For the fourth straight year, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, is among a bipartisan team of legislators trying to push a bill through Congress that encourages energy savings in federal buildings.

Gardner, as he has done since 2013 with earlier versions of the bill, helped introduce the Energy Savings Through Public-Private Partnerships Act of 2017 on Monday, Jan. 30. The legislation encourages the use of Energy Savings Performance Contracts and Utility Energy Savings Contracts in federal buildings.

Mandatory federal audits already outline energy savings projects for federal facilities to help reduce energy consumption and save tax dollars, noted a Monday, Jan. 30, news release. However, federal agencies are not required to make those changes. This legislation changes that and would allow projects to be paid for by public-private partnerships where private companies use their own money and resources to make energy efficiency upgrades to federal buildings.

In exchange, those private companies receive some of the money saved as a result of the increased efficiency in federal buildings. The two methods create private sector jobs upgrading the federal government’s estimated three billion square feet of office space at no real cost to taxpayers, according to the news release.

“Since my time in the House of Representatives, I’ve been proud to work with members of both parties to encourage energy efficiency,” said Gardner. “Increasing federal buildings’ energy efficiency through public-private partnerships is common sense. It will lead to the creation of private sector jobs, save American taxpayer dollars, and promote a cleaner environment.”

Other sponsors are U.S. Sen. Chris Coons, D-Delaware, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire, U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois, and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont.

Kinzinger noted the federal government “is missing out on an estimated $20 billion in savings by continuing to run outdated, energy inefficient federal facilities.” Welch added the federal government has over 3 billion square feet of building space and is the largest energy consumer in the country.