Overall Rating Silver - expired
Overall Score 57.05
Liaison Herbert Sinnock
Submission Date July 12, 2018
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.1

Sheridan College (Ontario)
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 1.25 / 3.00 Michael Burjaw
Director of Procurement, Campus Safety, Emergency Planning
Purchasing
"---" 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:
The policies, guidelines or directives:

Sheridan’s Request for Proposal (RFP) includes relevant regulations and laws that vendors and contractors must abide by. In addition, all RFPs include a section on Sheridan's sustainability initiatives and most RFP scoring includes a component about sustainability.

The Purchasing Policy includes the following as principles of purchasing:
Sheridan aspires to high ethical, legal, environmental, managerial and professional standards in the management of resources entrusted to it. Within this context Sheridan’s procurement function shall be performed in a fair and transparent manner where goods and services are procured in an open, competitive environment and where all transactions yield the optimal benefit to Sheridan.

Sheridan supports the values of sustainability, social responsibility and fair labour practices. Sheridan will be guided by our Sustainability Policy and our Mission Zero Energy and Zero Waste and Carbon Plan, where practical. In support of these documents and institutional targets, Sheridan shall incorporate sustainability into procurement practices for all formal bid opportunities, and give favourable consideration in its evaluation process to goods and services that reflect Sheridan’s commitment to sustainability and broader social responsibility.

Sheridan will ensure that purchasing decisions achieve best value for monies expended by seeking supply arrangements which provide the optimum combination of quality, suitability, sustainability, life cycle cost and services.


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:

Sheridan employs LCCA, not as a policy, but as practice, in evaluating certain aspects such as purchasing cost, operational cost, service warranty, and disposal.

As per the Purchasing Policy, “Sheridan will ensure that purchasing decisions achieve best value for monies expended by seeking supply arrangements which provide the optimum combination of quality, suitability, sustainability, life cycle cost and services.”

Sheridan’s Request for Proposal (RFP) template outlines the institution’s sustainability criteria in which suppliers are requested to provide details on sustainable policies and practices placed.


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:

The Request for Proposals (RFP) for cleaning services includes requirements for green cleaning:

Sheridan will only accept chemical products that are 3rd party certified green and considered market leaders with respect to sustainability, the environment, health and safety and cleaning capabilities.
The chemical cleaning products proposed should be part of a certified Green Housekeeping program and all respondent staff must be properly trained with respect to application and use.
As part of the RFP process each respondent will be required to provide brand names, yield data, anticipated usage, startup costs, annual estimated usage and costing details.

The evaluation of the proposals included the following criteria:
- The Sustainability of the chemical vendor proposed
- Environmental impact and benefits of the chemicals proposed
- The dispensing system proposed and the related benefits of the system
- Any initial start-up fee’s
- Anticipated annual volume of chemicals used broken down by category and campus
- Anticipated annual cost of chemicals used, broken down by category and campus
- Training programs in place for disposing, application and storage of chemicals
- Reporting mechanism to report on actual chemical usage versus anticipated usage
- Any other details deemed relevant.
- Chemical certifications including reference/certification numbers.


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:
---

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)?:
No

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

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:
---

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:

N/A


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:
---

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:
---

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:
---

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:

N/A


The website URL where information about the programs or initiatives is available:
Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

The Sustainability Policy (https://policy.sheridanc.on.ca/dotNet/documents/?docid=970), which refers to the Natural Step framework that Sheridan uses to guide its sustainability programs, states:
- This policy expresses Sheridan’s commitment to enmeshing sustainable practice within the varied facets of Sheridan activity, with the aim of fostering an institutional culture defined by informed and responsible decision making that reflects the crucial balance between economic, social and environmental priorities. Sheridan meets this commitment by:
- challenging ourselves to continuous improvement and developing innovative solutions in business operations to address issues of energy and water use, waste reduction, air quality improvement, and product procurement; • working to ensure that all members of the Sheridan community continuously seek to minimize adverse impacts that Sheridan’s activities have on the environment and society;
- considering applications of sustainability thinking in its professional practices; and
- demonstrating to students, employees, partners, community and the world how a 21st century organization carries out its core operations and advances long-term institutional objectives while navigating a forward-looking, informed, evidence-based sustainable path.

In addition, the Purchasing Policy states that Sheridan will make purchasing decisions that achieve best value for monies expended by seeking supply arrangements which provide the optimum combination of quality, suitability, sustainability, life cycle cost and services. All RFPs include a section on Sheridan's sustainability initiatives and most RFP scoring includes a component about sustainability. The products and services listed as having published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating them are evaluated in this fashion.

However, this policy does not specify purchasing criteria for specific commodities.


The Sustainability Policy (https://policy.sheridanc.on.ca/dotNet/documents/?docid=970), which refers to the Natural Step framework that Sheridan uses to guide its sustainability programs, states:
- This policy expresses Sheridan’s commitment to enmeshing sustainable practice within the varied facets of Sheridan activity, with the aim of fostering an institutional culture defined by informed and responsible decision making that reflects the crucial balance between economic, social and environmental priorities. Sheridan meets this commitment by:
- challenging ourselves to continuous improvement and developing innovative solutions in business operations to address issues of energy and water use, waste reduction, air quality improvement, and product procurement; • working to ensure that all members of the Sheridan community continuously seek to minimize adverse impacts that Sheridan’s activities have on the environment and society;
- considering applications of sustainability thinking in its professional practices; and
- demonstrating to students, employees, partners, community and the world how a 21st century organization carries out its core operations and advances long-term institutional objectives while navigating a forward-looking, informed, evidence-based sustainable path.

In addition, the Purchasing Policy states that Sheridan will make purchasing decisions that achieve best value for monies expended by seeking supply arrangements which provide the optimum combination of quality, suitability, sustainability, life cycle cost and services. All RFPs include a section on Sheridan's sustainability initiatives and most RFP scoring includes a component about sustainability. The products and services listed as having published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating them are evaluated in this fashion.

However, this policy does not specify purchasing criteria for specific commodities.

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.