Overall Rating Bronze
Overall Score 40.37
Liaison Raafat Kabbara
Submission Date Nov. 15, 2022

STARS v2.2

Higher Colleges of Technology
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.50 / 3.00 Raafat Kabbara
Assistant Manager - Facilities Management
General Services
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Part 1. Institution-wide sustainable procurement policies

Does the institution have written policies, guidelines, or directives that seek to support sustainable purchasing across multiple commodity categories institution-wide?:
Yes

A copy of the policies, guidelines or directives:
The policies, guidelines or directives:
Sustainable Procurement Policy
Purpose
To establish the principles to adopt and implement a transparent, competitive, and consistent approach to procurement resulting in the economical purchase of goods and services in compliance with the relevant Cabinet Resolutions and federal laws.
To fulfill the requirements of related standards and endorse continuous improvement to ensure sustainability in procurement processes and the system.

Scope
This policy and its provisions hereof shall be applied system-wide to all those involved in the purchasing activities at all campuses and locations of HCT, as long as it is in compliance with the applicable laws and regulations.
Policy Statements
HCT is committed to:
* Procure HCT’s business needs with the required quality and specifications and promptly with competitive prices to ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the procurement processes, avoid the inefficient use of public funds and ensure alignment with relevant federal laws, Cabinet resolutions, and compliance with national/international standards as and when applicable.
* All related laws and regulations, as well as sustainability requirements and stakeholders’ needs. * Endorse procurement governance, integrity, equality, and transparency in all procurement and contractual processes.
* Provide clear and accurate information about the specification and details of the requested goods and services, promote fair competition among vendors, and respect their privacy, confidentiality of offers, and property rights.
* Conduct a fair and transparent investigation of all vendors' complaints and feedback professionally.
* Ensure the business continuity and the supply chain flow of HCT’s critical business activities by signing solid strategic partnership agreements with the key Vendors.
* Raise awareness and commitment of stakeholders towards sustainability in the purchasing processes and provide them with recommendations and solutions to enhance their performance towards sustainability.
* Maintaining sustainability in multiple dimensions: environment, society, economy, health, and safety for all HCT’semployees, customers, and vendors during the procurement and contractual processes. Also, to express HCT’scommitment to implementing the related standards and best practices.
*Provide effective communication channels to enhance the collaborative approach among all supply chain parties, as well as study all suggestions and feedback provided to enhance sustainability.
* Obtain Value for Money through the ideal combination of quality, cost, and expected useful lifetime of the goods/services, its suitability to meet HCT’s requirements as well, and the sustainability of the purchases.
* All tenders, practices, and competitions shall be announced through the relevant system(s) in compliance with relevant laws and ensuring a high degree of transparency and professional integrity by applying open competition purchasing processes.
* Annual Procurement Plan shall be developed, consolidated, approved, and implemented before the start of the fiscal year in coordination with the Budget Owners and in alignment with the approved budget for the fiscal year to support sustainable procurement. The Annual Procurement Plan shall be approved by the authority as per HCT Delegation ofAuthority (DOA).
*Procurement of goods and services shall be made through defined procurement methods as per the relevant laws/cabinet resolutions and related procedures.
* Mandatory Requirements that all vendors shall comply with are:
* The environmental sustainability requirements are set out in the Relevant Regulations and Resolutions.
* Wage Protection Policy applicable in the UAE.
* Provisions of the Pension Law for federal and local entities and social insurance for the private sector.

Part 2. Life Cycle Cost Analysis 

Does the institution employ Life Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA) when evaluating energy- and water-using products and systems?:
No

Which of the following best describes the institution’s use of LCCA?:
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A brief description of the LCCA policy and/or practices:
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Part 3. Product-specific sustainability criteria

To count, the criteria must address the specific sustainability challenges and impacts associated with products and/or services in each category, e.g. by requiring or giving preference to multi-criteria sustainability standards, certifications and labels appropriate to the category. Broader, institution-wide policies should be reported in Part 1, above. 

Chemically intensive products and services

Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating chemically intensive products and services?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for chemically intensive products and services:
1. The service provider shall conduct a Green Cleaning—Custodial Effectiveness Assessment to reduce levels of the chemical, biological, and particulate contaminants, which can compromise human health, building finishes and systems, and the environment, by implementing effective cleaning procedures. The service provider shall perform routine inspection and monitoring. This inspection must verify that the specified strategies have been implemented and must identify areas in need of improvement. Additionally, conduct an annual audit in accordance with APPA Leadership in Educational Facilities’ Custodial Staffing Guidelines, or a local equivalent, whichever is more stringent, to determine the appearance level of the facility. The facility must score 2.5 or better.
2. The Service provider shall provide Green Cleaning—Products and Materials to reduce the environmental effects of cleaning products, disposable janitorial paper products, and trash bags.
3. The service provider shall use tools or agents that do not add or spread pollutants or cause other unintended effects.
4. The service provider shall select the cleaning supplies and products with the consideration of the supplier. The supplier plays an important role as part of the green cleaning team and may be intimately involved in training. Therefore, consideration should be given to suppliers’ ability to train cleaning personnel and their expertise with green janitorial products and cleaning. All of the below lists must be approved by the HCT General Services department considering the additional characteristics related to some product categories ( refer to the supporting documents).

Consumable office products

Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating consumable office products?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for consumable office products:
Environmental Considerations
We expect the vendors to outline their approach to Environmental considerations within Print Management and how they would ensure the solution offered to HCT is environmentally friendly.

Vendor must provide their methodology and framework in recycling consumables (i.e., toner waste), which address, as a minimum, the following requirements:
• Placements of the recycling bins
• Provide methodology for providing a sustainable environment.
• Include the device fleet features that address environmental and health concerns.
The ability to generate green reports which should be available as well to support HCT’s drive to reduce paper printing through efficient and responsible printing. This report should focus on three environmental impacts, namely, trees, carbon, and energy.
• Environmental saving
• CO2, Water, Trees, Electricity

Furniture and furnishings

Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating furniture and furnishings?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for furniture and furnishings:
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Information Technology (IT) and equipment

Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating Information technology (IT) and equipment?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for Information Technology (IT) and equipment:
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Food service providers

Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating food service providers?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for food service providers:
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Garments and linens 

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:
---

Professional service providers

Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating professional service providers?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for professional service providers:
Sustainability Practices

The Bidder shall acknowledge his responsibility to the planet and that he is continuously seeking new ways to reduce the environmental impact of the HCT campus operations. ‘Sustainability’ for the bidder is a best practice that is embedded into every aspect of their business.
It is recommended that the bidder conduct a full asset evaluation as part of all their contract mobilizations to identify the opportunities where they can implement energy and cost savings in the college promises. The bidder shall be committed to reducing carbon footprint, which in turn produces triple-bottom-line benefits. Some of the sustainable practices include;
• Resource efficiency management strategy to reduce utility consumption
• Base-lining, utility consumption tracking Vs. target and reporting
• Green procurement practices
• Implementation of green building guidelines
• Waste reduction & recycling

Transportation and fuels

Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating transportation and fuels?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for transportation and fuels:
* Buses engines shall be fuel-efficient and low-carbon emission (min 15 % less fuel consumption compared to the same engines category or an average minimum of 13.6 km/liter) compatible with the European Emission Standards (Euro 5) or to the Emirates Standardization and Metrology Authority (ESMA) standards.
* Service provider needs to submit a proposal to replace the used buses with hybrid/ electric ones whenever possible/ available in the UAE market.
* The service provider shall, on a monthly basis, provide the following Environmental data reporting for all the individual buses fleet within the scope. All data to be verified by a third-party independent specialist:
a. Average Fuel Consumption (gal. of fuel)
b. Average Scope 1 emissions (Kg of CO2 equivalent)

Optional Fields 

Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainable procurement program or initiatives is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.