Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 48.76
Liaison James Speer
Submission Date Feb. 26, 2019
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Indiana State University
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.75 / 3.00 Kevin Barr
Director of Purchasing
Purchasing and Central Receiving
"---" 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?:
Yes

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

"ISU Purchasing’s role is to support campus wide sustainability through the communications of guidelines, information, and by providing resources that will minimize any negative impact on society and the environment to the greatest extent possible.

ISU Purchasing is developing and maintaining information on our web site about environmentally and socially preferable products and services and will communicate, to the various departments, University policy in regards to sustainability.

We will promote the three R’s: reduce, reuse, and recycle.  Purchasing & Central Receiving manages all surplus items at the University.  From inception we have relocated reusable items back out on campus, as items have become available. For at least the last fifteen years we have hosted auctions where we sell items no-longer of use to the University.  The result has been to reduce the disposal costs and landfill volume and the auctions extend the useful life of items through their reuse.  Additionally, we recycle items that might have little appeal in the auction.

Purchasing encourages the use of durable and reusable products, giving some weight to the best long-term value when selecting products.

Purchasing will be looking at the various vendors’ abilities to receive their products back for recycling at the end of their useful life.  Examples being: carpeting, asphalt, oil, batteries, electronics, and toner cartridges.

Procurement in bulk or concentrated form will be encouraged in an effort to minimize our impact on transportation resources.

ISU Purchasing has begun to encourage the broader long term view in the procurement of items such as printers, copiers, and fax machines that have the capability of duplex printing and the ability to cut paper consumption in half.

ISU Purchasing encourages the sending and storing of documents electronically, again saving on paper usage.

ISU Purchasing would encourages the use of hybrid and alternative renewable fuel vehicles, the generation of renewable energy sources, energy efficient “Energy Star” rated electronics, and energy efficient Leeds certified buildings.

ISU Purchasing is making every effort to secure contracts with vendors that are socially and environmentally conscientious and certified green whenever possible.

ISU is committed to preserving the environment and encouraging sustainability. In order to promote sustainability, all computers purchased by the University must meet the standard below. Standard Lenovo computers on the ISU website are EPEAT gold and meet the standard below."


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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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)?:
No

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

"Chemical Procurement
1. Consult with stockroom personnel or lab supervisor to see if the chemcial is already
available for use and suitable for your application. Ordering of chemicals already on
hand is wasteful.
2. Acceptance of any “donated” chemical materials requires approval by the Office of
Environmental Safety prior to the material’s arrival on campus. “Free” chemicals often
become very expensive items for disposal later.
3. The decision to purchase a chemical is a commitment to handle and use the chemical
properly from initial receipt to final disposal.
4. Before a chemical is ordered, the user must determine that appropriate containment,
storage and personal protective equipment are available for use.
5. Personnel responsible for receiving chemical shipments should be knowledgeable of the
proper procedures for receiving chemicals. Packages should not be accepted without
proper identifying labels, safety data sheets (initial shipments of an item should include
an SDS. Subsequent shipments may or may not include an SDS) and packaging in
accordance with all appropriate shipping and packaging regulations. Date all
containers upon receipt.
6. Enter chemical identification into inventory and ensure that the safety data sheet is
available to laboratory staff. "


Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating construction and renovation products (e.g. furnishings and building materials)?:
No

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

Copied from the guidelines of "ISU Purchasings Role in Sustainability":

"ISU is committed to preserving the environment and encouraging sustainability. In order to promote sustainability, all computers purchased by the University must meet the standard below. Standard Lenovo computers on the ISU website are EPEAT gold and meet the standard below.

All desktops, laptops, and computer monitors purchased by ISU are required to have achieved Silver registration or higher in the EPEAT system. EPEAT is a procurement tool designed to help large volume purchasers evaluate, compare, and select electronic products based upon their environmental attributes as specified in the consensus-based IEEE Standard for the Environmental Assessment of Personal Computer Products (IEEE 1680.1).

The EPEAT registration criteria and a database of all registered products are provided at http://www.epeat.net."


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:

There are sustainability purchasing criteria, but Sodexo for Indiana State University has not published those evaluations.


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)?:
No

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