University of California, Irvine
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

University of California Policy on Sustainable Practices
https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/3100155/Sustainable%20Practices

G. Environmentally Preferable Purchasing
1. Environmentally preferable purchasing underlies and enables all other areas of sustainable practice in this Policy. Therefore, the University will maximize its procurement of environmentally preferable products and services.
2. The University will use its purchasing power to target environmentally preferable products and services for volume-discounted pricing to make them cost-competitive with conventional products and services.
3. For products and services without available environmentally preferable alternatives, the University will work with its existing and potential suppliers and leverage the University’s purchasing power and market presence to develop sustainable choices.
4. The University will integrate sustainability requirements into its practices for competitive bidding in materiel and services procurement, allowing for suppliers that meet these requirements to earn additional evaluation points.
5. Packaging for all products procured by the University should be designed, produced, and managed in an environmentally sustainable manner. The University shall seek products that have take-back programs, as appropriate.
6. When requested, suppliers citing environmentally preferable purchasing claims shall provide proper certification or detailed information on environmental claims, including benefits, durability, and take-back, reuse, and recyclable properties. Additionally, suppliers are responsible for providing proof of University of California-accepted third-party certification based upon the requirements of the University’s Procurement Services Department located in the Office of the President.
7. The goal of this section G shall be applied within the constraints of research needs and budgetary requirements and in compliance with applicable rules, regulations and laws.

University of California Terms and Conditions for Suppliers
https://www.ucop.edu/procurement-services/_files/uc-terms-and-conditions-of-purchase.pdf

ARTICLE 14 – EQUAL OPPORTUNITY AFFIRMATIVE ACTION. Supplier will abide by the requirements set forth in Executive Orders 11246 and 11375. Where applicable, Supplier will abide by 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a), incorporated by reference with this statement: “This contractor and subcontractor shall abide by the requirements of 41 CFR §§ 60-1.4(a), 60-300.5(a) and 60-741.5(a). These regulations prohibit discrimination against qualified individuals based on their status as protected veterans or individuals with disabilities, and prohibit discrimination against all individuals based on their race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. Moreover, these regulations require that covered prime contractors and subcontractors take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment individuals without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, protected veteran status or disability.” With respect to activities occurring in the State of California, Supplier agrees to adhere to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act. Supplier will provide UC on request a breakdown of its labor force by groups as specified by UC, and will discuss with UC its policies and practices relating to its affirmative action programs. Supplier will not maintain or provide facilities for employees at any establishment under its control that are segregated on a basis prohibited by federal law. Separate or single-user restrooms and necessary dressing or sleeping areas must be provided, however, to ensure privacy.

UCI's Administrative Policies and Procedures contains Section 902-12: Guidelines for Conservation of Energy and Water Resources. The Assistant Vice Chancellor-Facilities Management, under the direction of the Vice Chancellor-Administrative and Business Services, is responsible for improving energy delivery systems and developing new energy-saving programs in accordance with the University of California Sustainable Practices Policy. Section E states: "Every equipment purchase should be cost effective. Include the cost of utilities when determining the life-cycle cost of equipment selected for installation. Consult with Facilities Management throughout the selection process."

See: http://www.policies.uci.edu/policies/procs/902-12.html

UCI's Green Cleaning Policy outlines sustainability criteria for chemically intensive products (http://sustainability.uci.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/03/Green-Cleaning-Policy-UC-Irvine.pdf).

Criteria examples outlined in the Green Cleaning Policy include:
-- Low environmental impact cleaning products certified by Green Seal standard (GS-37) shall be used.
-- A log will be kept that details all housekeeping chemicals used or stored on the premises (stored products include those that are no longer used, but still in the building). Attachments to the log shall include manufacturer’s Material Safety Data Sheets and Technical Bulletins. The log shall identify:
a. An MSDS and/or label from the manufacturer specifying that the product meets the VOC content level for the appropriate product category as found in the California Code of Regulations.
b. A copy of the Green Seal Certification, or
c. If the product has not been certified by Green Seal, the manufacturer will provide test data documenting that the product meets each of the environmental health & safety criteria set forth in Green Seal Standard GS-37, or that the product meets California Code of Regulations for maximum allowable VOC content.

UCI Environmental Health & Safety Waste Minimization/ Pollution Prevention: https://www.ehs.uci.edu/programs/enviro/wasteminimization.html#wmhierarchy

Example criteria when purchasing chemically intensive products and services:
-- Select a chemical supplier who will support waste minimization efforts and can deliver small amounts of chemicals on short notice.
-- Standardize chemical purchases. If all (or most) experiments are designed to use chemicals from an approved list, then another researcher may be able to use your surplus chemicals.
-- Consider passing all orders by one person. A laboratory may be able to take advantage of bulk pricing because the purchaser will be buying for more experiments at once.

UC Irvine has adopted a Sustainable Operations and Maintenance Program that seeks to achieve optimal building energy performance, sustainable building operations, and a healthy building environment for existing buildings campuswide.

Example purchasing criteria includes:
-- Environmentally preferable materials, including cleaning, maintenance, and painting and coating supplies, shall be purchased and used in all building operations and maintenance to protect the health of building occupants and the surrounding environment. Products meeting Green Seal, Environmental Choice or similar approved third-party certification shall be used.

UCI also adheres to the "Environmentally Preferable Purchasing" section on pg. 21 and the "Green Building Design" section on pg. 14 of the UC Sustainable Practices Policy (https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/3100155/Sustainable%20Practices). *This document is issued with all Request for Proposals (RFP's) for each new construction and renovation project.

Example criteria for construction and renovation products include:
-- The Policy requires new building projects to achieve a minimum of LEED 'Silver' certification through the USGBC LEED program. * All UC Irvine buildings completed within the scope of this policy have well exceeded these requirements with the most recent 17 buildings completed achieving LEED 'Platinum' certification.

UCI has established a campus-based policy to require that when an ENERGY STAR choice exists, the required purchase will be the Energy Star product. This includes:
-- Office equipment
-- Equipment for new capital projects
-- Ongoing purchasing, rented as well as purchased equipment, and procurements extending across all fund-sources.

UCI Policy on ENERGY STAR Products: https://portal.uci.edu/uPortal/f/welcome/p/webproxy-cms-file-view.u20l1n201/max/render.uP?pP_cmsUri=public%2FPurchasing%2FBuying%2FInfoPageGreenPurchasing.xml

Additional criteria for IT products and services are located on page 24 of the UC Sustainable Practices Policy (https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/3100155/Sustainable%20Practices).
-- All desktop computers, laptops, and computer monitors purchased by the
University are required to have achieved a minimum Bronze-level registration
or higher under the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool
(EPEAT®), where applicable.
-- Preference will be given for electronics products that have achieved EPEAT®
Silver or EPEAT® Gold registration. The registration criteria and a list of all
registered equipment are provided at EPEAT. **Note: UC Irvine primarily purchases equipment with the GOLD registration by identifying preferred equipment packages.
-- All recyclers of the University’s electronic equipment must be e-Steward
certified by the Basel Action Network (BAN) (www.ban.org). In cases where
the University has established take-back programs with a manufacturer, the
University will encourage the manufacturer to become a BAN-certified eSteward
Enterprise (e-Stewards for Enterprises)

UCI is guided by the sustainable food services outlined on pg.11 of the UC Sustainable Practices Policy (https://policy.ucop.edu/doc/3100155/Sustainable%20Practices).

Example criteria and guiding principles for food services include:
-- Each campus and Medical Center foodservice operation shall strive to procure 20% sustainable food products by the year 2020, while maintaining accessibility and affordability for all students and Medical Center foodservice patrons.
-- Campus and Medical Center foodservice operations shall strive to earn third-party “green business” certifications for sustainable dining operations.
-- Dining locations will also work with tenants to advance sustainable foodservice practices as much as possible within the timeframe of current leases.

Additionally, UCI has developed the following criteria for food services and purchases:
-- UCI Hospitality and Dining/Aramark collaborate with produce vendors to source local foods from within 250 miles of campus. Our produce vendor, Freshpoint Produce Company, sends a “Hot Sheet” weekly that indicates what produce is locally sourced. UCI then works this into its menu mix where appropriate.
-- UC Irvine includes a minimum amount of certified organic items on its residential dining salad bar.
-- Organic Greens To Go, a retail dining location on campus, features made-to-order items where the majority of the menu selections are certified organic.
-- All seafood purchases must meet the Monterey Bay Aquarium Guidelines for Sustainable Seafood.
-- All coffee products purchased for residential dining and Java City Coffee locations are Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance certified, organic or a combination of two or more of these categories.
-- All eggs served on campus are cage-free.

https://uci.campusdish.com/Sustainability.aspx

UCI’s policies for Professional Services Agreements (PSA), including architectural, landscape architectural, engineering, environmental, land surveying, real property development services, or construction project management services require that firms are selected based on demonstrated competence and professional qualifications to perform the required services, rather than selection based on price. As a result of this policy, the PSA selection process includes evaluation of the firms experience and qualifications in sustainable design as this is a required performance policy for all UCI design, construction, and real estate project delivery.

https://www.ucop.edu/construction-services/facilities-manual/volume-3/vol-3-chapter-2.html

UCI has established a plan for new vehicle purchases, right-sizing and right-fueling of the UCI fleet, expanding UCI’s existing electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure to support fleet vehicles, and leverage emerging technologies to further reduce UCI’s GHG emissions from fleet fuel consumption. Where UCI’s vehicle needs exceed the current technology, Transportation Services continues to look for new ways to leverage existing technology to generate next generation results.

Example criteria for transportation and fuels include:
-- All new vehicle purchase requests are submitted to the Sustainable Transportation department to ensure the new acquisition is a clean vehicle (preferably electric) for approval if it meets clean vehicle standards.
-- The campus shuttle buses are being replaced with a fully-electric fleet of transit buses, and the retired buses are being scrapped instead of sold to ensure the diesel emissions are not passed on to another entity.
-- Incentivize the adoption of electric vehicles amongst staff and students through UCI's Pump2Plug program. Participants receive three years of free Level 1 charging and reduced-cost Level 2 charging on campus.

https://www.parking.uci.edu/AT/

UCI has adopted a far-reaching 100% post-consumer recycled paper policy, the first such policy in the UC system and one of the most far-reaching of any university in California. As a result, campus control points and copy vendors will purchase 100% recycled paper for all standard printing and copying needs. Implementation includes strategic sourcing in partnership with the recycled paper suppliers to provide competitive pricing to the campus community and an outreach program to educate the campus community on recycled paper quality and attributes.

See: http://www.policies.uci.edu/policies/procs/707-10.html

UCI is committed to the acquisition of recycled content products, environmentally preferable products and services, bio-based products, energy- and water-efficient products, alternate fuel vehicles, products using renewable energy, and alternatives to hazardous or toxic chemicals.

In 2018, a proposed update to the Sustainable Procurement Policy is under review and is set to replace the current Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Policy once adopted. Some key highlights of this update will be:

- 100% compliance with Required Level Green Spend criteria within three (3) fiscal years of the addition of those products and/or product categories to the Guidelines.
- 25% Green Spend as a total percentage of spend per product category; target to be reached within three (3) fiscal years after a category is added to the Guidelines.
- 25% Socially and Economically Responsible Spend as a total percentage of addressable spend; target to be reached within five (5) fiscal years of adoption of this section of the Guidelines.