State Purchasing Office
Division of Finance and Procurement
EPP in Colorado Procurement:
How Green is Green?
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing and the move toward
“Greening” State Entities
Presentation for the CFMA, CIMA, CSMA Conference
Loveland, CO
April 30, 2009
Green Purchasing Requires
Support from Leadership
• The State Purchasing Office has support from
the Governor and Executive Directors
• Establish a green-focus group, identify who in
your organization should be involved.
• Adopt the initiative
• Get program managers and staff involvement,
brainstorm, educate users, lead the way.
• Benchmark current use, measure results.
• Try a small pilot program, be creative, prove cost
benefits can be achieved by trying something
different.
What Do You Buy and What is the
“E”- Impact?
• “E”= economic impact- energy, environment; P= Performance, Price
• Operating costs include inputs/outputs…. what about opportunity cost?”
• Review what your organization currently purchases:
– Look for large quantity regular purchases and research the
environmental impact and availability of alternatives with less impact.
– Establish a database to track purchases (inputs). This will help illustrate
the environmental impact made.
– What happens to the products afterwards? Are they fully consumed or
recycled? How are these products disposed of, and at what cost? Track
these outputs when possible.
• Decide what your organization actually needs:
- Review your findings with key users and management
- Collaborate with users, develop a plan, create policies for
purchasing goods and services that meet your needs while
reducing impacts to the environment.
What is the State Doing?
• Governor Ritter issued Executive Orders requiring state
agencies to take action to reduce the environmental
impact of State Government throughout.
• Key areas addressed in these orders focus on the state’s
purchase of commodities.
• Executive Order D0012-07 requires the State
Purchasing Office to establish Environmentally
Preferable Purchasing (EPP) policy by June 30, 2009.
The policy will provide purchasing guidance to assess
commodities based on their environmental impact over
the life cycle of product (LCA). Solicitation language for
sustainably focused products is being developed.
Steps the SPO is taking toward
Green Purchasing
• Currently assessing the profile of each state price
agreement, establishing cross functional work groups to
explore and recommend changes to existing Price
Agreements to reduce environmental impact.
• Reviewing products that State agencies purchase
through their solicitations in various product categories
• Working with cross-functional work groups. SPO will
recommend category standards, attributes, and
development of purchasing language for soliciting
products that reduce environmental impact and promote
cost efficiencies.
Who else is working toward EPP?
• The Governor’s Energy Office is working on a number of
environmental initiatives, including EPP Policy. Visit>
http://www.colorado.gov/energy/
• NASPO, WSCA, and NIGP are in various stages of
researching and implementing greener purchasing
strategies.
• Various online organizations offer green attributes &
purchasing language suggestions.
• Examples:
– Green Seal: http://www.greenseal.org
– Eco Logo: http://www.ecologo.org
– The Responsible Purchasing Network:
http://www.responsiblepurchasing.org/
Recent EPP implementation
• Per statute, beginning July 1, 2008 the State now
requires that all State of Colorado invitations for bids for
products shall include language that describes the
availability of the purchasing preference for
environmental products:
“In accordance with Procurement Code, CRS 24-103-207.5 titled
-Purchasing Preference for Environmentally Preferable
Products; bidders responding to this solicitation may seek to
qualify for the preference and governmental bodies conducting
this solicitation shall award a contract to a bidder who offers
environmentally preferable products subject to the conditions
in the Code and Procurement Rules.”
Why buy green products?
Because Environmentally Preferred Products (EPP’s)
help to reduce resource harvest, landfill waste, and
use of chemical compounds considered hazardous to
public health both in the creation and use of processed
goods that negatively impact air and/or water quality.
This results in:
1)
2)
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Sustainability: aggregated reduction of natural resource
consumption. Re-use & recycling reduces resource harvest,
energy/water use, waste volume, and pollution impacts.
Lowered environmental health-risk and liability, increased
worker safety, potentially reduce WC claims/ sick leave.
Less waste volume= lowered costs/ less frequent disposal
Conserved energy and water resources= reduced operating
costs.
What does “green” mean?
• Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP) are
those that have a lesser or reduced adverse
effect on human health and the environment
when compared with competing products that
serve the same purpose.
• Product comparisons may consider such factors
as the raw materials used, local availability, use,
production, safe operation, maintenance,
packaging, distribution, disposal, or recyclability
of the product.
How do we get from here to there?
• Decide what core products are necessary to your
organization’s mission.
• Assess your consumption levels.
• Become knowledgeable about your extended business
environment & similar products purchased to support it.
• Make a list of “most-used” (recurring) products you buy:
– Can a “greener” product be found to do the same job, that has
less environmental impact, that is also affordable?
– By using less of your usual products, can you justify a slight cost
increase to purchase environmentally preferable products?
– Can you collaborate with others in your department, order less
frequently on a shared purchasing schedule? Order in bulk?
Where to start?
• What exactly is it that my organization
does?
• What products do we absolutely need in
order to accomplish what we do?
• How much do we spend on products to
conduct our business?
• Do we really use that much?
• Could we use/purchase less?
Who says it’s “green”?
• There are 3rd-party certification orgs who
do independent LCA testing and offer
measurable criteria for what constitutes
“green” products. Some examples:
• Green Seal: http://www.greenseal.org
• Eco Logo http://www.ecologo.org
• Electronic Product Environmental
Assessment Tool (EPEAT)
http://www.epeat.net/
Why are green products a good choice?
•
What’s the “real” cost?
– EPP considers products/services over the entire life cycle, from raw
material extraction to transport, use, and final end-of-use management or
disposal. The analysis acknowledges direct and indirect environmental,
health, and financial costs. Consequently, a product that has a lower initial
purchase price than a similar but more environmentally preferable product,
may actually cost more over the long term (all impacts considered).
•
Economic benefits include but are not limited to:
– Reducing material consumption (less spend)
– Providing an outlet for recyclable materials (less landfill waste/disposal
costs)
– Reducing greenhouse gas emissions (lowered pollution)
– Conserving water (less spend)
– Conserving energy (less spend)
– Reducing the presence of toxic and hazardous substances in the
workplace and environment (results: better health, less worker illness or
productivity lost, potential liability from injury/ Workers Compensation
claims.
The green path of least resistance:
why re-invent?
• Who has a green product agreement?
• Can your organization use the agreement?
• Could they share information about their
green purchasing practices?
• How did they get their message across to
users?
• What went right or wrong buying green
products?
Where do we get information about
green practices?
• There are a growing number of states,
local and private entities that are working
toward, or that already have environmental
policies. Search “EPP” or “Sustainable—” .
• Some examples of green practices:
MA> http://www.mass.gov
CA> http://www.green.ca.gov/EPP/
WA> http://www.metrokc.gov/procure/green/
(email me @ [email protected] for resource links)
Green Resource Links
(just a small example of what’s available)
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Terra Choice- (Scott Case) http://www.terrachoice.com
EPEAT (electronic product environmental assessment tool): http://www.epeat.net
Energy Star: http://www.energystar.gov
LEED (US Green Building Council): http://www.usgbc.org
Green Guard (Indoor Air Quality): http://www.greenguard.org
Composting Council: http://www.compostingcouncil.org
US EPA.Gov> Product DBASE http://www.epa.gov/epp/pubs/jwod_product.pdf
http://www.epa.gov/cpg/products/paper.htm;
http://yosemite1.epa.gov/oppt/eppstand2.nsf ;
http://www.responsiblepurchasing.org/UserFiles/File/Cleaners/Standards/EPA_DraftF
ormulatorReview_Feb08.pdf
Consumer Reports, Green Labels> http://www.greenerchoices.org/eco-labels/ecohome.cfm?redirect=1
UNEP> (United Nations Environment Programme) http://www.unep.org/
GREEN GUARDIAN > http://www.greenguardian.com/eppg/default.asp
Climate Savers Computing Initiative> http://www.climatesaverscomputing.org/
Green-e>(certification org, carbon offsets, etc.) http://www.green-e.org/
http://www.green-e.org/base/pl_products
Environmental Choice http://www.envirochoice.org.nz/published_specifications.html
GEN (Global Eco-labeling Network): http://www.gen.gr.jp
How do I get the message across
to my users?
• Establish user groups, gather information about standard
organizational practices, discuss consumption, greening
opportunities, identify easy cost-savings targets.
• Cost savings, durability, lowered toxicity, less waste.
• If it’s greener, performs well, and cost isn’t significantly
higher, can we try it? Get creative, see what’s possible.
• Identify successes experienced by others making
conversions to Eco-friendly products/ services.
• Look for win-win possibilities. Benefits to buyer/vendor
could include reductions in energy, handling,
transportation & fuel, storage volume, waste (time or
material), packaging, providing recycling/ alternate use
opportunities, rebates, energy credits, etc.
What Next?
• What’s going on now?
– Public and Private entities are adopting sustainable
practices. We must educate ourselves to know what
greening government means, and how “greenwashing” (degrees of green) can mislead us.
• What’s new?
– The New Energy Economy: Colorado
visit: www.colorado.gov/energy/
– Emerging green products and practices
• How can I become involved?
– Become informed, explore change opportunities.
– Develop a critical eye, accumulate tools for
understanding what “green” means to your business.