Environmentally Preferable Purchasing

Tools and Resources

This page provides a collection of available tools and other resources to help organizations initiate or improve their EPP performance.

• Green Procurement Toolkit
• EPP Best Practices Manual
• Specifications and Standards
• Tools

Green Procurement Toolkit

A comprehensive toolkit that assists local jurisdictions and state agencies with purchasing recycled-content products and other environmentally preferable products.

Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Best Practices Manual

The best practices manual is a comprehensive resource that assists purchasing officials and specification writers with practicing environmentally preferable purchasing.

Specifications and Standards

Carpet
Carpet accounts for a significant portion of municipal solid waste--about two percent by volume, according to a U.S. EPA Website--and can have significant impacts on the indoor environment. For these reasons, California environmental agencies participated in the development of an environmental specification for carpet procurement. The CIWMB, the State and Consumer Services Agency, and the Department of General Services (DGS), aided by a grant from the U.S. EPA Region 9, developed an EPP carpet standard. See the California Gold Sustainable Carpet Standard and the EPP Best Practices Manual for additional information.

Additionally, the CIWMB has joined with other states, the federal government, and the carpet industry in a carpet stewardship Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The goals of the MOU are to divert 40 percent of postconsumer carpet waste by 2012 through collection and recycling infrastructure development and the development of new technologies.

Construction
The CIWMB’s Green Project Specifications Web page explains the basics of project specifications and identifies areas to include environmental specifications into a building project. Links to example specifications are also provided. This page also briefly explains CSI MasterFormat™.

Electronics
In response to the Electronic Waste Recycling Act of 2003, the CIWMB evaluated and adopted the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) rating system as environmental purchasing criteria to be used by state agencies to identify electronic devices with reduced environmental impacts. EPEAT certification exists for desktop units, laptop or notebook computers, and monitors.

Furniture, Modular
In 2000, an interagency subcommittee of the Sustainable Building Task Force finalized a groundbreaking environmental specification for modular office furniture purchased under State contract. The specification set new industry standards for indoor air quality, prescribed a high level of recycled content in components and packaging, banned chlorofluorocarbons (CFC) and hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFC) used in foam production, and addressed energy-efficient task lighting designed for work stations. The contract for which this environmental specification was used has expired, and a new contract is expected to be executed in 2007.

Paint
On August 9, 2006, Green Seal, Inc. and the Product Stewardship Institute announced the completion of a national environmental standard for recycled-content latex paint. The standard is aimed at assuring consumers that recycled paint, in addition to being environmentally beneficial, can perform as well as virgin paint, both in terms of ease of application and quality and longevity of finish. The standard, GS-43, is now available on-line.

Tools

California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery

• Buy Recycled Resources. Extensive listings of on-line resources for purchasing recycled-content products and other environmentally preferable products.
• Recycled-Content Product Directory. Lists thousands of recycled-content products, as well as manufacturers, distributors, and reprocessors who produce the products or process the materials used to make them. 
• RecycleStore. Showcases innovative recycled-content products and puts you in touch directly with their manufacturers.
• Marketing EPP Products/Services to State agencies. Resources that will assist businesses in marketing their environmentally preferred products and services to State government entities.

Department of General Services (DGS), Division of the State Architect (DSA). The DSA’s Sustainable Schools site contains valuable information on sustainable building of schools. Additionally, it contains case studies, sustainable design, and information on the Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS).

King County, Washington. Its Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Tools Website provides direct links to guidelines, governmental policies, local and state programs, and publication links related to EPP.

United States Environmental Protection Agency

• Database of Environmental Information for Products and Services. A searchable database of product-specific information (e.g., environmental standards and guidelines or contract language) developed by government programs, both domestic and international, as well as, third parties.
• General EPP Training Tool. Covers basic EPP principles, along with some more in-depth applications of EPP, in an entertaining multimedia format.
• Green Meetings. Provides information to help you meet your meeting planning needs while minimizing negative impacts on the environment.
• Promising Practices Guide for Greening Contracts. A series of short case studies highlighting successful strategies for incorporating environmental factors into a variety of product and service contracts.