currently replacing the roof but keeping its original, 45-degree-angle design, which will help keep the building cool. The interior rehabilitation of the historic pool house allowed for modernization of windows and lighting for energy efficiency. » Operating on a shared solar grid, the United States Bullion Depository, managed by the Department of the Treasury, transitioned to nearly 100 percent LED lighting and high efficiency systems, cutting utility costs by nearly 50 percent. » NIST has aggressively pursued various HVAC upgrades within historic buildings, incorporating more efficient motors, as well as replacing roofs on campus structures with heat-reflective white surfaces. It also recently completed an Energy Savings Performance Contract for a 15-acre solar array to provide the Gaithersburg, Maryland, campus with 5 percent electrical savings. » The Presidio Trust began a transition to all-electric rehabilitation projects and conversion of existing building systems from gas to electric. The effort aims to decarbonize the Presidio’s 1,500 residential units and hundreds of workplaces by developing the infrastructure to support all-electric appliances, water heaters, and HVAC systems. A recent example is the rehabilitation of the East Mason Street Warehouses complex, an 84,000-square-foot collection of seven World War I-era warehouses that will become multi-tenant office spaces. The $30 million Trust- sponsored project will include all electric HVAC systems, avoiding installation of natural gas service–a first for a project of this scale in the Presidio. » Over the past three years, TVA has increased the number of historic buildings that have been retrofitted to improve operational energy efficiency. As historic windows have been repaired or nonhistoric replacement windows have been replaced, TVA has made a concerted effort to ensure the repairs and replacements are appropriate and sensitive to the character of the buildings, while also increasing energy efficiency. Use of Historic Properties Supports Infrastructure Goals and Agency Missions Federally owned infrastructure covers a broad range of property types, from dams and other energy-generating facilities, to housing, office buildings, and structures that help to facilitate the continued operation of agency missions. The following sections illustrate the ways federal agencies are making historic properties available for use to support the government’s larger infrastructure goals. Adaptive Reuse As in 2021, adaptive reuse projects were celebrated by many agencies for historic properties no longer in use or meeting agency missions. Some of these projects have been long in the making. After more than 10 years of partnership and cooperative work with consulting parties, the Department of the Army signed a programmatic agreement for the rehabilitation of Building 66050, the historic Mountain View Officers Club, at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, in January 2023. Consultation between the Army, the Arizona SHPO, the ACHP, and a coalition of consulting parties sought to find a use for the building, which originally served as the African American Officer’s Club until the end of World War II. The Army determined in 2011 that the building no longer had a mission use. This consultative effort led to a viable plan to rehabilitate the building as a Range Operations Synchronization Center, which is now moving forward for funding consideration. The rehabilitation plan includes exhibit space for consulting parties to tell the story of the African American World War II military experience.
Mountain View Officers Club, Fort Huachuca, AZ (Fort Huachuca Cultural Resources)
As a result of increased telework and remote work by federal employees during and after the height of the pandemic, agencies are also considering new opportunities for federal office space. Facing an increased number of underutilized buildings in the wake of the pandemic in 2022, GSA’s preservation and portfolio management programs collaborated on a study exploring ways to expand the potential of historic properties for generating outlease revenue. A charrette with outside industry experts confirmed private sector interest in leasing space in the agency’s historic buildings. The study recommended strategies for leveraging the value of historic buildings through outleasing focus on overcoming challenges presented by federal security requirements and resources available for marketing, administration, and building improvements. It also identified several areas for further inquiry, including development of a database posting available spaces for access by targeted markets, reconfiguration options for secure separation between federal and nonfederal tenants, aligning space types with marketing strategies, nonfederal access to flexible space and co-working space, and greater use of photography to promote unique and architecturally significant buildings. A second study is now underway that will develop objective criteria for identifying excess space in buildings that are the best candidates for leasing to nonfederal tenants. Additional information on GSA’s research on the future of federal office space needs is described in a Case Study on page 78. In addition to the study, GSA is also working with Emax, a financial and real estate advisory service, to develop a tool that will examine GSA’s entire historic building inventory to identify the best prospects for producing Section 111 outleasing revenue. The tool will examine existing vacant space, apply market rates to determine income potential, and evaluate parking options, events and full building outlease opportunities. Other tools promoting consolidation and reinvestment in historic buildings consider lifecycle costs and the embodied carbon value of existing buildings—especially historic buildings constructed of durable, high quality natural materials. The renovation and use of federal historic buildings as office spaces over new construction is not only beneficial for saving taxpayers money, it also can contribute to urban revitalization efforts and enhance the character of neighborhoods, attract businesses, and contribute to a sense of community. Several agencies with smaller historic property inventories reported utilization of most of their historic assets for mission purposes. EPA developed a strategic plan for FY 2018 to 2022 that would advance the goal of reducing
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