National Academies Press: OpenBook

Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop (2012)

Chapter: Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs

« Previous: Appendix C: Biographies
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×

Appendix D


Examples of Federal Agency
Procurement Systems and
Green Purchasing Programs

Procurement System

Description

Department of Agriculture

Integrated Acquisition System (IAS)1

IAS is a Web-based eProcurement system designed to streamline and automate contract management and acquisition processes throughout USDA. USDA Advantage, part of IAS e-alliance initiative, was formed as a partnership between USDA and GSA to better leverage USDA spending power to obtain better pricing, ordering methods, and delivery terms for commonly acquired items and services.

USDA Purchase Card Management System (PCMS)2

PCMS is a customized, Web-based online relational database used to manage purchases made with government-wide commercial purchase cards, convenience checks, or fleet cards issued by an authorized GSA contractor.

USDA BioPreferred program3

The USDA BioPreferred program promotes the increased purchase and use of biobased products, which is expected to reduce petroleum consumption, increase the use of renewable resources, better manage the carbon cycle, and may contribute to reducing adverse environmental and health impacts.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×

Procurement System

Description

Department of Defense

DOD EMALL4

DOD EMALL is an Internet-based mall that allows military and other authorized government customers to procure items from government and commercial sources. DOD EMALL is a Department of Defense program operated by the Defense Logistics Information Service.

DoD Standard Procurement System (SPS)5

The SPS program was created to standardize the procurement process throughout DOD by developing, testing, and deploying a suite of software products for use by contracting professionals in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and other defense agencies.

Defense Acquisition System6

The Defense Acquisition System is the management process that guides all DOD acquisition programs, provides the policies and principles, and establishes the management framework that implements these policies and principles.

Department of Energy

Federal Energy Management Program7

The DOE Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) supports federal agencies in identifying energy- and water-efficient products that meet federal acquisition requirements (FAR), conserve energy, save taxpayer dollars, and reduce environmental impacts. This is achieved through technical assistance, guidance, and efficiency requirements for energy-efficient, water-efficient, and low standby power products.

Energy STAR (Joint program with EPA)8

ENERGY STAR, a joint DOE and EPA program, delivers technical information and tools that organizations and consumers use to select energy-efficient solutions and best management practices. This program encourages and assists governments, schools, and businesses in procuring ENERGY STAR qualified and FEMP designated products.

Strategic Integrated Procurement Enterprise System (STRIPES)9

The Strategic Integrated Procurement Enterprise System (STRIPES) is the procurement and contracts management component of the DOE’s Integrated Management Navigation System program and encompasses both acquisition and financial assistance. The STRIPES project reduced the number of procurement-related systems across the department.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×

Procurement System

Description

Environmental Protection Agency

EPA’s WaterSense Program10

WaterSense is a partnership program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that aims to protect the nation’s water supply by offering people a simple way to use less water with water-efficient products, new homes, and services. The goal is to provide consumers with a label for products and an information resource to help people use water more efficiently; encourage innovation in manufacturing; and decrease water use and reduce strain on water resources and infrastructure. Products and services with the WaterSense label have been certified to be at least 20 percent more efficient without sacrificing performance.

Comprehensive Procurement Guideline (CPG)11

The CPG program is a continuing effort to promote the use of materials recovered from solid waste. The CPG program is authorized by Congress under section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and EPA is required to designate products that are or can be made with recovered materials and to recommend practices for buying these products. Procuring agencies are then required to purchase designated products with the highest recovered material content level practicable. Recovered Materials Advisory Notices provide purchasing guidance and recommend recovered and postconsumer material content levels for designated items.

Environmentally Preferable Products (EPP)12

The EPP is a database to facilitate the purchase of products and services with reduced environmental impacts by providing information on mandatory purchase programs contained in FAR Part 23 (Energy Star, CPG, and Biopreferred Products).

Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP)13

SNAP is EPA’s program to evaluate and regulate substitutes for the ozone-depleting chemicals that are being phased out under the stratospheric ozone protection provisions of the Clean Air Act (CAA).

General Services Administration

GSA Advantage14

The GSA Advantage is a one-stop online resource to help agencies better serve the public by meeting their needs for products and services, and to simplify access to information.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×

Procurement System

Description

E-Buy15

GSA’s E-Buy is an online procurement tool that allows buyers to issue requests for quotations for products and services offered on GSA multiple award schedules. E-Buy is designed to be complementary to GSA Advantage and is available for use by federal buyers.

GSA Global Supply16

GSA Global Supply’s online ordering site that has access to approximately 400,000 tools, office supplies, computers, and other supplies.

Green Products Compilation17

Green Products Compilation (GPC) is designed to facilitate the procurement of green/sustainable products and services. The products listed are those for which the EPA, DOE, and USDA issued designations or guidance for environmental or energy attributes.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

NASA Acquisition Internet Service (NAIS)18

NAIS is an online service that grants industry immediate access to current acquisition information. NAIS is a feeder system for federal E-Gov systems like the Federal Business Opportunities (FBO). NAIS provides industry links to reference information such as regulations, clauses, provisions, handbooks, and guidance documents. NAIS also provides industry a central location to find each NASA field center’s procurement home page. Additionally, NAIS provides NASA procurement professionals with a suite of procurement tools for internal use.

Recycling and Sustainable Acquisition (RSA)19

NASA’s Lead Center for Recycling and Sustainable Acquisition (RSA) provides technical resources and program support for NASA Headquarters Environmental Management Division.

National Institutes of Health

NIH Green Purchasing Program20

The NIH Green Purchasing Program involves the selection and acquisition of products and services that most effectively minimize negative environmental impacts over their life cycle of manufacturing, transportation, use and recycling or disposal. The Green Purchasing Program helps NIH improve safety and health of patients, workers and the public; reduce pollution; conserve natural resources; stimulate new markets for recycled materials, improve environmental stewardship; provide potential cost savings; and comply with environmental laws and regulations.

NOTES

1www.afm.ars.usda.gov/initiatives/ias/

2www.dm.usda.gov/procurement/card/pcms.htm

3www.biopreferred.gov/?SMSESSION=NO

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×

This page intentionally left blank.

Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×
Page 55
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×
Page 56
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×
Page 57
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×
Page 58
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×
Page 59
Suggested Citation:"Appendix D: Examples of Federal Agency Procurement Systems and Green Purchasing Programs." National Research Council. 2012. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/13476.
×
Page 60
Next: Appendix E: The Federal Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) Digital Commons »
Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities: Summary of a Workshop Get This Book
×
Buy Paperback | $37.00 Buy Ebook | $29.99
MyNAP members save 10% online.
Login or Register to save!
Download Free PDF

Federal laws, regulations, and executive orders have imposed requirements for federal agencies to move toward the sustainable acquisition of goods and services, including the incorporation of sustainable purchasing into federal agency decision making. Since the federal government is such a significant player in the market, its move to incorporate sustainable procurement practices could have a profound impact on the types of products being developed for the market as a whole.

The General Services Administration (GSA) has played a key role in furthering sustainable procurement practices throughout the federal government. GSA is responsible for formulating and maintaining government-wide policies covering a variety of administrative actions, including those related to procurement and management. GSA has several ongoing activities related to sustainable procurement to assess the feasibility of working with the federal supplier community - vendors and contractors that serve federal agencies to measure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the supply chain while encouraging sustainable operations among suppliers. GSA has also been actively developing programs to assist federal agencies in making sustainable procurement decisions. As federal agencies cannot directly fund the development of sustainable procurement tools, they are particularly interested in understanding how to foster innovation and provide incentives for collaboration between developers and users of tools for sustainable purchasing throughout the supply chain. The training of procurement professionals is also a priority for these agencies.

To assist efforts to build sustainability considerations into the procurement process, the National Research Council appointed a committee to organize a two-day workshop that explored ways to better incorporate sustainability considerations into procurement tools and capabilities across the public and private sectors. The workshop was designed to help participants assess the current landscape of green purchasing tools, identify emerging needs for enhanced or new tools and opportunities to develop them, identify potential barriers to progress, and explore potential solutions. The workshop provided an opportunity for participants to discuss challenges related to sustainable purchasing and to developing new procurement tools. Sustainability Considerations for Procurement Tools and Capabilities reviews the presenters' recommendations and tools currently used in sustainable procurement, such as databases for ecolabels and standards, codes, or regulations and other nontechnological tools such as policies, frameworks, rating systems, and product indexes.

  1. ×

    Welcome to OpenBook!

    You're looking at OpenBook, NAP.edu's online reading room since 1999. Based on feedback from you, our users, we've made some improvements that make it easier than ever to read thousands of publications on our website.

    Do you want to take a quick tour of the OpenBook's features?

    No Thanks Take a Tour »
  2. ×

    Show this book's table of contents, where you can jump to any chapter by name.

    « Back Next »
  3. ×

    ...or use these buttons to go back to the previous chapter or skip to the next one.

    « Back Next »
  4. ×

    Jump up to the previous page or down to the next one. Also, you can type in a page number and press Enter to go directly to that page in the book.

    « Back Next »
  5. ×

    Switch between the Original Pages, where you can read the report as it appeared in print, and Text Pages for the web version, where you can highlight and search the text.

    « Back Next »
  6. ×

    To search the entire text of this book, type in your search term here and press Enter.

    « Back Next »
  7. ×

    Share a link to this book page on your preferred social network or via email.

    « Back Next »
  8. ×

    View our suggested citation for this chapter.

    « Back Next »
  9. ×

    Ready to take your reading offline? Click here to buy this book in print or download it as a free PDF, if available.

    « Back Next »
Stay Connected!