Environmentally Preferable

Procurement

Environmentally Preferable

Procurement

CAPPO Capitol City Chapter ConferenceSacramento – October 8, 2009

Linden Skjeie, M.S. - Environmentally Preferable Procurement Steering Committee Co-Chair City of San José

San Jose’s experience

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What is Environmental Procurement?

• Refers to identifying the environmental impacts associated with current purchases and then identifying and procuring alternatives with improved environmental performance.

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Why do EP3?

• “Human activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of the earth that the ability of the planet’s ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted.”

- US Millennium

Ecosystem Assessment

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Government Spending/GPD

• Total Government spending: 46%

• Spending by States: 9%

• Spending by local governments: 15%

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San Jose Green Initiatives• San Jose Green Vision• 10 goals designed to move us towards

sustainability

• Urban Environmental Accords– 21 Actions designed to reduce a city’s

environmental impacts

• Climate Action Plan

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EP3 Role

• EP3 is foundational to everything we do.

• Products and packaging are responsible for 44% of US GHG emissions.

• Big impacts to resources, pollution, waste, etc.

• Product choices have great environmental potential.

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How San José does EP3

EPPP - Purpose

• Set a standard and commitment for EP3 products and services

• Elicit change in the markets for EP3 products and services

• Positive environmental impact

• Support Sustainability efforts

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EPP History• 1990 – Source Reduction and Recycling

Procurement Policy

• 2001: Environmentally Preferable Procurement Policy (EP3)

• Amended in 2007 and 2009

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What the Policy covers• Toxics, Pollution prevention

• Climate change

• Vehicles and air emissions

• Resource conservation

• Local organic food

• Durability

• Extended producer responsibility

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What it covers, continued• Eco-labels

• Vendor environmental performance

• Support LEED certification

• Packaging minimization

• Requires all City contractors and grantees to conform to policy

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How we implement it

• Steering Committee– Overall guidance– Members

• Implementation Committee– Does the work

• Implementation Plan

• Partnership

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EP3 Implementation Strategies

- Incorporate EP3 into procurement processes

- Education• Individual consulting with individual

departments• LEED Support• Extended Producer Responsibility• Identify performance measures

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Incorporate EP3 into procurement processes

• Developed boilerplate EP3 language that can go in many solicitations:

– RFB: addresses environmentally preferable product attributes

– RFP: “Specifically address how the proposer will support the goals and objectives of the City’s Environmentally Preferable Procurement Policy (EP3) (Section 28). Areas that may be addressed include, but are not limited to:”

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Incorporate EP3 into procurement processes

• Create a contract rotation schedule

• Commodities Review

• Model Specification development

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Education

• Who needs to be educated?

• What do they need to know?

• How do you tell them?

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Department-specific Procurement

• Not all procurement goes thru the Purchasing Division– Some Procurement can be dealt with City-

wide– Some need to be dealt with by individual

departments

• Strategies are different for each

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What does Purchasing Buy?• Janitorial• Landscape• Staffing Services• Training Services• Printing Services• Painting• Security• Maintenance

• Automotive Parts• Audio/Visual Equip.• Electrical Equip.• Plumbing Equip.• Signs and Labels• Sand and Gravel• Safety Equipment• Furniture

• Office supplies

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What does Purchasing not Buy?

• Food Services• Professional

Services• Technical Services• Consulting Services• Construction

• Department & CMO• Department & CMO

• Department & CMO• Department & CMO• Dept of Public Works

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LEED Points and EP3

• 8 points possible out of 110

• Requires SOP development and ongoing performance measures

• San Jose part of Portfolio Pilot Program

• City Hall LEED Platinum

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Extended Producer Responsibility

• A strategy to reduce the end of life impacts of the products we buy

• Removes responsibility from the municipalities and returns it to the producers

• Incentive to do “Design for Environment”

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Performance Metrics• Utilize Benefits Calculators

• Percentage of total purchases with improved environmental performance

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Successes/Benefits

• Paper

• Janitorial products

• Green fleet

• Computers and Copiers

• Batteries

• Printing services

• Office supplies

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How “Green” ProductsCan Save Money

• Lower upfront costs• Conserve energy or water• Reduce paper or fuel use• Lower maintenance costs• Reduce replacement costs• Avoid disposal/cleanup costs• Create local “green collar” jobs• Offset environmental & health• program costs

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EPEAT Benefits

• San Jose’s FY 08-09 EPEAT purchase benefits: – 879,680 kWh,– 1,572,600 kg in primary materials,– 169,139 kg in GHG emissions,– 3,633,509 kg in air emissions,– 7,600 kg in water emissions,– 85 kg in toxic materials,– 83 kg of lead,– 3,000 kg of hazardous waste, and– $83,000 in operating costs

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Recognition

• Green Electronics Champion – 10/07

• Green California Leadership Award - 4/08

• French language Green IT Book

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Challenges

• Performance Measurement

• Lifecycle Analysis

• Staff time to address EP3

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• Tools for Eco Purchasing

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What helps in doing EP3• Use climate protection plans, zero waste, less toxic• programs to help get EPP going• Work on what people are interested in• Start with centralized purchase points/people• Educate: Understand that purchasing staff may not be aware of the drivers associated with your green purchasing program• Cultivate the expectation that green considerations are

considered from the start• Build EPP criteria into RFP/RFQ process and checklists

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Low-hanging fruit• Antibacterial soaps

• PCW Paper

• Janitorial Products

• Integrated Pest Management

• Printing Services

• Biodiesel

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Eco-labels• An eco-label attempts to provide relevant,

accurate and meaningful information that allows purchasers to incorporate human health and environmental considerations into routine purchasing decisions.

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Legitimate Eco-labels:• Third party generated (not solely by

industry),

• Verifiable,

• Created in an open and broad stakeholder process, and

• Represent specific and meaningful leadership criteria for that product category.

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Greenwashing: the act ofmisleading consumers regarding the environmentalpractices of a company or the environmental benefits ofa product or service

• Sin of the Hidden Trade-off

• Sin of No Proof

• Sin of Vagueness

• Sin of Irrelevance

• Sin of Fibbing

• Sin of the lesser of two evils

• Sin of illegitimate ecolabel

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EPP Resources• ABAG EPP Conference:

http://www.abag.org/hazwaste/eppconference.html

• Green Purchasing Institute• State of Calif. Dept of General Services• EPA• NERC EPP Net• King County, WA• Portland, OR

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More Resources

• Center for a New American Dream– Responsible Purchasing Network– Benefits Calculators

• Biodiesel,, Paper, EPEAT, etc.

• City of San Francisco– Approved Green Product Catalog

• www.SFEnvironment.org/SFApproved

• California Product Stewardship Council

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More Resources

• NIGP: Green Knowledge Community

• US Communities

• TerraChoice

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What’s ahead for San Jose

• Morph EP3 into a SPP?• What others have done:

– No sweatshop labor– Precautionary Principle– Avoidance of persistent, bio-accumulative or toxic

constituents– Extended Producer Responsibility– More Outreach– EPR Workshop in December– Agency Collaboration

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Questions?

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More info:• Linden Skjeie (Shay)

• City of San Jose

• Office of Sustainability

• 408.975.2577

• Linden.skjeie@sanjoseca.gov