Agency Snapshot: 
Department of Veterans Affairs

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is responsible for a timeless mission: “to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow, and his orphan” – by serving and honoring the men and women who are America’s Veterans. VA fulfills these words by providing world-class benefits and services to the millions of men and women who have served this country with honor in the military.

Senior Real Property Officer: James M Sullivan

Agency Real Property Profile

Per the Federal Real Property Profile, VA uses 161.1 million square feet of space, of which 146.4 million square feet is Federally owned and 14.7 million is leased. The graph to the right shows the different types of space the VA uses. VA maintains over 1,000 points of care, including 152 hospitals, 804 community-based outpatient clinics, 280 veteran centers, and 131 national cemeteries. Veteran services are located in all 50 states, as well as Guam, Philippines, and Puerto Rico. A large portion of the VA inventory is historic in nature, with over 30% of its owned buildings listed or eligible for listing on the national historic register. The "All Others" slice of the graph is made up of numerous minor categories that includes laboratories, hospitals, prisons & detention centers and industrial buildings.

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Reduction in Real Property Usage

VA has developed a Real Property Cost Savings and Innovation Plan to achieve $84 million in cost savings by the end of fiscal year 2012. VA plans to meet the cost savings goal by reducing the need for space, shedding vacant and underutilized assets, lowering operating costs of capital assets, and better utilizing existing assets to help meet priority goals such as the elimination of veterans homelessness.

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Breakdown of Reduction

Savings will come mainly from reduced energy costs and consumption. By regionally pooling energy commodity purchasing contracts, aggressively pursuing energy efficiency, and investing in generating renewable energy on-site, VA expects to save nearly $42 million by the end of fiscal year 2012. In addition, VA has identified 166 vacant or underutilized buildings to repurpose for homeless housing and other initiatives. These reuse partnerships provide benefits to veterans, while generating cost savings for the Department by transferring operating costs to third parties. Furthermore, VA has identified 199 unneeded buildings to demolish or mothball, which will reduce VA’s space footprint and reduce operating costs commensurately.

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