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The Green Proving Ground program was established in 2011 and was designed to test and implement emerging technologies for reducing energy waste in buildings. It appears the Trump Administration has cancelled it.
According to a new report by Fast Company, it seems the Trump Administration has cancelled the Green Proving Ground program.
Launched in 2011 and run by the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Department of Energy (DOE), the Green Proving Ground program was used to test-run new private-sector green building technologies by installing them within federal facilities.
If successful, these innovations could then be adopted on a wider scale across the US, helping to slash construction emission across the board.
Billions of US dollars was pumped into the program as part of an effort to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2021 promising to reach this milestone. It’s worth noting that buildings – including materials and operations – account for approximately a third of the country’s emissions.
Only three years ago, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act gave the GSA $3.4 billion USD to help decarbonise federal buildings. $2 billion USD of this was for buying common construction materials such as concrete, glass and steel. In 2023, the GSA announced that over 150 construction projects would receive cash as part of the program.
According to Fast Company, multiple sources have claimed that projects previously approved for the program have been swiftly cancelled since the Trump Administration took office. The Green Proving Ground’s webpages have also been removed from the GSA’s website.
Contractors that were hired to evaluate the technologies being tested have also reportedly had their contracts terminated.
These changes are part of a widespread shake-up to many well-established institutions and programs across the US. Trump has signed an excessive amount of executive orders that have varied wildly, from banning trans athletes from women’s sports to implementing tariffs on imports from Mexico, China and Canada. Much of it is unprecedented and unconventional.
Climate policy will undoubtedly take a huge hit in the US over the next four years. Trump has already withdrawn from the Paris climate agreement and revoked some elements of the funding of the Inflation Reduction Act. In January, climate scientists reported that 2024 was the first year to pass the 1.5C global warming limit.
