providers for any additional electricity needed for the building annually. Given how slow the procurement process is for solar installations for DGS buildings, this is an area where some flexibility may be needed. If we need to make changes to some more challenging requirements of the law, we should, but it does not necessitate rolling back the entire law and all the monetary, health, and climate benefits of net-zero buildings.
Health and climate benefits of eliminating fossil fuels in buildings
DGS compliance with the Greener Government Buildings Act and (especially) moving away from fossil fuel combustion in DC Government buildings is important for reasons that go far beyond energy efficiency: gas leaked in transit and gas combustion contribute to climate change and also endanger the health of DC residents.
Climate impact: It is estimated that DC buildings contribute 70 percent of the District’s total greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels. This figure does not take into account leakage at the drill sites, in the pipelines that bring it to DC, and from the crumbling gas pipes under our streets. Gas is mostly methane, a greenhouse gas 80 times as powerful as carbon dioxide. Sierra Club members have seen this leakage for ourselves as part of the Beyond Gas community science investigation that found 400 gas leaks under DC streets in all eight wards, including 14 leaks that were at potentially explosive levels.
Health impact: Burning gas in DC government buildings contributes to health-harming pollution in indoor and outdoor air. Gas stoves in the kitchens of schools and other DGS facilities emit nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, and other pollutants. Boilers that burn gas for space and water heating vent their fumes to the outdoors, where they contribute to outdoor air pollution.
- Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a normal product of gas combustion, is a pulmonary irritant and inflammatory agent in the body that contributes to asthma (especially in children), COPD, lung disease, and metabolic disorder. (NO2 vented to the outside and exposed to sunlight is also a precursor to lung-damaging ozone).
- Carbon monoxide is a product of partial combustion that occurs in enclosed, low-oxygen environments. High levels can quickly be lethal, but low-level exposure–over 6 ppm over 24 hours or 8 ppm over 8 hours–can lead to illness, with symptoms including headache, nausea and fatigue. Longer term, higher-level exposure can cause long-term organ and neurological damage.
- Burning gas produces fine particulates (PM 2.5) that travel deep into the lungs and into the bloodstream, causing inflammation and tissue damage.
- Benzene: Low-level gas leaks and combustion of gas release benzene, a powerful carcinogen. A 2023 Stanford study found benzene throughout homes with gas stoves, both in use and not.
Students in DC public schools, children who use our public libraries, DC teachers and public employees who work in DGS facilities, and anyone near DC government buildings will benefit from the removal of gas-burning equipment.
Solar energy for DC government buildings
A 2025 Sierra Club study on government buildings in the District found that the District government has the potential to install 125 megawatts (MW) of solar PV capacity on its properties. Doing so would reduce government electricity purchases from the grid by about a third and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by about 50,000 tons per year. These solar
installations would save District taxpayers at least $28 million per year via lower electricity costs.
The Sierra Club calls on DGS to immediately submit a request for proposals to procure 10 megawatts (MW) of additional solar capacity, while setting up infrastructure for RFPs seeking five MW per year for the next decade. The Department should enhance its database of sites evaluated by solar deployment feasibility with additional details and property types, such as parking lots. DGS should also release an annual progress report on solar installations. Finally, DGS should revisit guidance on solar development in the District Government Energy Master Plan to remove unnecessary barriers.
We heard from this committee that DGS would issue some Requests for Proposals for additional solar systems in 2025, but we do not see a record of those RFPs being offered or awarded in DGS’s database of solicitations. Were any RFPs for solar issued in 2025 at all?
Time is running out on the federal tax credits for commercial solar installations. Due to the federal One Big Beautiful Bill Act, solar energy systems will have to begin construction by July 4, 2026 or be placed into service by December 31, 2027 to retain the ability to claim up to a 40% tax credit for the investment. While the District would not directly claim these tax credits, the expiration of the credits may impact a solar system owner’s financial ability to provide a multi-year $0 power purchase agreement–i.e. free electricity–to the District government. While these federal policy changes are outside of DGS’s control, we urge the Department to adapt and act quickly to contract as much solar on District property as feasible to lock in maximum electricity rate savings.
Building Energy Performance Standards & Energy Savings Performance Contracts
Energy efficiency is the most cost-effective route to reducing utility bills and greenhouse gas emissions. The cheapest and cleanest kilowatt hour of energy is the one you don’t have to generate. Yet the Mayor repeatedly has proposed to delay and weaken DC’s Building Energy Performance Standards (BEPS), which require large existing buildings in DC to increase their level of energy efficiency. The DC Sierra Club supports BEPS and urges the Council to oppose the repeal or weakening of these important standards.
BEPS is directly relevant to this committee since the requirements apply to large buildings owned by the DC government as well as privately-owned buildings. DGS has fallen far short on implementing BEPS, due to a lack of support and funding. With the current challenges to the DC budget, the most viable pathway for energy efficiency improvements in existing DC government buildings is through the use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts (ESPC).
An ESPC is a partnership between an energy service company (ESCO) and a facility owner such as DGS. The ESCO designs and installs energy savings measures. Savings are monitored and verified, and the facility owner reimburses the ESCO over a certain number of years out of operating budgets.
DGS announced the award of its first Energy Savings Performance Contract to CMTA, an energy services company, on Earth Day in April 2025. The press release states, “This innovative model will cut energy waste, improve public facility conditions, and leverage innovative financing mechanisms to save taxpayer dollars.” The contract was approved by the DC Council in March 2025.
BEPS still needs additional funding in its annual budgets to implement BEPS as well as net zero energy requirements. As the energy efficiency retrofits are implemented, funding is needed to include building electrification measures that will be required to convert buildings off fossil fuels, but will not generate energy efficiency savings in the near term. We realize that budgets are tight, but the up-front costs of measures such as adding geothermal heat pumps to a building’s system will pay off in substantial savings over the longer term.
ZERO WASTE
The Zero Waste DC Plan calls for composting in all public schools; composting is not an opt-in service
The Zero Waste DC Plan released by the Mayor in February 2024, sets forth seven zero waste goals and 47 actions to ensure the District reduces the volume of solid waste it sends to landfill and incineration each year. When fully implemented, the Zero Waste DC Plan will divert nearly one million tons of solid waste annually and reduce 1.38 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent of greenhouse gases (MTCO2e) annually. That’s the equivalent of planting close to 23 million trees and letting them grow for ten years. DGS bears responsibility for three of the Zero Waste DC Plan’s actions.
- Action 14 calls for establishing an ordinance to ensure recycling and compost services are available city-wide by 2025 in all government buildings, including public schools. (DGS is a partner agency).
- Action 26 calls upon DGS to establish “zero waste hubs” to collect compostable materials, prioritizing schools and other locations for siting these hubs. (DGS is one of the three leading agencies responsible for implementation, along with DPW and DOEE.)
- Action 37 requires DGS to provide zero waste education, with an emphasis on “hands-on learning,” including on best practices for food waste reduction, donation and composting. (DGS and DPW are the lead agencies for implementation.)
We request that this committee explore what, if any, steps DGS is taking to implement these zero waste measures in our public schools. We learned from DGS’s responses to last year’s performance oversight hearing that DGS requires public schools to opt-in to compost services, with the result that only five schools offered compost services last year. Nothing in the Zero Waste DC Plan involves optional composting in public schools. Composting in public schools is expected to be incorporated into the operations of ALL public schools. Has DGS made any progress toward this goal since last year?
We welcome responses to these questions:
- Are compost services available in all public schools this year? If not, how many public schools provide compost services this year?
- Is DGS partnering with DPW and the Department of Buildings to develop a composting ordinance as called for in Action 14?
- Has DGS established any zero waste hubs to collect compostable materials on or near public schools?
- Is DGS providing the required zero waste education? We note that providing compost collection services at DC public schools would provide students with the requisite hands-on learning with regard to food waste and composting.
- What budget allocations is DGS seeking in the District’s fiscal year 2027 budget, and are these allocations sufficient to meet the demands of Actions 26 and 37 of the Zero Waste DC Plan?
Making progress on providing compost services in public schools is clearly feasible. DGS provided composting in public schools 10 years ago, when composting was not nearly as familiar or widespread as it is now. DGS’s own website celebrates the 252 tons of organic waste that were diverted from incinerators or landfills in fiscal year 2015, and the 61 schools that participated in FY 2016-17. As pointed out in last year’s budget oversight hearing, this web page appears not to have been updated in the last decade, suggesting DGS has nothing to report.
We should not be moving backward: composting should be a permanent, routine part of operations in all buildings, not a program we have to constantly reestablish. The success of the curbside compost program demonstrates that DC residents are eager and able to participate in composting. DGS should step up to ensure that composting education begins in our schools. DGS can and should contribute to the Zero Waste DC Plan’s goal to divert waste and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Food waste sent to landfills generates methane pollution, contributing to climate change, and food waste sent to incinerators generates particulate pollution, which is strongly linked to the development of asthma in children among other health impacts.
It’s time for DGS to establish a budget line for composting in its fiscal year 2027 budget. We urge DGS to not let the call for composting in public schools go unheeded for yet another year.
Thank you, Councilmember Lewis George, for convening this hearing, and for the opportunity to testify.