Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 67.26
Liaison Tom Twist
Submission Date June 16, 2017
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Bates College
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.50 / 3.00 Tom Twist
Sustainability Manager
Facilities
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have written policies, guidelines or directives that seek to support sustainable purchasing across commodity categories institution-wide?:
No

A copy of the policies, guidelines or directives:
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The policies, guidelines or directives:

Although individual departments have purchasing policies, there is no sweeping purchasing policy for the whole institution.


Does the institution employ Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) when evaluating energy- and water-using products and systems?:
Yes

Which of the following best describes the institution’s use of LCCA?:
Institution employs LCCA less comprehensively, e.g. for certain types of systems or projects and not others

A brief description of the LCCA policy and/or practices:

We use LCCA criteria for building materials, food products, paper, and electronics comprehensively. For building construction, for example, we build to LEED Silver standards, and so are required to consider building materials with a low life cycle cost. Other sectors of the college, such as dining, make purchasing decisions based on LCCA because of our general ethos and the awareness of the student body around these issues.


Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating chemically intensive products and services (e.g. building and facilities maintenance, cleaning and sanitizing, landscaping and grounds maintenance)?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for chemically intensive products and services:

All new cleaning products are Green Seal or UL ECOLOGO certified and/or Safer Choice labeled (or local equivalents for institutions outside the U.S. and Canada). Our new head of custodial services has just negotiated a new contract with a Gorham, Maine based cleaning company which uses environmentally friendly cleaning products. More info on their products here -

http://www.cleaneasier.com/sustainability


Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating construction and renovation products (e.g. furnishings and building materials)?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for construction and renovation products:

All our new buildings are built to LEED silver equivalent, and so are constrained by the LCCA materials, as well as demo procedures and runoff policy. We take into account factors such as: global warming potential of building operation, refrigerant ozone and GHG potential, acidification of land and water sources, water purity impact, and
depletion of nonrenewable energy resources. We take into account the material life cycle costs - those embedded in the material, as well as the travel involved. See also OP-3, 4, &22.

From our Utility Management Plan:
Sustainable Building Practices: All future construction, remodeling, renovation and repair projects will be designed with consideration of optimum energy utilization, low life cycle operating costs and compliance with all applicable energy codes and regulations. LEED guidelines are helpful in this regard. These considerations must be integral to the process of establishing the project budget. These sustainability elements must become part of the baseline budget – not alternates. Bates Energy Manager will participate in the budgeting and design processes to help inform the design team as to the energy efficiency impacts of choices being made and to help ensure choices are made based on life-cycle costs.


Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating Information technology (IT) products and services (e.g. computers, imaging equipment, mobile phones, data centers and cloud services)?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for IT products and services:

Bates has committed to EPEAT devices for the majority of our new devices. We are still reviewing standards for our older models.


Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating food services (i.e. franchises, vending services, concessions, convenience stores)?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for food services:
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Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating garments and linens?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for garments and linens:
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Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating professional services (e.g. architectural, engineering, public relations, financial)?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for professional services:
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Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating transportation and fuels (e.g. travel, vehicles, delivery services, long haul transport, generator fuels, steam plants)?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for transportation and fuels:

All new fuel purchases are evaluated on both cost as well as impact to our carbon emissions goals of carbon neutrality by 2020. We are committed to exploring the use of alternative, low-carbon fuels. We have recently switched to a biomass-based liquid fuel in our central steam plant, which was predicted by our Climate Action Plan criteria in 2010 -

"In order to meet our carbon neutrality goals. . . we will replace the boilers at Bates’ main steam plant with a biomass cogeneration system to provide steam heat, hot water and electricity once construction begins south of Campus Avenue, a move that requires greater capacity at the steam plant. * Implementing this recommendation would reduce our net GHG emissions (after RECs) more than 80 percent and its completion will define our date for achieving climate neutrality.Our on-campus central plant and infrastructure provides steam for heating and domestic hot water needs to over 80 percent of the structures on-campus. Emissions from the physical plant represent 39 percent of our greenhouse gas emissions."

We also have a stated goal of supporting the electrification of our vehicle fleet, as well as promoting electric vehicle use by offering an ever-increasing number of electric vehicle charging stations. We currently have 4 Level II charging stations and roughly five electric vehicles.

In keeping with our criteria of fuel assessment, we have a project underway to replace all of our heating oil use with a 20% Biodiesel blend.

For Transportation, we have several stated criteria for ongoing transportation strategies. Here's an excerpt from our Utility Management Plan -

1. Increase the use of alternative fuels and technology for College owned vehicles. Examples include electric vehicles and vehicles capable of using bio-gas.
2. Encourage van-pooling
3. Provide charging stations for electric vehicles.


Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating wood and paper products?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for wood and paper products:

We choose paper with recycled content, as it has a more benign LCCA.


Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating products and services in other commodity categories that the institution has determined to have significant sustainability impacts?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for other commodity categories:
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The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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