Green RFPs – A Thumbnail Sketch

Michael Asner Consulting

This article is from Issue #49 of The RFP Report. The entire report can be found at:

http://www.rfpmentor.com/rfp-report.html

Green RFPs – A Thumbnail Sketch

Last year, I spoke at FAPPO’s (Florida Association of Public Procurement Officers) conference in Ft. Lauderdale While there, I attended a session on Green Procurement given by Scott Case. He is Director of Procurement Strategies at New American Dream. The session was highly informative and thought provoking. (Did you know, for example, that when you add in disposal costs, green paint often costs less per gallon than regular paint!) I learned a lot at that session and subsequently discovered a new source of information about excellent Green RFPs.

The Center for a New American Dream helps large institutional purchasers - federal agencies, state and local governments, colleges and universities, and large Fortune 500 companies - buy less polluting products from less polluting companies.

Scot Case is an internationally recognized expert on environmentally preferable purchasing. He has addressed thousands of purchasers around the world; writes the "Green Purchaser," a regular feature in Government Procurement; and has written dozens of reports and case studies on green purchasing for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has called the Center's training and website materials one of the "most comprehensive sources for detailed information on [environmentally preferable purchasing]."

While details about specific RFPs and Green Procurement will have to await a future issue, here is a thumbnail sketch of the information they have on their website. The RFPs cited are great models because they balance product performance and environmental considerations.

What Institutional Purchasers are Doing to Help

Growing numbers of institutions are reducing the environmental and human health impacts of their computer purchases by including environmental specifications in their contract language.
Massachusetts issued a Request for Response (RFR) for computers in March 2004 that includes provisions for reduced toxic materials, design for recycling, energy efficiency, recycled content, recycled or reduced packaging, and manufacturer take-back programs. Massachusetts received bids from 15 manufacturers and resellers in response to its solicitation. An early pioneer of purchasing environmentally preferable computers, Massachusetts estimated that in FY2001 alone, using Energy Star computer equipment saved approximately 4 million kWh of electricity, 2345 barrels of oil, and 533 metric tons of carbon equivalent (MTCE) of greenhouse gases – the equivalent of taking 363 cars off the road!

Indiana, one of the nation’s top 20 state government IT purchasers, issued a Request for Proposal (RFP) in 2004 that indicated preference for computers with environmental features. Reduction of hazardous substances, design for recycling, upgradeability, Energy Star, and manufacturer take-back programs are among the environmental considerations included.

The Western States Contracting Alliance (WSCA), a purchasing cooperative of 15 western states, purchased $3.9 billion in computer equipment form 1999 to 2004. WSCA’s latest RFP for computers, issued in February 2004, asked bidders to provide information on their take-back options, third party certifications, compliance with international directives such as the European Union’s Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and Restriction of Hazardous Substance (RoHS) directives, and Energy Star equipment.

The City and County of Denver, Colorado issued an RFP in March 2003 that required vendors to provide information on corporate environmental responsibility practices and policies, compliance with Energy Star, third party certifications, take-back and end-of-life management options, and use of reduced, recycled, and recyclable packaging.

Green RFPs – References

Florida Association of Public Purchasing Officers (FAPPO): www.fappo.org

Scott Case: scott@newdream.org

New American Dream: www.newdream.org

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing:

http://www.epa.gov/opptintr/epp/index.htm

Mass. RFR, March 2004:

http://www.newdream.org/procure/products/MARFR.pdf

Indiana RFP, 2004:

http://www.newdream.org/procure/products/IN%20RFP%20-%202004.pdf

Western States Contracting Alliance:

http://www.aboutwsca.org/welcome.cfm