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CISA HQ and Electrification of St. Elizabeth Central Utility Plant

Project Summary

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) new headquarters (HQ) design on the St. Elizabeths Campus in Washington, DC was originally designed to set a new standard for energy performance for federal buildings in the National Capital region with an anticipated energy use intensity (EUI) of just 28.9 kBTU/sf-yr – a 72% reduction compared to typical office buildings (CBECS 2003). The 2023 changes to electrify the asset improved upon the original intent. The projectopens in new window included sustainable design features such as:

The project is anticipated to achieve LEED NC v4 Gold Certification after completion.

Sustainability Features

The new building will rely on the existing St. Elizabeths Campus Central Utility Plant 2 for chilled water and heating hot water. However, this hot water was produced using natural gas boilers. While the CISA design was complete in December 2022, the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) released the new Federal Building Performance Standardopens in new window, which required all new designs eliminate Scope 1 greenhouse gas combustion emissions. New heat recovery chillers were added to address this requirement and are anticipated to operate as much as 3-4 times as efficiently as the existing gas boilers, without the use of any fossil fuels. Electrifying the CISA HQ loads will further improve the anticipated EUI to 23 kBTU/sf-yr ‒ a 78% reduction compared to the CBECS benchmark. This represents an overall annual energy savings of 3,714.611 mmBtu and annual GHG savings of 2,608 MTCO2e.

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Media

A rendering of the new CISA HQ building and central utility plant. The buildings are red brick and surrounded by green landscaping. There is a large, terraced office building in the center with two main towers. Two tall smokestacks from the utility plant are just visible on the right side.

A aerial rendering of the new CISA HQ building and central utility plant. The buildings are red brick and surrounded by green landscaping. There is a large, terraced office building in the center with two main towers. The utility plant with two tall smokestacks is shown to the right. There are three other smaller brick buildings surround them. There's also prominent terracing in the landscaping, creating a zigzag walking path in the foreground.