Expanded $4B US Green Building Program

Former President Bill Clinton and President Barack Obama announced this month that the Better Buildings Challenge has made significant progress, including a $4 billion investment to be used for energy upgrades to buildings over the next two hears. Of the $4 billion, half of the money is a commitment to energy upgrades of federal buildings using long-term energy savings to pay for up-front costs at no cost to taxpayers.

"Upgrading the energy efficiency of America's buildings is one of the fastest, easiest, and cheapest ways to save money, cut down on harmful pollution, and create good jobs right now. But we can't wait for Congress to act. So today, I'm directing all federal agencies to make at least $2 billion worth of energy efficiency upgrades over the next 2 years – at no up-front cost to the taxpayer. Coupled with today's extraordinary private sector commitments of $2 billion to upgrade businesses, factories, and military housing, America is taking another big step towards the competitive, clean energy economy it will take to win the future," said President Obama.

"Investments in building retrofits and energy efficiency can make a real difference in the American economy, by creating jobs, growing our industries, improving businesses' bottom lines, reducing our energy bills and consumption, and preserving our planet for future generations," said President Clinton. "I am proud the Clinton Foundation has been able to help develop and grow President Obama's Better Buildings Challenge, and that so many members of the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) have joined this Challenge. Working together, I am pleased the commitments to the BBC have grown from the initial $500 million and 300 million square feet that we announced in June at CGI America, to the $2 billion investment with over 1 billion square feet of retrofitted space that we are announcing today."

"The Better Buildings initiative has all the components to make a real difference-it will create profitable investment opportunities for worker pension funds, create badly needed good jobs, increase America's competitiveness around energy savings, and address the dangers of climate change," said AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka.

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$1.2B NSA Data Center Breaks Ground in UT

The National Security Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers broke ground this month on a new $1.2 billion data center in Utah according to a Salt Lake Tribune article. The new facility at Camp W.G. Williams National Guard Post, project-managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, will be constructed by a joint venture between Balfour Beatty, DPR, and Salt Lake City-based Big-D Construction. The one million square foot facility is the largest Department of Defense project in the nation.

"This will bring 5,000 to 10,000 new jobs during the construction and development phase," Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said at the groundbreaking event on January 7. "Once completed, it will support 100 to 200 permanent, high-paid employees."

"We've been fortunate here in the state," said Jim Judd of the Utah AFL-CIO labor unions. "The NSA project will pick up the commercial construction business. It will provide long-term employment help for the state until, hopefully, the economy recovers."

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