As part of the Obama Administration’s initiative to save money in Federal operations by taking steps to reduce energy use, pollution and waste, the U.S. Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) released an annual performance update that shows significant progress toward energy and sustainability goals.

Under Executive Order 13514, President Barack Obama directed Federal agencies to reduce their carbon pollution, increase renewable energy use, and meet energy and water efficiency goals. Based on these FY 2012 benchmarks, the U.S. DOT will update its annual Sustainability Plan to target the best opportunities to continue to improve performance.

“In just two years, DOT has improved its sustainability performance in every category,” said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. “DOT has developed a culture where the innovation and collaboration of employees help reach our sustainability goals.”

U.S. DOT is meeting goals for greenhouse gas emissions reductions, reduction in energy intensity, use of renewable energy and reduction in fleet petroleum use.

Some highlights of the DOT’s FY2012 performance include:

• Exceeding their FY2020 goal for Greenhouse Gas emissions eight years early.

• Nearly doubling the use of renewable energy — jumping from 8% to 14% of total energy consumed in FY2012.

• Nearly tripling alternative fuel use since 2005 and reducing the petroleum consumption of the U.S. DOT fleet by 14.5%

• Signing a memorandum of understanding with the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program to provide technical assistance in the design of new energy efficient buildings and the evaluation of existing buildings, which has resulted in an estimated $5 million in project savings.

Areas showing a need for improvement include reductions in potable water intensity and green buildings. To address these areas, U.S. DOT is using a number of cost-effective strategies, such as setting aggressive policies and a performance-based contracting initiative.

This is the third time Federal agencies have publicly released their Office of Management and Budget energy and sustainability scorecards as part of the Administration’s commitment to increasing transparency and accountability in Federal operations.

To view the U.S. DOT’s scorecard, click here.