Testimony of Barbara Briggs
Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter
Hearing on Maintenance, Construction, and Environmentalism Regarding DPR Indoor and Outdoor Facilities and Spaces
Committee on Facilities
January 16, 2026
Thank you for the opportunity to testify at this hearing on the Department of Public Works (DPR) regarding indoor and outdoor facilities and spaces. My name is Barbara Briggs, and I am representing the Sierra Club District of Columbia Chapter. The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In DC, we represent about 7,000 residents across all eight wards.
Thank you for highlighting the environmental aspects of the Department of Parks and Recreation in this hearing. Regarding DPR indoor spaces, our testimony focuses on the Greener Government Buildings Act (GGBA). Regarding outdoor spaces, our testimony highlights recent reports and recommendations on improving coordination between DPR and the National Park Service.
DPR Indoor Spaces
Councilmember Lewis George, thank you for your leadership in implementing and defending net zero energy requirements for DC buildings. The Sierra Club strongly supports the Greener Government Buildings Act, which requires that all new and substantially renovated DC government buildings meet net zero energy standards, meaning the buildings are highly energy efficient, maximize on-site renewable energy generation, and do not combust fossil fuels on site.
The Department of General Services (DGS) and DPR should work together to ensure that all new and substantially renovated DPR facilities, including facilities with swimming pools, achieve net zero energy. Requests to the Green Building Council for exemptions should be very rare.
Net zero energy buildings bring a range of valuable benefits, starting with our lungs and health. Removing combustion of fossil fuels from DPR buildings reduces both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Gas stoves in the kitchens of DPR facilities emit nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, benzene, and other pollutants that are harmful to human health. Boilers in DPR facilities that burn gas for space and water heating vent their fumes to the outdoors, but malfunctions and leaking gas lines can still cause dangerous indoor air conditions. The nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide, and other fumes vented to the outdoors contribute to outdoor air pollution. In addition to being directly harmful to our health, nitrogen oxides in sunlight interact with other chemicals to form harmful ground-level ozone, also called smog.
Typically, net zero energy buildings are powered by 100 percent renewable energy either procured off-site or better produced on-site as much as possible. Since they are highly energy efficient, they increase the comfort and productivity of their users, which for DPR includes many children and youth. Because of their high energy efficiency, net zero buildings have more stable and comfortable indoor temperatures, incorporate more natural light, and are quieter inside.
Furthermore, net zero energy buildings reduce carbon dioxide emissions, which are the main driver of global climate change. Net zero buildings obtain electricity from clean renewable energy resources. Where it is not possible to incorporate enough solar or ground-sourced geothermal energy on site, additional renewable energy is obtained through power purchase agreements with renewable energy developers. Last but not least, net zero energy buildings reduce the District’s utility bills, saving taxpayers money.
We want to emphasize that recreation centers with swimming pools can and should be constructed to net zero energy standards. In December, councilmembers were presented with emergency legislation to exempt all rec centers with pools in Ward 8 from net zero energy requirements. Statements were made that the Congress Heights Recreation Center could not achieve net zero energy because of the swimming pool in the plan.
That inaccurate assertion was disproven by DGS’s own project redesign and withdrawal of its exemption request to the Green Building Advisory Council. The February 5, 2025 advisory council meeting notes state at the bottom of the first page that the Congress Heights Recreation Center was redesigned to comply with the Greener Government Buildings Act: “The project team was able to redesign the project to come into compliance with the law and is no longer requesting an exemption from the GGBA.” In fact, there are net zero aquatic centers in colder climates north of DC, including in Toronto. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Green Municipal Fund has even published this guide on how to move municipal indoor pools to net zero.
DPR Outdoor Spaces
The Sierra Club emphasizes the need for continuity and accountability to address the care and maintenance of outdoor spaces managed by DPR. We also laud recent efforts to improve coordination between DPR and the National Park Service for management of extensive federal parkland in the District. Because of concerns repeatedly expressed by District residents about trash-filled and poorly kept natural parkland, there have been reports, hearings and recommendations made to address these long standing issues.
They include the following: "Neighborhood Park Service: Strategies to Create an Equitable and Activated Park System for the District of Columbia," published in May 2023 by the Redstone Center at GWU; establishment of the DC Parks Task Force in 2024, to develop strategies for a District park trust or conservancy; a public roundtable on Park Equity on December 4, 2024 to gather public testimony specifically focusing on the maintenance disparity in Wards 7 and 8 and the need for better local-federal collaboration; and of course the recent hearings by this committee in December 2025.
There are several recommendations from the Redstone Center report that Sierra Club would urge this Committee to consider. They are 1. Establish an Office of Parks in DPR focused on land management, distinct from recreational facilities; 2. Create a Parks Equity Conservancy to leverage District funding with philanthropy to support park space, particularly in historically neglected neighborhoods; and 3. Establish a Parks Advisory Board to complete the work of the Parks Task Force and advise the DPR Office of Parks and Parks Equity Conservancy.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.