NASA Develops Better Airborne Wind Energy System

Out of seven benchmarks, NASA received six green ratings and one yellow. A green rating indicates the benchmark has been met. Yellow indicates that progress is being made.

"We are making great progress toward sustainable and efficient operations of our facilities," said Olga Dominguez, assistant administrator for the Office of Strategic Infrastructure at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "Sustainable practices are good for the agency, good for our employees and provide better value for the American taxpayer."

The scorecard measures federal agency progress in a number of areas related to energy efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions and waste reduction. President Obama in 2009 directed federal agencies to lead by example in energy efficiency and renewable energy use, and meet a range of related goals.

In the last year, NASA completed several new sustainable buildings, including Sustainability Base at NASA Ames Research Center, which has been certified as a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum building. The 50,000 square-foot building was designed to know exactly how much energy each occupant uses and can adapt to weather, season and occupancy.

The agency will update its Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan later this month and post a summary on its website.

To view NASA’s sustainability scorecard and sustainability plans, visit: www.nasa.gov/sustainability