Facility

Will our new building be "green" or eco-friendly building?

ANSWER: The relocation of 4000+ personnel into over a million square feet of high technology-type space definitely has potential environmental impacts. As part of the ongoing design/build initiatives to house DISA at Fort Meade, we are required by Public Law 102-486, Executive Order 12902 and Federal Regulations 10 CFR 435 to design and construct facilities in an energy conserving manner while considering life cycle costs of the facility. In order to comply with these mandated guidelines, DISA, in partnership with the Army Corps of Engineers, is taking the necessary steps to obtain a silver certification rating in the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in accordance with the U.S. Green Building Council's (USGBC) rating system. For more information about the "green" features of our new building, please visit the new building section of this Web site.

Sustainable design and construction will be required to achieve a LEED Silver Rating
Certificate. Sustainable design techniques will be implemented as they relate to site and building design, construction and facility operation. Techniques that conserve energy, improve livability, and that can be justified by life cycle cost analysis as being cost effective are required.

The goals for improving the sustainability of facilities include:

• Using resources efficiently and minimizing raw material resource consumption, including energy, water, land and materials, both during the construction process and throughout the life of the facility.
• Maximizing resource reuse while maintaining financial stewardship.
• Moving away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources.
• Creating a healthy and productive work environment for all who use the facility.
• Building facilities of long-term value.
• Protecting and, where appropriate, restoring the natural environment.

LEED uses six main categories for which differing numbers of points can be achieved to include:

• Sustainable Sites
• Water Efficiency
• Energy and Atmosphere
• Materials and Resources
• Indoor Environmental Quality
• LEED Innovation

Buildings fundamentally impact people's lives and the health of the planet. DISA's decision in going "green" through the LEED's certification process will inherently improve the quality of our buildings and our overall impact on the environment.

Green design not only makes a positive impact on public health and the environment, it also reduces operating costs, enhances building and organizational marketability, potentially increases occupant productivity, and helps create a sustainable community. It will be up to the designer of record to determine which LEED points and corresponding initiatives will be pursued to achieve the Silver Certificate. Some of the designer's initiatives may include the specific items you mentioned. Those that are not specifically impacted by the design and construction of the facility will be pursued as part of Base Operations Support (BOS) services. DISA's BRAC Transition Office has created several Working Groups to provide an avenue for employee input to the BRAC planning process. One of those Working Groups focuses on BOS and will be the vehicle to brainstorm operating procedures for our new Fort Meade facilities. I encourage you to work through your organization chain of command to determine how you can individually participate in the planning process. For additional information on LEED, please refer to the USGBC Homepage at www.leedbuilding.org.

Will our new facility have cell phone reception?

ANSWER: The Request for Proposal for the construction of our new facility at Fort Meade calls for the contractor to design the facility to support commercial carrier mobile/cellular phone coverage in non-Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) areas throughout the facility. How the contractor meets this requirement is a design decision. It may be by arranging for providers to install repeaters. It may be by other means as determined by the contractor. In either case, the contractor will furnish and install all supporting infrastructure for the mobile phone system.