# Presentation: 051184

## Federal Electronics ChallengeLaura Nazef, U.S. Environmental Protection AgencyFAI/DAU Acquisition Learning Seminar – “Green IT”August 10, 2005

## Today’s topics

- Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) Overview
- Role of Acquisition & Procurement in the FEC
- Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT)

## What is the Federal Electronics Challenge?

- The FEC is a purchasing, use, and end-of-life management challenge issued for Federal facilities or agencies to:
- Purchase greener electronic products
- Manage electronic assets in an environmentally sound manner
- Receive assistance and network with other agencies to improve current practices

## Why are we focusing on electronics?

- There is no cohesive management system in place in the Federal government to *improve *the life cycle management practices of electronic equipment and enhance the growth of the infrastructure for the reuse and recycling of obsolete electronics

## Memorandum of Understanding

- Signed on Nov 15, 2004
- Eleven Federal Agencies         and EOP
- Approx. 80% of the annual IT Federal budget
- Potential to influence marketplace towards more environmentally sound  electronic products & services
- Foundation to improve quality, performance, and   environmental management       of Federal electronic assets throughout their life cycle** **

## Overview of FEC Program

- Voluntary program focused on education and recognition
- Flexible (lots of choices within parameters)
- Valuable network
- Individual facility determines its:
- Level of commitment
- Goal(s)
- Life cycle phase(s) on which to focus

## Opportunities

- As a Partner a Facility Can...
- Show leadership
- Reduce liability
- Save money
- Protect the environment

## Strategic Goals

- Integration of life cycle phases with higher partnership levels:
- Acquisition & Procurement,
- Operations & Maintenance,
- End-of-Life Management

## Environmental Goals

- Reduce life-cycle impacts of electronic equipment through environmentally preferable purchasing.
- Conserve and protect resources by increasing materials use efficiency and the recovery infrastructure of electronic equipment.
- Reduce the volume and toxicity of electronic equipment waste through environmentally preferable end-of-life management.

## Core focus of FEC = BMPs

**How did the FEC Steering Committee develop best management practices?**
- Working directly with federal procurement officials, property managers, and information technology (IT) staff
- BMPs outlined in Tools section of FEC web site:
- fact sheets, case studies, checklists, sample contract/procurement language, presentations, Q & A’s
- _[http://www.](http://www.federalelectronicschallenge.net/)__[federalelectronicschallenge](http://www.federalelectronicschallenge.net/)__[.net](http://www.federalelectronicschallenge.net/)_

## Becoming an FEC Partner

- Register
- Complete Baseline Survey
- Develop goals
- Initiate activities
- Report progress
- Apply for recognition

## Focus on recognition

- Recognition for all participating facilities
- Partner
- Bronze
- Silver
- Gold

## At a glance: FEC Requirements

**BRONZE**

**SILVER**

**GOLD**

- Complete Survey
- Set Goals
- Select _1_ of 3 LC Phases:
- Procurement
- Use
- End-of-life
- Complete mandatory items
- in chosen LC phase
- Choose and implement
- _2_ optional items
- Report progress

- Complete Survey
- Set Goals
- Select _2_ of 3 LC Phases:
- Procurement
- Use
- End-of-life
- Complete mandatory items
- in _2_ chosen LC phases
- Choose and implement
- _3_ optional items
- Report progress

- Complete Survey
- Set Goals
- Integrate _3_ LC Phases:
- Procurement
- Use
- End-of-life
- Complete mandatory items
- in all _3_ LC phases
- Choose and implement
- _4_ optional items
- Report progress
- Mentor 2 others

## Sample FEC Activities: Acquisition & Procurement Phase

- Complete the Acquisition Planning and Procurement Checklist
- Consider and include at least three identified environmental attributes in purchasing specifications
- Ensure that at least 50 percent of all monitors (CRTs and LCDs) purchased are ENERGY STAR® compliant
- Require vendors to complete the Product Environmental Information Sheet
- Use the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) when finalized

## Acquisition Planning & Procurement Checklist

- Outlines questions to consider throughout acquisition & procurement process to assist with purchase of environmentally preferable products & services
- Process phases covered:
- Needs assessment
- Information gathering/market survey
- Outreach to requirement offices
- Establishing evaluation criteria

## Examples of environmental attributes

- Design Impacts
- Reduced toxic constituents
- Increased recycled content
- Design for recycling
- Reduced materials use
- Use Impacts
- Promote energy conservation
- Extend product life
- Packaging
- End of Life Impacts
- Promote take back options
- Environmentally sound recycling

## Purchasing ENERGY STAR® compliant equipment 

- Roughly 100 million office computers and monitors use more than 1% of the nation’s electricity
- More than half of this electricity is wasted
- Easy Money: A $10 to $100 annual cost savings opportunity may be sitting on nearly every desk in your organization
- ENERGY STAR® equipment uses power management features to save energy

## Product Environmental Information Sheet

- Standardized tool for collecting information from vendors on product environmental attributes
- Covers the following product information categories:
- Environmental Certifications & Qualifications
- Energy Conservation & Product Use
- Environmentally Sensitive Substances
- Materials Selection
- Packaging
- Design for End of Life
- Product Upgradeability
- Take Back and Recycling Services
- Corporate Environmental Information

## Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool

-    Environmental procurement tool designed to help institutional purchasers evaluate, compare, and select desktop computers, laptops, and monitors based on their environmental attributes.
- Set of voluntary environmental performance criteria
- System for identifying and verifying products which meet this criteria

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## EPEAT – Basic Features

- Voluntary participation
- Market recognition for qualified products
- Life cycle environmental attributes
- Easy to use tool for purchasers
- Builds on US & international requirements and standards
- E.g., Energy Star®, RoHS, IT Eco-Declaration
- Self declaration with spot verification
- Minimal delay in time to market
- Credible, verifiable outcomes
- Scaleable to other products

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## Why EPEAT?

- Promote product design changes that reduce environmental and health impact of electronics throughout the life cycle
- Growing demand by institutional purchasers for easy to use tool to compare and select “green” products
- Manufacturers’ need for clear and consistent procurement criteria to drive design change

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## EPEAT Development Team Participants

- Institutional Purchasers
- Manufacturers
- Trade Associations
- Non-Profit &Advocacy Organizations
- Government
- Recyclers
- Academia

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## EPEAT Environmental Performance Categories 

- Environmentally Sensitive Materials
- Materials Selection
- Design for End of Life
- Product Longevity/Life Cycle Extension
- Energy Conservation
- End of Life Management
- Corporate Performance
- Packaging

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## EPEAT Award Structure

- 	Three tiers of environmental performance – **Bronze**, **Silver** and **Gold**
**	****Bronze**: 22 mandatory criteria in 8 performance categories
**	****Silver**: All mandatory criteria plus at least 16 optional
**	****Gold**: All mandatory criteria plus at least 25 optional criteria

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## EPEAT System – How it Will Work

**Manufacturer**
- Signs MOU with EPEAT
- Completes annual report on corporate performance and end-of-life management criteria
- Evaluates and self-declares products against criteria
- Submits data on web-based system, which calculates award level
**EPEAT Organization**
- Random after market spot checks
- Request for documentation to verify claims
- Periodic review and update criteria

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## EPEAT Implementation Status

- Finalizing EPEAT Criteria into an IEEE American National Standard (Spring 2006)
- Creating System for Product Identification,Verification by:
- Selecting Host Organization (Oct 2005)
- Promoting EPEAT in the manufacturing and purchasing communities
- Developing web-based interface for product qualification
- Launch expected early 2006

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## Interim Use of EPEAT

- Recommended that purchasers wait until launch
- Interim guidance for purchasers who need to use before launch:
- Apply only to desktops, monitors and laptops
- Use mandatory criteria only (i.e., bronze level)
- Realize that products might not be available yet
- Include option of specifying EPEAT qualified products when products become available
- Do not add criteria or adjust criteria values and call them EPEAT

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## Draft Contract Language

- “During the term of the contract, [Agency/Department] reserves the right to purchase exclusively or otherwise provide preference for specific models of desktop computers, notebooks and monitors qualified through the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) or its successor.”
- DOI RFP: http://www.blm.gov/natacq/IT/
- DOI Contact:  Catherine Cesnik Courtney _[Catherine_cesnik@ios.doi.gov](mailto:Catherine_cesnik@ios.doi.gov)_; (650) 329-5186

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## Status of Tools & Opportunities for Purchaser Involvement

- Draft EPEAT Criteria:  on _[www.](http://www.epeat.net/)__[epeat](http://www.epeat.net/)__[.net](http://www.epeat.net/)_, under “overview”, “documents”, “EPEAT full criteria”
- Draft Database of EPEAT qualified products: URL (_[http://](http://ripley.dnamerican.com/epeat/)__[ripley](http://ripley.dnamerican.com/epeat/)__[.](http://ripley.dnamerican.com/epeat/)__[dnamerican](http://ripley.dnamerican.com/epeat/)__[.com/](http://ripley.dnamerican.com/epeat/)__[epeat](http://ripley.dnamerican.com/epeat/)__[/](http://ripley.dnamerican.com/epeat/)_)
- Join Federal Electronics Challenge MOU Workgroup Procurement Subgroup
- Help beta test the EPEAT Database
- Provide comment on final draft standard during public comment period/balloting stage
- Tell vendors you are interested in buying EPEAT products
- Add EPEAT mention into your IT contracts

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## Benefits of EPEAT

**For Institutional Purchasers**
- Easy way to specify, evaluate and purchase computer products that meet challenging yet realistic environmental criteria
- An efficient and credible means of verifying that equipment meets criteria
- Flexibility of selecting products that meet minimum performance criteria or giving preference to products that qualify for higher performance levels
- Same set of criteria used by purchasers nationwide to ensure competitive pricing and product availability

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## Benefits of EPEAT

**For Manufacturers**
- One clear set of performance criteria
- Market advantage for environmentally preferable products
- Flexibility on how to meet higher levels of EPEAT qualification
- Low cost, user-friendly system that will not delay getting products to market
**For Environmental Stakeholders**
- Credible assessment of electronic products based on agreed upon criteria
- System that promotes continuous improvement of electronic products throughout life cycle

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## For More Information on EPEAT

- Website: _[www.epeat.net](http://www.epeat.net/)_
- EPA Leads:
**Holly Elwood **(US EPA HQ)                                   202-564-8854, _[elwood.holly@epa.gov](mailto:elwood.holly@epa.gov)_
**John Katz**, (US EPA Region 9)
-    415-972-3283, _[katz.john@epa.gov](mailto:katz.john@epa.gov)_
**Viccy Salazar**, (US EPA Region 10)                      206-553-1060, _[salazar.viccy@epa.](mailto:salazar.viccy@epa.gov)__[gov](mailto:salazar.viccy@epa.gov)_
- Grantee Contact:
**Larry Chalfan**, Zero Waste Alliance, 503-279-9383

- © Zero Waste Alliance, 2005.

## For More Information on the FEC

- _[http://www.federalelectronicschallenge.net](http://www.federalelectronicschallenge.net/)_
**Juan Lopez **(Office of Federal Environmental Executive)                                                                 202-564-5214 lopez.juan@ofee.gov
**Laura Nazef **(US EPA HQ) 202-564-7523 nazef.laura@epa.gov
**Adrienne Priselac** (US EPA Region 9) 415-972-3285 priselac.adrienne@epa.gov