The U.S. General Services Administration's (GSA) completed grid-interactive efficient building (GEB) renovation at the Oklahoma City Federal Building has emerged as a procurement and performance benchmark for the federal smart-building ecosystem. The multi-year project, delivered through a Utility Energy Service Contract (UESC) with Oklahoma Gas & Electric (OG&E) and energy service company Ameresco, is projected to reduce energy use by 41%, cut 3,100 metric tons of carbon emissions annually, and save approximately $400,000 per year in energy and water costs, according to GSA. The Department of Energy's Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) published a formal case study of the project in March 2023, and the project received the FEMP Director's national award in 2022.
Background
The Oklahoma City project originated in 2019 when GSA engaged the Rocky Mountain Institute to develop a framework for transitioning federal assets toward GEB strategies. The agency structured the deployment across five Oklahoma federal facilities under a single UESC with OG&E, with Ameresco as the energy service company. GSA projects $13.5 million in savings over the life of the contract across the five buildings, according to its Greater Southwest Region.
The project is part of a broader federal mandate. GSA manages a nationwide real estate portfolio of nearly 370 million rentable square feet and has committed to achieving net-zero emissions from all federal buildings by 2045 under applicable executive orders. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) allocated $3.4 billion to GSA to build, modernize, and maintain high-performance facilities, of which $975 million is designated for emerging and sustainable technologies, according to GSA. The Oklahoma City model is explicitly cited as a template for replication under that funding.
Details
The FEMP case study, published by the Department of Energy, documents that the project team implemented nine energy conservation measures (ECMs) and smart building technologies at the Oklahoma City Federal Building. These included a solar photovoltaic (PV) system, battery energy storage, upgraded HVAC controls, LED lighting controls, and smart irrigation systems-technologies selected through a lifecycle cost and payback analysis conducted with Ameresco. According to the DOE case study, GSA and project partners determined that GEB-ready strategies and technologies "can be realistically deployed today across buildings with minimal investment."
Total project funding was approximately $11 million, sourced from a Department of Energy grant and GSA appropriations, according to reporting at the time of the ribbon-cutting ceremony in May 2023. GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan stated that the project demonstrated how federal buildings can "transform into high-tech clean energy hubs that dynamically interact with the grid, generate their own energy, and make the grid stronger and more resilient."
On procurement structure, the UESC model used in Oklahoma City enabled project financing through guaranteed utility savings-a replicable vehicle for agencies without upfront capital. GSA's Green Proving Ground (GPG) program, which has evaluated 104 technologies since 2011, has deployed 23 across more than one-third of GSA's federally owned portfolio, avoiding 116,000 annual tons of CO₂ and delivering $28 million in annual cost avoidance, according to Engineering News-Record.
The project also carries direct implications for building automation system (BAS) interoperability and operational technology (OT) cybersecurity. GSA's smart buildings directive requires agencies to "promote interoperability between devices through open protocol systems" and to "implement and maintain cybersecurity best practices... including downstream devices" and cyber supply chain risk management (C-SCRM) principles. The Department of Energy's Federal Smart Buildings Accelerator (FSBA), which concluded in September 2024, identified cybersecurity as an essential practice for interconnected GEB systems, noting that funding and implementation complexity remain primary barriers to broader federal adoption.
Outlook
GSA has signaled intent to expand the Oklahoma City model. Administrator Carnahan stated at the May 2023 ribbon cutting that IRA funding would enable "similar benefits at federal buildings across the country." In January 2025, GSA awarded a $210 million Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) covering ten facilities in the National Capital Region, with upgrades to building automation systems, chillers, lighting controls, and transformers among the specified measures. Agencies and procurement officers tracking federal smart-building policy should monitor GSA's updated Facilities Standards (P100) guidance and the next Green Proving Ground Request for Information cycle, both expected to codify lessons from the Oklahoma City deployment into governmentwide procurement requirements.
