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Included in this program area are links to, and highlights from programs which enable agencies to meet these goals include: Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP), Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG), ENERGY STAR®, the Green Procurement Program (GPP), and the Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP).
Section 2(d) of EO 13423, stipulates that agency acquisition of goods and services employ:
- use of sustainable environmental practices, including acquisition of biobased, environmentally preferable, energy-efficient, water-efficient, and recycled-content products, and
- use of paper of at least 30 percent post-consumer fiber content.
In relationship to Acquisition, Section 3(a) mandates that the heads of each agency implement within the agency sustainable practices for acquisition, including the reduction or elimination of acquisition and use of toxic or hazardous chemicals.
EO 13423 Section 9 provides the following definitions applicable to this Program Area.
- life-cycle cost-effective - the life-cycle costs of a product, project,or measure are estimated to be equal to or less than the base case (i.e.,current or standard practice or product).
- sustainable - to create and maintain conditions, under which humans and nature can exist in productive harmony, that permit fulfilling the social, economic, and other requirements of present and future generations of Americans.
Please use the links below to quickly jump to the information area needed or scroll down to view all items.
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Federal Acquisition and Community Right-to-Know
8 Aug 1995 and revoked by EO 13148
This EO requires Federal agencies, to the greatest extent practicable, to contract for supplies and services with companies that report publicly on the toxic chemicals they release into the environment.
Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management
24 January 2007
Executive Order 13423 "Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management", signed by President Bush on January 24, 2007. The order sets goals in the areas of energy efficiency, acquisition, renewable energy, toxics reductions, recycling, renewable energy, sustainable buildings, electronics stewardship, fleets, and water conservation. In addition the order requires more widespread use of Environmental Management Systems as the framework in which to manage and continually improve these sustainable practices.
EPA's Web site for the Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines (CPG)-- a key component of the government's "buy-recycled" program.
The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 and the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 require Federal agencies to establish affirmative procurement programs for purchasing EPA- and USDA-designated recycled content and biobased products, respectively. One required element of these programs is annual review and monitoring of the program (i.e., compliance monitoring) This document identifies compliance monitoring options already in use within the Federal government. These options are provided solely as examples.!
Subchapter D, Part 23 details the affirmative procurement program requirements and Part 52 addresses the required affirmative procurement contract clauses.
With this Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), signed in January 2006, signatory agencies commit to federal leadership in the design, construction, and operation of High-Performance and Sustainable Buildings. A major element of this strategy is the implementation of common strategies for planning, acquiring, siting, designing, building, operating, and maintaining High Performance and Sustainable Buildings. Included in the MOU are the 5 Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings which includes more detailed guidance on the parameters for and the implementation of principles for optimizing energy performance, conserving water, improved indoor environmental quality, integrated design, and reduction of the impact of materials.
In accordance with Section 4(b) of Executive Order 13423, "Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management", implementing instructions have been issued to Federal agencies to provide detail and direction to agencies as the work to fulfill the goals and requirement of the Executive Order. Section 8 of these instructions are specific to pollution prevention. These instructions are dated March 29, 2007.
RCRA Section 6002 requires each procuring agency to establish an affirmative procurement program for maximizing its purchases of EPA-designated items.
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Offers a wealth of technical assistance information for organizations interested in learning about EPP. Available to download in PDF format, each Update focuses on a specific purchasing issue, highlights an EPP Pioneer, provides brief case studies, and other useful resources.
GSA's premier feature length magazine that profiles GSA customers and partnerships and also highlights pertinent procurement, supply, property management, and travel and transportation information directed to federal users of the GSA supply system. MarkeTips is published on a bi-monthly basis.
This USDA catalog represents an exhaustive list of identified and commercially available biobased products. They differ from the items listed in the Online BioPreferredSM Products Catalog in that USDA does not make any claims to the accuracy of information provided about products found on this page.
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This library contains materials concerning pollution prevention products offered by GSA and other relevant documents and presentations.
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BIFMA is a not-for-profit organization that develops voluntary product and industry standards that support safe, healthy and sustainable environments; publish key industry statistics; advocate for legislation and government regulation that have a direct impact on the health of the industry. Specifically, this organization is developing Sustainability Assessment Standard (SAS) for office furniture. The organization has already issued a standard for Formaldehyde and TVOC (toluene) Emissions of Low-emitting Office furniture and seating.
The Center helps Americans consume responsibly to protect the environment, enhance quality of life, and promote social justice. It is a coalition of educational organizations, environmental organizations, citizen groups, the National Resources Defense Council, Consumer Federation of America, the Public Utility Law Project, and the Environmental Protection Agency. It addresses issues such as institutional purchasing, development of more sustainable products, living sustainably, and buying wisely.
Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Green Procurement Program and Environmental Attribute website, maintained by the Defense Logistics Information Service (DLIS), Battle Creek, environmental@dlis.dla.mil.
Started by the Canadian government, Ecologo certifies products as environmentally preferable after a stringent process that includes third party verification of compliance to EcoLogoM certification criteria. EcoLogoM has certified the environmental leaders in over 300 categories of products. The description for product categories contain the product specific requirements, how verification of meeting the requirements is done, and category definitions. Broad categories in which EcoLogo has certified products include: automotive related products and services; building and construction products; cleaning and janitorial products; containers, packaging, bags, and sacks; marine products; office furniture, equipment, and business products; printing products; pulp and paper products; consumer products; and services.
Provides links to the Green Purchasing programs and policies for individual Federal agencies.
This organization was created by the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) to bring together experts and practitioners to develop, disseminate and promote information and resources for and about policy development, environmentally preferable products, and social and economic responsibility in public procurement.
The mission of this organization is to improve public health and quality of life through programs that improve indoor air. As part of that, they operate a product certification program for low emitting interior building materials, furnishings, and finish systems. All GREENGUARD Certified Products have been tested for their chemical emissions performance and can be found in the GREENGUARD Online Product Guide.
This environmental aisle is designed to allow direct access to the variety of environmental products and services that GSA offers. Note: Except for Energy Star claims, all of the claims about green attributes (e.g., recycled content, energy efficiency other than Energy Star, biobased content, chemicals content) are self-claims by the product vendors.
This site advertises that they "do the work to ensure you are FAR, JWOD and environmentally compliant." There is a "green items" button that links to a list of NSN items with environmental attributes.
The mission of the IGPN is to: globally promote the spread of environmentally friendly product and service development and Green Purchasing activities; share information and know-how internationally on Green Purchasing and environmentally friendly products and services; and harmonize the efforts of Green Purchasing and the development of environmentally friendly products and services from a global viewpoint
The Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN) is a member-based network of procurement stakeholders dedicated to improving human health and the environment through best practices, superior products, improved supply, purchasing tools, market education, and peer networking.
Founded in 1984, SCS is a third-party provider of certification, auditing and testing services, and standards. Their goal is to recognize the highest levels of performance in food safety and quality, environmental protection and social responsibility in the private and public sectors, and to stimulate continuous improvement in sustainable development. Currently certified products include office furniture systems, components, and seating, building materials, carpet and rug, hard surface flooring, paints, finishes, wood products, and cleaning products, among others.
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The 2005 CTC winner is EPA’s Green Office Supply BPA Team. An overview what they have done in the green purchasing arena that warrented this award starts on page 14 of the Closing the Circle News.
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The purpose of this Best Practices Guide is to provide information that will assist you and your agency to meet the requirements of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 (the Farm bill), which requires Federal agencies to purchase biobased products.
When using the government credit card focus on buying products with recycled content, buying products with reduced packaging; looking for the Energy Star label; asking if the product contains hazardous materials or toxic chemicals; and looking for other information on the environmental features of products
This manual covers over 40 major product categories. In each chapter is a specifications section, some have specification, others have links or contacts.
This March 1998 case study examines how the city of Santa Monica adapted its purchasing policies to begin buying environmentally preferable products and services. The City found that purchasing environmentally preferable products and services resulted in many benefits; the quality of the products met or exceeded that of traditional products, the overall cost associated with purchases was lower, and the environmental preferability of products addressed residents' environmental concerns, improving public relations.
Created by the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive (OFEE), this is a compilation of the products for which EPA, DOE, and USDA have provided environmental or energy attribute recommendations. For the first time, product and services specifiers and contracting officials can find all of the designated products in an easy to use series of spreadsheets.
These May 2007 case studies discuss the following: extended life antifreeze, asphalt release agent, crumb rubber from shredded tires, electricity generation using biogas, electricity generation using wind power, inks used in print shops, outdoors sport lighting, rerefined motor oil, recycled latex paint, solar-powered parking meters, retread tires, and the use of UV filters in swimming pools.
Updated in 2008, this guide, produced by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN), provides information and recommendations on responsible use and purchasing of office cleaning products.
Produced by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN), this is a comprehensive resource for the responsible use, purchasing, and disposal of computers, monitors, and laptops.
Updated in January 2009, this guide, produced by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN), includes Paper Steps, the new hierarchy of environmentally preferable papers created by the Environmental Paper Network.
Produced by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN), this is a comprehensive resource for the procurement of green energy. The Guide is designed to help institutions understand and compare green power based on sound environmental analysis, as well as concerns about cost, quality, and supply of green power. The Guide includes model energy policies and contract specifications from a variety of organizations; information on green power standards such as Green-e Energy and EcoLogo; and an online database of certified, green energy products.
This guide covers fluorescent lamps, including compact fluorescent bulbs, ballasts and tubes and outlines best practices for a responsible lighting system.
This guide, produced by the Responsible Procurement Network (RPN) describes the components of a successful procurement program for responsible paint.
Produced by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN), this is a comprehensive resource for the for purchasing of high-quality remanufactured monochrome laser cartridges for printers, copiers, and fax machines.
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Sample language to use in statements of work for custodial services.
Sample language to use in statements of work for grounds maintenance contracts.
Sample language to use in statements of work for minor construction contracts.
Sample language to use in statements of work for operations and maintenance.
Sample language to use in statements of work for vehicle maintenance.
General sample procurement language is provided s well as specific procurement language for the following: exit signs, LED traffic signals, residential windows, roof products, TVs, VCRs, DVDs, cordless phones and answering machines, computers, monitors, printers, faxes, copiers, scanners, water coolers, commercial/residential clothes washers, commercial/residential refrigerators and freezers, commercial fryers, commercial hot food holding cabinets, commercial steam cookers, vending machines, residential/commercial air conditioners, heat pumps, commercial and industrial transformers.
Generic procurement language used to specify the purchase of all ENERGY STAR products.
The model language aids Federal agencies to incorporate the performance criteria used for ENERGY STAR®-qualified and FEMP-designated products into procurement contracts for energy consuming products and systems. These include guide and project specifications; construction, renovation and service contracts; and the evaluations of offers. Products for which model language is available include: compact fluorescent lamps, exit signs, refrigerators, freezers, dish washers, clothes washers, heat pumps, air conditioners, furnaces, water heaters, chillers, ice machines, griddles, fryers, faucets, showerheads, toilets, computers, monitors, printers, roof products, and windows.
EPA has partnered with the Federal Environmental Executive and the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG) to develop the Federal Green Construction Guide for Specifiers. The intent of the document is to address the need for a comprehensive guide for procuring green building products and construction services within the Federal government.
Purchasing specifications for 50 types of products commonly purchased by federal agencies. For each product a 1-2 page summary with buyer tips, cost-effectiveness examples, and additional product information resources. Products for which specifications are available include: compact fluorescent lamps, exit signs, refrigerators, freezers, dish washers, clothes washers, heat pumps, air conditioners, furnaces, water heaters, chillers, ice machines, griddles, fryers, faucets, showerheads, toilets, computers, monitors, printers, roof products, and windows.
This RSL outlines policy to implement energy and environmental business practice requirements for leasing. It supplies applicable Green Lease solicitation for offers (SFO) language for all lease procurement types and provides accompanying policy in accordance with EO 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management and the Energy Policy Act of 2005.
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This pamphlet developed by NIH reviews the Environmentally Preferable Procurement (EPP) requirements and provides guidelines for purchasers of scientific supplies, equipment and services.
Produced by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN), this guide covers vehicles and fuels that operate efficiently, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve air quality, and increase energy security.
Produced by the Responsible Purchasing Network (RPN), this Guide provides information and recommendations on responsible purchasing, use, and disposal of tires and wheel weights with emphasis on low rolling resistance (LRR) tires, retread tires, and lead-free wheel weights.
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This online training contains three modules and includes self-testing.
Presentation dated December 2007 discussing what green lease policies and procedures are in place and when were they incorporated into the GSA lease acquisition process.
Powerpoint presentation dated January 10, 2008 addressing GSA'a environmental products website, online purchasing tools, and industry partners.
This presentation covers the acquisition and procurement of environmentally preferable electronic equipment. It lists criteria that can be used to determine if a product is "green" and explains why it is important to purchase green electronic equipment. The presentation describes how to build environmental considerations into purchasing decisions and features a case study on the Department of the Interior. It also lists the acquisition and procurement activities that FEC partners must implement to achieve the bronze, silver, and gold recognition levels.
Presentation on extending the lifespan of a product, reducing paper use, and reducing energy consumption.
Purchasing products with the ENERGY STAR label can substantially reduce your organization’s energy use and costs. This training session includes information about EPA support to help your organization purchase products with superior energy performance; guidelines that define energy performance for numerous products; sample procurement language for stipulating energy performance attributes to vendors; lists of ENERGY STAR labeled products; and energy savings software that calculates the life cycle costs of ENERGY STAR products and their less efficient counterparts.
Web-based
This 2.5 hour course for contracting personnel, purchase card holders, facilities managers, and fleet managers provides an introduction to the Federal “green” purchasing program.
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Feb 25, 2009
Feb 23, 2009
Jan 22, 2009
Jan 9, 2009
Jan 7, 2009
Dec 9, 2008
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Executive Order 13423
