Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 67.36
Liaison Allison Maxted
Submission Date Feb. 17, 2022

STARS v2.2

Mohawk College
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 3.00 Nicolai Strabac
Sustainable Programs and Services Coordinator
Sustainability Office/Facilities 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:
Mohawk_College_Purchasing_Guide_FINAL.pdf

The policies, guidelines or directives:
Please see the attached file.

This guideline was drafted by the Sustainability Office in collaboration with the Purchasing Department. This document is available to all employees under the Employee Resources tab on the internal platform "MyMohawk",

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:
Preference towards products which hold a green cleaning certification such as Green Seal, EcoLogo or equivalent
• Preference towards janitorial paper products which are FSC Certified

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:
Preference for SFI, FSC certified products. Preference for post-consumer recycled materials.

Furniture and furnishings

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

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for furniture and furnishings:
• Preference towards furniture which is Cradle-2-Cradle (C2C) certified
o Preference for products which have a manufacturer buy-back or recycling program
• Preference towards furniture holding indoor air quality certifications GreenGuard Gold, SCS Indoor Advantage Gold
• Preference towards BIFMA LEVEL Gold Certified furniture - indicating environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing practices
• For furniture which contains wood, preference towards FSC certified products
• For furniture which contains fabric or textiles, preference towards certifications including but not limited to:
o NSF/ANSI 336: Gold or higher
o Standard 100 by Oeko-Tex
o Or equivalent certification
• Preference for items manufactured with post-consumer recycled content

Information Technology (IT) and equipment

Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating Information technology (IT) and equipment?:
Yes

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for Information Technology (IT) and equipment:
• ENERGY STAR rated whenever possible
• Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) certified whenever possible. Strong preference towards EPEAT Gold

Food service providers

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

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for food service providers:
Preference towards locally sourced and/or organic foods whenever possible
• Preference towards providers or products which are Fair Trade Certified
• Preference towards Food Service Providers/Caterers which can offer reusable and certified compostable serviceware
• Preference towards food items or providers which ethical harvest certifications including but not limited to; Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), Leaders in Environmentally Accountable Foodservice (LEAF), Local Food Plus (LFP) Certified, Fairtrade, Dolphin Safe/Dolphin Friendly, Canada Organic, Certified Naturally Grown, Certified Green Restaurant.

Garments and linens 

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

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for garments and linens:
Preference for textiles which contain post-consumer recycled content
• Preference for cotton-based textiles to be certified organic
• Preference for products which carry a certification indicating a socially and/or environmentally responsible supply chain including but not limited to:
o Cradle-to-Cradle
o Fairtrade
o Better Cotton Initiative
o BlueSign
o Certified B Corporation

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:
Whenever possible and finically feasible, Mohawk College suggests procuring the services of businesses which are:
• Registered B Corporations
• Locally owned and operated
• Owned and/or operated by racialized persons/persons of colour, women, Indigenous People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, and other groups who may be underrepresented

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:
Whenever possible and finically feasible, Mohawk College suggests procuring the services of businesses which are:
• Registered B Corporations
• Locally owned and operated
• Owned and/or operated by racialized persons/persons of colour, women, Indigenous People of North America, persons with disabilities, LGBTQ2S+ persons, and other groups who may be underrepresented

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:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
Accesible Purchasing Guidelines

Mohawk College is mandated by Section 5 of the Accesibility for Ontariains with Disabilities Act (AODA) to incorporate accessibility criteria and features when procuring or acquiring goods, services or facilities, except where it is not practicable to do so. Section 6 applies the same requirements to designing, procuring or acquiring self-service kiosks. (Ontario Regulation 191/11 - Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation)

Link to Accessible Purchasing Landing Page: https://www.mohawkcollege.ca/about-mohawk/accessibility/tools-and-resources/accessible-purchasing

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.