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EPA's
Environm*
"erable Purchasing
Sustainable Building
• High Perfc,
Buildings Datab
• Convention Industry
Council
• EPP Beyond Borders
Issue 14 | August 2004
ENVIRONMENTALLY PREFERABLE PURCHASING
New Purchase Agreement Makes
Buying Green Office Supplies Easy
Buying green office supplies just
got easier for EPA purchase card
holders, thanks to a new agency-
wide Blanket Purchase Agreement
(BPA). The BPA will create a one-stop-
shop for office supplies, with a special
emphasis on products that fulfill both
the Comprehensive Procurement
Guidelines for buying recycled-content
items and the Executive Order (E.O.)
13101 mandate to purchase environ-
mentally preferable products and
services.
In the past, greening EPAs purchase
card procurement was challenging.
Card holders had to ask questions
about the environmental attributes of
the products they were buying every
time they made a purchase, and hope
vendors could supply the
answers they needed to ensure
they bought the greenest prod-
ucts available while meeting
EPAs performance and cost
expectations. "By buying office
supplies through this new sys-
tem, the big 'ifs' have been
taken out of the process. When
purchase card holders buy
through this system, they are
guaranteed to be buying prod-
ucts that meet federal green pur-
chasing requirements (if
products that meet these
requirements are available)—
and other government purchas-
ing requirements as well. We've
created a win-win green solu-
tion that will work for every-
one," said Holly Elwood of EPAs
EPP Team.
About BPAs
A BPA is a simplified method of
filling anticipated, repetitive needs
for supplies or services by estab-
lishing a contract or contracts with
qualified sources of supply. The
new BPA gives EPA access to an
online catalog that is tailored to
meet the agency's specific purchas-
ing needs through a pre-negotiated
contract.
The BPA, which EPAs Office of
Acquisition Management (OAM)
awarded to Corporate Express in
October 2003, will eventually become
< Continued on page 2 >
If you choose to print this newsletter, please print it on paper containing at least 50 percent postconsumer fiber.
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Environmentally Preferable
Purchasing seeks the over-
all best value, taking into
account price competitive-
ness, regulatory require-
ments, performance
standards, and environ-
mental impact. Because
purchasers typically have
clear sources of informa-
tion on procurement and
safety regulations and
well-established methods
for evaluating price and
performance, the U.S. EPA
EPP program has devel-
oped the EPP Update to
help government pur-
chasers consider the envi-
ronmental factors in the
EPP equation and to keep
purchasers informed of
EPP news. For more infor-
mation about the EPP pro-
gram's history, tools, and
resources, please visit
.
mandatory at EPA offices nationwide
by the end of FY 2004. It covers all
non-electronic desktop supplies
bought with a purchase card, such as
process chlorine-free recycled-content
paper (minumum 50 percent post-
consumer content), nontoxic mark-
ers, rechargeable batteries, and
remanufactured toner cartridges.
EPA conservatively estimates that in
2002 its agencywide contract pur-
chases of recycled copy paper saved
approximately 11,000 trees and con-
tributed to solid waste reductions of
more than 500,000 pounds.
"Implementing the BPA will greatly
increase these numbers by creating
more ways for EPA employees to
reduce waste and prevent pollution at
work," says Karen Lee of EPAs
National Purchase Card Program.
In addition to green products, the
BPA conveniently includes products
from mandatory sources of supplies
for the federal government, such as
small businesses and the Javits-
Wagner-O'Day (JWOD) program
(which promotes products made by
the blind or severely handicapped).
< Continued from page 1 >
The BPA also gives EPA access to
group discounts on office products
and allows for more efficient tracking
of office supplies bought via purchase
cards.
Corporate Express and EPA have set
up a user-friendly e-catalog,
, which sim-
plifies purchasing for EPA employees.
Using the system is similar to pur-
chasing anything online—purchase
card holders just need to set up an
account before they buy. The site also
features a helpful hotline number,
links to a training tutorial, and details
about requesting onsite training
offered by Corporate Express.
To see EPAs green office supply
criteria and surf the e-catalog, visit
. For more
information contact Holly Elwood at
(202) 564-8854 or . To learn about other federal
agencies' efforts to buy green office
supplies, including EPAs RFP for the
BPA, go to .
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The BPA is just one way EPA is fulfilling its
goals for meeting the mandates of E.O. 13101.
Visit for more information.
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EPA's BPA Research Leads to
Buying Green Online Report
To develop the e-catalog under
the new BPA (see preceding
article), EPA first identified and
interviewed procurement and envi-
ronmental staff from several govern-
ment agencies that already have
e-catalogs in place for purchasing
office supplies. EPA has made the
lessons learned via these interviews
available in a report that can serve as
a resource for federal agencies and
others working to green their pur-
chases through current or future
BPAs. The report includes federal
agency success stories, EPA's green
criteria for office supplies, EPA's REP
language for its BPA, and a chart
describing a range of federal office
product e-catalogs.
To improve tracking of purchases
and ensure they are taking advantage
of requisite group discounts, some of
the agency representatives EPA inter-
viewed have made their agency's e-
catalog the only authorized mecha-
nism for the purchase of office sup-
plies. Others have limited the
products available via their e-catalog
to those that meet EPA's recycled
content guidelines in an effort to
increase the purchase and use of
green products.
Although other government agen-
cies have set up successful programs
for encouraging the online purchase
of green office products, EPA's green
purchasing criteria, located in
Appendix A of the aforementioned
report, are more comprehensive than
those of other agencies. EPA will
modify and augment these green
purchasing criteria as office products
with additional positive environmen-
tal attributes become available. EPA's
BPA also requires recycling of all
used toner cartridges and batteries.
Vendor evaluation criteria used in the
award of the BPA included having an
Environmental Management System
(EMS) in place or in development
and having green fleet purchase and
maintenance programs.
To view EPA's Buying Green Online
Report, visit .
staff interviewed for Buying
Green Online: Greening
Government E-Procurement of
Office Supplies, the benefits of
buying office supplies through
BPAs include:
• Cost savings through group
discounts.
• Reduced time spent on
routine processing of orders.
• Improved tracking and
monitoring capabilities.
• Increased availability of up-
to-date product information.
• Ease of use.
• Increased ability to meet
mandatory source-of-supply
requirements.
agency-specific purchasing
goals.
Improved satisfaction of
customers and procurement
professionals.
Agencies successful in greening the product offerings in their agency-
specific e-catalogs cited the following drivers for their green procurement
programs:
1. Legal requirements.
2. Improved access to green products.
3. Increased purchase of green products.
4. Improved tracking and monitoring of green purchases.
5. Improved environmental performance for the agency.
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Setting the Standard for Sustainability
Over the past few years, the building design and
construction communities have made substan-
tial efforts to incorporate sustainability into
their practices to reduce the environmental impact of
development. In December 2003, ASTM International
(formerly the American Society for Testing and
Materials) Committee E6 on Performance of Buildings,
Subcommittee E6.71 on Sustainability, demonstrated a
commitment to green building by finalizing revisions to
Standard E2129—"Standard Practice for Data
Collection for Sustainability Assessment of Building
Products." The revised standard is intended to facilitate
the dialogue on sustainability issues among a variety of
building professionals, including:
• Planners
• Developers
• Architects
• Engineers
• Interior designers
• Contractors
• Building materials and product manufacturers
Specifically, the standard features a comprehensive
questionnaire, organized by the Construction
Specifications Institute's MasterFormat™. Responses
will help the user assess the overall environmental sus-
tainability of specific building products such as con-
crete, masonry, insulation, wood, sealants, HVAC
systems, and floor coverings.
EPA hopes the revised standard will enable the build-
ing industry to push sustainable building design and
construction to new limits. "This standard and others
demonstrate ASTM's tremendous contribution to the
advancement of sustainable building. ASTM is develop-
ing invaluable resources for federal agencies as they
strive to meet mandates under the Greening the
Government Executive Orders and the National
Technology Transfer and Advancement Act," said Alison
Kinn Bennett, sustainable building project manager for
EPAs EPP Program, who chaired the Data Collection
Task Group that developed this standard.
Additional efforts by ASTM's Subcommittee on
Sustainability include a standard on environmentally
preferable product specifications and a guide that iden-
tifies the general principles of sustainability relative to
buildings. To learn more about these ASTM Standards,
contact Alison Kinn Bennett at (202) 564-8859 or
.
About ASTM
ASTM is a nonprofit organization comprised of
more than 30,000 individuals from 100 nations.
Since 1898, ASTM has provided a global forum for
the development and publication of voluntary con-
sensus standards, which serve as the basis for
manufacturing, research and development, product
testing, procurement, and regulatory activities
around the world. For nearly five years, EPA's EPP
Program has worked with ASTM to develop an
array of environmental standards. To learn more
about ASTM standards development, visit their
Web site at .
DOE Database Provides Valuable
Sustainable Buildings Information
Interested in real world successes and lessons learned
from sustainable building design? The Department of
Energy's (DOE's) High Performance Buildings (HPB)
Database provides public access to case study data on
more than 40 high performance buildings worldwide.
The database, launched in May 2002, is a centralized
clearinghouse showcasing projects—from office build-
ings to campuses and whole neighborhoods—that have
incorporated sustainable design principles. Information
on facilities appears in a standard format, with details
ranging from a basic overview to detailed cost and per-
formance data. The HPB Database continues to grow in
size and scope, developing into a resource that DOE
hopes will ultimately improve building performance
nationally and globally. Search the database at
.
For more information, please contact Drury Crawley
of DOE's Building Technologies Program at (202) 586-
2344 or .
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CIC Offers New Green Meeting Guidelines
The list of green meetings tools continues to
grow. The Convention Industry Council
(CIC) recently issued its Green Meetings
Report—a document outlining best practice
guidelines for meeting organizers and event
suppliers to assist them with
making their events sustainable.
The best practices cover all
aspects of meeting/convention
planning, including selecting
destinations, accommodations,
food and beverage services, and
transportation providers.
CIC's Green Meetings Task
Force—a group composed of
individuals from EPA, the
Oceans Blue Foundation, the
Society of Incentive & Travel
Executive's Green Meeting
Group, the World Travel
Organization, hotels, convention
and visitor bureaus, convention
centers, and meeting planning
organizations—compiled the
guidelines.
For more information, or to download a free
copy of the Green Meetings Report, visit the CIC
Web site at .
For Green Vendors, Opportunity Knocks
Now, more than ever, the federal government is considering the environmental impacts of its pur-
chasing decisions. It's not surprising, therefore, that most vendors of environmentally preferable
products are eager to sell their products to the federal government. Unfortunately, many compa-
nies, particularly those of small or medium size, find marketing and selling their products to the federal
government daunting. Things are changing, however; there is now a wide variety of information avail-
able on government contracting programs, catalogs, solicitations, and other important procurement ini-
tiatives to assist vendors in entering the federal marketplace.
Federal Procurement Opportunities for "Green" Vendors contains resources that can help vendors increase
their federal government procurement opportunities and enhance prime and subcontract level competi-
tion. The document was produced by the Buy Bio program, which works to develop strategies for lever-
aging the federal government's purchasing power in order to promote the procurement of biobased
products and bioenergy View the publication online at .
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Members of the NAGPI
steering committee rep-
resent the following
organizations:
• Center for a New American
Dream
City of Santa Monica
Commission for
Environmental Cooperation
Consumer's Choice Council
Environment Canada
Green Mountain College
Inform, Inc.
Interface Flooring
International Council for
Local Environmental
Initiatives World Secretariat
Mexico's Office of the
Secretary of Environment
and Natural Resources
TerraChoice Environmer
Services Inc.
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency
U.S. Office of the Federal
Environmental Executive
EPP Beyond Borders
In the United States, the federal
government, as well as many local
and state governments, have long
been incorporating environmentally
preferable purchasing into their poli-
cies and practices. Now a broader
coalition is working to spread the
green purchasing message at an inter-
national level. Since 2002, the North
American Green Purchasing Initiative
(NAGPI) has been bringing together
officials from Canada, Mexico, and
the United States to work towards
forming green purchasing initiatives
that transcend national boundaries.
Housed at the North American
Commission for Environmental
Cooperation (CEC), which is head-
quartered in Canada, NAGPI is led
by a steering committee made up of
major organizations and governmen-
tal agencies (see sidebar) working to
promote green purchasing in North
America. NAGPI plays a coordinating
role among these organizations by:
• Compiling and maintaining a list
of ongoing green purchasing
activities to avoid duplicate
efforts.
Creating a unified voice to
engage manufacturers, pur-
chasers, politicians, the media,
and the general public.
Developing and maintaining a
database of tools and procure-
ment policies used across North
America.
• Identifying research needs (e.g.,
the need to better quantify envi-
ronmental benefits of green pur-
chasing) and seeking funding to
address those needs.
• Facilitating the development of a
common marketing language
beneficial to all.
• Launching coordinated cam-
paigns to improve the perfor-
mance of specific commodity
areas.
Currently, NAGPI is developing the
Eco-S.A.T., an environmental pur-
chasing self-assessment tool designed
to help professional purchasers eval-
uate their organization's overall envi-
ronmental purchasing initiatives and
identify opportunities for improve-
ment. Visit for
more information.
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Let Your Voice Be Heard!
EPAs Environmentally Preferable
Purchasing (EPP) Guides,
which were put on hold in
2002, may be making a return
appearance! EPA has opened a public
review and comment period for four
guides:
• Greening Your Meetings and
Conferences
• Greening Your Purchase of
Carpet
• Greening Your Purchase of
Copiers
• Greening Your Purchase of
Cleaning Products
The EPP Guides contain information
about the environmental impacts of
purchasing decisions and outline how
government agencies can identify and
purchase environmentally preferable
products.
This public comment period will
provide stakeholders with another
opportunity to share their thoughts
on the information presented in the
guides. More information is available
in the Federal Register notice entitled
"EPA Environmentally Preferable
Purchasing Program Announces
Review and Comment Period for
Four Draft Purchasing Guides,"
which was published on June 30,
2004. View the entire Federal
Register notice at .
Interested parties have until August
30, 2004, to provide comments. The
preferred method for submitting a
comment is through the EPA Docket,
which can be accessed at
, and then
entering docket number OPPT-2002-
0039. Comments may also be
e-mailed to .
EPA would like comments to address
the following questions:
I.Is the discussion on the potential
environmental impacts of the
product categories useful for fed-
eral purchasers?
2.1s there any more recent informa-
tion that is germane to or would
enhance the discussion of these
product categories?
3.Can federal purchasers act easily
upon the stated recommenda-
tions in the product guides?
4.1s this an approach you would
like EPA to take in addressing
EPP?
For more information on the EPP
Guides and the public comment peri-
od, contact Terry Grogan at (202) 564-
6317 or
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Pollution Prevention and Toxics
(7409 M)
EPA 742-N-04-002
www.epa.gov/epp
August 2004
Setting a Standard for
Purchasing Electronics
Having trouble choosing environ-
mentally preferable electronic
equipment? A new tool will soon
make it easier to decide! Although still in
the conceptual and developmental stage,
the Electronics Products Environmental
Assessment Tool (EPEAT) will help guide
environmentally preferable purchasing
decisions by providing federal and state
procurement officials with an easy-to-use
rating system for environmental attributes
of electronic products, such as comput-
ers. This informative and innovative sys-
tem will not only assist federal and state
purchasing decisions, but will also
increase demand for green electronics.
The project is a joint venture between
EPA and other federal agencies, leading
electronics manufacturing companies,
electronics trade associations, environ-
mental organizations, and academic insti-
tutions. For more information, contact
Christopher Kent at (202) 564-8842 or
.
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