Becoming Familiar with the Green Movement

by Mike Long, Accu-Tech Corporation, LEED Green Associate/LEED Program Manager

Green procurement? Green IT? Greening of the government? What is this all about? This was the first thing I thought several years ago when I started my journey down the road to discovering what all of these things meant. For me, learning about becoming more environmentally conscientious was recycling at home or not having your towels washed too often during a hotel stay. As I went about my due diligence, I started to think this was only going to apply to the federal sector. I soon learned this was a global initiative and our country was heading in a different direction. While it may appear to have started in Washington, DC, “green” is influencing our homes and how we do business.

Many resources are available to guide you and your company towards making the right “green” decisions. The U.S. Green Building Council's website, www.usgbc.org, is full of information. Education and knowledge on the issues are the most important things you can do for yourself. The federal government has various requirements for construction and purchasing. However, the commercial space has an interest in what is going as well. The federal government has numerous tax benefits and Green IT grants they can award an end user in the commercial space for "sustainable building" or "green projects." For a commercial end-user to receive these credits or grants, they must adhere to what the federal government's minimum standard and requirements for a sustainable project or green project. In this issue, I have included an abbreviated synopsis of current and past events to give you a glimpse of the journey for the green movement. Bottom line, we all need to become familiar with all aspects of this movement. Accu-Tech is ready to help. Ask your local rep about our LEED seminar series and what Accu-Tech can do you for!

Background

Executive Order 13423, “Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Management,” was issued by President Bush on January 24, 2007 and set a number of different environmental goals for federal agencies related to:

• Improving energy efficiency
• Increasing the use of renewable energy sources
• Reducing water consumption intensity
• Reducing the quantity of toxic and hazardous chemicals and materials acquired
• Ensuring that new building construction and major renovations comply with “green” guidelines. 

Executive Order 13423 specifically required agencies to incorporate sustainable environmental practices in the acquisition of goods and services, including acquiring “biobased, environmentally preferable, energy-efficient, water efficient, and recycled contact products.”

Two years later, on October 5, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13514, “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance,” which required federal agencies to meet specific goals related to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving water efficiency, pollution prevention and waste elimination. Executive Order 13514 specifically required agencies to advance sustainable acquisition by ensuring that 95% of new contract actions are “energy-efficient, water-efficient, biobased, environmentally preferable and non-ozone depleting, and contain recycled content, non-toxic or less-toxic alternatives.”

Requirements

Now, these requirements have been made part of the Federal Acquisition Regulation (“FAR”), and will affect agencies and contractors alike. From the agencies’ perspective, key requirements in the new FAR rule include:

1. Considering and including sustainable acquisition requirements in synopses, acquisition planning documents, and descriptions of agency needs.
2. Ensuring that 95% of new contract actions, including those for construction, contain requirements for products that are designated as energy-efficient, water-efficient, biobased, environmentally preferable (e.g., EPEAT-registered, non-toxic or less toxic alternatives), non-ozone depleting, or those that contain recovered materials.
3. Making maximum use of energy-savings performance contracts (“EPSCs”).
4. Implementing high-performance sustainable building design, construction, renovation, repair, commissioning, operation and maintenance, management, and deconstruction practices.
5. When acquiring information technology, identifying agency requirements pursuant to EPEAT standards and policies that promote power management, double-sided printing, and other energy-efficient or environmentally preferable features, and best management practices for energy-efficient management of services and federal data centers.

The rule includes definitions of terms such as “renewable energy,” “sustainable acquisition,” “water consumption intensity,” and “greenhouse gases.”

The provisions affecting contractors include:

1. a contract clause that requires the submission of paper documents, including proposals and reports, to be printed or copied on double-sided paper containing at least 30% postconsumer fiber, “whenever practicable” and when the information is not otherwise able to be submit electronically to the agency. Prior to this rule, there was only an agency “preference” for use of recycled paper.
2. a contract clause requiring contractors that operate government-owned or government-leased facilities in the U.S. to comply with an agency’s environmental management system and provide monitoring and measurement information as required by the government.

Note that the interim rule removes the requirement for contractors to report and certify to toxic chemical releases, on the rationale that federal environmental laws already require these reports. Also, contractors should be aware that the Federal Procurement Data System (“FPDS”) will be used to collect sustainable acquisition data.

The stated goal of the rule is to leverage federal acquisition actions to foster markets for sustainable technologies and materials, products, and services. Whether the rule will accomplish this goal remains to be seen, particularly in light of shrinking private investments in these areas.

You can contact Mike Long at michael.long@accu-tech.com