Recent GAO reports

From the Government Accountability Office (GAO):

CHECK 21 ACT: Most Consumers Have Accepted and Banks Are Progressing Toward Full Adoption of Check Truncation, GAO-09-8 (pdf, 66pp/1.38MB), Oct. 28, 2008

The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act of 2003 (Check 21) was intended to streamline check collection by promoting electronic check processing and authorizing substitute checks--paper copies of the front and back of original checks--for banks that do not accept checks electronically. Check 21 required GAO to assess the following regarding check truncation: (1) gains in economic efficiency and benefits and costs to the Federal Reserve and financial institutions, (2) consumer acceptance, and (3) benefits and costs to bank consumers. GAO found no overall gains in efficiency by the Federal Reserve or a sample of banks but future efficiencies are expected; most bank consumers have accepted changes to their checking accounts and have realized benefits and costs relating to faster processing and access to account information.


GREEN AFFORDABLE HOUSING: HUD Has Made Progress in Promoting Green Building, but Expanding Efforts Could Help Reduce Energy Costs and Benefit Tenants, GAO-09-46 (pdf, 68pp/1.42MB), Oct. 7, 2008

The Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) spends about $5 billion annually on energy costs for public housing. For this report, GAO was asked to review (1) HUD's efforts to promote energy efficiency in its programs, (2) potential costs and benefits of green building in its affordable housing programs, and (3) lessons learned elsewhere that HUD could use for green building. GAO recommends that HUD require energy-efficient products and appliances in public housing, update the building code for manufactured housing, develop a utility benchmarking tool for multifamily properties, and provide nonenergy green building incentive points in some grant programs.


HEALTHY MARRIAGE AND RESPONSIBLE FATHERHOOD INITIATIVE: Further Progress Is Needed in Developing a Risk-Based Monitoring Approach to Help HHS Improve Program Oversight, GAO-08-1002 (pdf, 55pp/6.96MB), Sept. 26, 2008, released Oct. 27, 2008

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 appropriated $150 million in grants for Healthy Marriage and Responsible Fatherhood programs from 2006 through 2010. Both programs serve low-income and minority groups but Healthy Marriage programs target teenagers with marriage and relationship activities while Responsible Fatherhood programs provide parenting skills primarily to incarcerated parents. This report reviews oversight of the grants made by the Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS) for these programs.

Little green schoolhouse

"Building design, materials, operation, maintenance, and cleaning practices can affect occupants' health and development," so The National Academies Press (NAP) introduces its study on the health and productivity benefits of green schools.

...students in buildings that rated as poor had test scores that were, on average, 5 percent lower than students in school buildings categorized as fair and 10 percent lower than students in buildings categorized as excellent.

Buildings account for 40 percent of U.S. energy use and 40 percent of atmospheric emissions, greenhouse gases, and other pollutants. The report undertakes the complex task of comparing studies which analyze overall building condition with student achievement and examine the total building health environment (dampness, mold, lighting, fresh air, etc) affecting not only students' performance but that of the professional stakeholder group, i.e., teachers, administrators (principals, financial staff, counselors, librarians) and support staff . The quality of building support staff "may significantly affect the performance of building systems, the timeliness and quality of maintenance repair, and cleaning practices." As buildings deteriorate, performance suffers and development is affected.

Of course, the issue is more than buildings.

Given the complexity of the interaction between people and their environments, establishing cause-and-effect relationships between an attribute of a green school or other building and its effect on people is very difficult.

Though the many societal factors influencing student and teacher health, productivity and learning are complex, the study concludes it may be possible to further determine whether and how a green school may be of benefit:

Future green school guidelines should place greater emphasis, on building systems...identify potential interactions between building systems, occupants, and operation and maintenance practices and identify conflicts that will necessitate tradeoffs among building features to meet differing objectives

Green Schools: Attributes for Health and Learning
(an Open Book from NAP, 2006, 208 pp)

Executive Summary
(pdf, 25pp/220kB)