University of Colorado Colorado Springs
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

Sustainable Procurement Guidelines 
https://sustain.uccs.edu/operations/procurement

University departments should consider the following factors and commodity identifiers when planning purchases of goods and services.

Sustainable Purchasing Source Reduction
Procurement activity may include:
- Institute practices that reduce waste, resulting in the purchase of fewer products whenever practicable and cost-effective, but without reducing safety or workplace quality.
- Purchase remanufactured products such as laser toner cartridges, tires, furniture, equipment and automotive parts whenever practicable, but without reducing safety, quality, or effectiveness.
- Consider short-term and long-term costs in comparing product alternatives. Include evaluation of total costs expected during the time a product is owned, including, but not limited to, acquisition, extended warranties, operation, supplies, maintenance, disposal costs, and expected lifetime compared to other alternatives.
- Purchase products that are durable, long lasting, reusable, or refillable.
- Request that vendors eliminate packaging or use the minimum amount necessary for product protection to the greatest extent practicable.
- Request packaging that is reusable, recyclable, or compostable when suitable uses and programs exist.
- Reuse pallets and packaging materials.
- Require that all equipment purchased, when practicable, be compatible with products and services that provide source reduction benefits.
- Recycled Content Products

Procurement activity may include:
- Products for which the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has established minimum recycled content standard guidelines - such as printing paper, office paper, janitorial paper, construction, landscaping, transportation, vehicles, and non-paper office products - and which contain the highest post-consumer content practicable, but no less than the minimum recycled content standards established by the U.S. EPA Guidelines.
- Copiers and printers that can be used with recycled content products.
- Re-refined lubricating and industrial oil for use in vehicles and other equipment, as long as the product is certified by the American Petroleum Institute (API) as appropriate for use in such equipment.
- Asphalt concrete, aggregate base, or portland cement concrete for road construction projects that contains recycled, reusable, or reground materials.
- Recycled content transportation products including signs, cones, parking stops, delineators, and barricades.

Water Energy and Water Savings
Procurement activity may include:
- Energy-efficient equipment with the most up-to-date energy efficiency functions including, but not limited to, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems.
- Efficient lighting with energy-efficient equipment.
- Products for which the U.S. EPA Energy Star certification is available and which meet Energy Star certification, when practicable. When Energy Star labels are not available, choose energy-efficient products that are in the upper 25% of energy efficiency as designated by the Federal Energy Management Program.
- Water-saving products.

Landscaping
Procurement activity may include:
- Employ sustainable landscape management techniques for design, construction and maintenance. These techniques include, but are not limited to, integrated pest management, grasscycling, drip irrigation, composting, and procurement and use of mulch and compost that give preference to those produced from regionally generated plant debris and/or food waste programs.
- Minimize waste by selecting plants that are appropriate to the microclimate, species that can grow to their natural size in the space allotted them. Place preference on native and drought tolerant plants that require no or minimal watering once established.
- Limit amount of impervious surfaces by procuring permeable substitutes such as permeable asphalt or pavers for walkways, patios, and driveways.

Toxic Products and Pollution
Procurement activity may include:
- Refrain from procuring cleaning or disinfecting products (i.e. for janitorial or automotive use) containing carcinogens, mutagens, or teratogens. Chemicals to be avoided are listed by the U.S. EPA or the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health on the Toxics Release Inventory.
- Phase out chlorofluorocarbon-containing refrigerants, solvents and similar products.
- Procure readily biodegradable surfactants and detergents that do not contain phosphates.
- Maintain buildings and landscapes, manage pest problems through the application of prevention techniques and physical, mechanical and biological controls.
- Procure products with the lowest amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), highest recycled content, and low or no formaldehyde in materials such as paint, carpeting, adhesives, furniture and casework.

Reduce or eliminate the use of products that contribute to the formation of dioxins and furans, including, but not limited to:
- Paper, paper products, and janitorial paper products that are bleached or processed with chlorine or chlorine derivatives; and,
- Products that use polyvinyl chloride (PVC), including, but not limited to, office binders, furniture, flooring, and medical supplies.
- Procure products and equipment with contain no lead or mercury. For products containing lead or mercury, give consideration to those with lower quantities of these metals and to vendors with established lead and mercury recovery programs.
- Consider vehicle procurement alternatives to diesel such as compressed natural gas, biobased fuels, hybrids, electric batteries, and fuel cells, as available.

Forest Conservation
Procurement activity may include:
- Procure wood products such as lumber and paper that originate from forests harvested in an environmentally sustainable manner.
- Give consideration to wood products that are certified sustainably harvested by a comprehensive, performance-based certification system. The certification system shall include independent third-party audits, with standards equivalent to, or stricter than, those of the Forest Stewardship Council certification.
- When practicable, procure locally, sustainably harvested wood.

CU Procurement Service Center (PSC)
All general purchasing questions should be directed to the PSC at http://www.cu.edu/psc. The PSC is CU's centralized purchasing office located in Denver. Serving all CU campuses, the organization is responsible for buying goods and non-construction services.

UCCS Facilities Management (Facilities) Design and Construction Guidelines
UCCS supports and promotes sustainable and environmentally conscious building design, a systematic consideration of a project’s true cost to the environment and energy resources. Sustainable design concepts should be applied within the budgetary and programmatic constraints of the specific projects. A primary motivating premise for sustainability is to make wise resource decisions that will minimize our impact on future generations. Our University campus becomes a prominent forum for educating the public, promoting a higher community consciousness and leading by example. The building and associated landscape can have a substantial influences on teaching and learning. The benefits of improved indoor air quality, energy conservation and enhanced visual surroundings promote a healthy and productive environment for inhabitants.

Life Cycle Costing is required by a number of Colorado State statues and bills. In practice there is a line item added to new state building projects for high performance building. LCC is accomplished mainly through use of energy modeling, analysis of different HVAC and water systems, all with a goal of LEED Gold for all of our new buildings and major renovations.
UCCS Design and Construction Guidelines - Provided to all contractors
Energy conservation must be given special consideration in the design of new or remodeled University buildings. UCCS requires a life cycle cost analysis, where appropriate, on major components of new facilities and renovation projects. A building operating cost analysis shall be reviewed with the Owner’s Representative at the Design Development and Construction Documents Phases.

CCHE College and university campus facility master plans and facility program plans are reviewed and approved by CCHE, with the technical assistance of the State Buildings Program on matters of construction standards compliance, appropriation compliance, and operating/life cycle cost studies, including timing and funding sources for future controlled maintenance requirements. Last Revised Approved Policy III-E-2 April 5, 2001

As a Colorado state institution we are bound by state statutes: This statute is from 2004.
Colorado Statutes : : PART 13 STATE BUILDINGS : 24-30-1304. Life-cycle cost - legislative findings and declaration.

24-30-1304. Life-cycle cost - legislative findings and declaration.
The general assembly hereby finds:
- That state-owned and state-assisted facilities have a significant impact on the state's consumption of energy;
- That energy conservation practices adopted for the design, construction, and utilization of these facilities will have a beneficial effect on the state's overall supply of energy;
- That the cost of the energy consumed by these facilities over the life of the facilities must be considered, in addition to the initial cost of constructing such facilities; and
- That the cost of energy is significant, and facility designs must take into consideration the total life-cycle cost, including the initial construction cost, the cost, over the economic life of the facility, of the energy consumed, replacement costs, and the cost of operation and maintenance of the facility, including energy consumption.

The general assembly declares that it is the policy of this state to insure that energy conservation practices are employed in the design of state-owned and state-assisted facilities. To this end the general assembly requires all state agencies to analyze the life-cycle cost of each facility constructed, or each major facility constructed or renovated, over its economic life, in addition to the initial construction or renovation cost.
Source: L. 79: Entire part added, p. 884, § 1, effective July 1.

24-30-1305. Life-cycle cost - application.
The general assembly authorizes and directs that state agencies shall employ design and construction methods for state facilities and design and construction methods for state-assisted facilities under their jurisdiction, in such a manner as to further the policy declared in section 24-30-1304, insuring that life-cycle cost analyses and energy conservation practices are employed in new state-owned and state-assisted facilities and in new or renovated major state-owned and state-assisted facilities.

The life-cycle cost analysis shall include but not be limited to such elements as:
- The coordination, orientation, and positioning of the facility on its physical site;
- The amount and type of fenestration employed in the facility;
- Thermal performance and efficiency characteristics of materials incorporated into the facility design;
- The variable occupancy and operating conditions of the facility, including illumination levels;
- Architectural features which affect energy consumption; and
- An energy consumption analysis of a major facility's heating, ventilating, and air conditioning system, lighting system, and all other energy-consuming systems. The energy consumption analysis of the operation of energy-consuming systems in the major facility should include but not be limited to:

- The comparison of two or more system alternatives;
- The simulation or engineering evaluation of each system over the entire range of operation of the major facility for a year's operating period; and
- The engineering evaluation of the energy consumption of component equipment in each system considering the operation of such components at other than full or rated outputs.

The life-cycle cost analysis performed for each major facility shall provide but not be limited to the following information:
- The initial estimated cost of each energy-consuming system being compared and evaluated;
- The estimated annual operating cost of all utility requirements, including consideration of possible escalating costs of energy;
- The estimated annual cost of maintaining each energy-consuming system; and
- The average estimated replacement cost for each system expressed in annual terms for the economic life of the major facility.
- The life-cycle cost analysis shall be certified by a licensed architect or professional engineer, or by both architect and engineer, particularly qualified by training and experience for the type of work involved.

(6) Selection of the optimum system or combination of systems to be incorporated into the design of state facilities and state-assisted facilities shall be based on the life-cycle cost analysis over the economic life of the facility, unless a request for an alternative system is made and approved by the department prior to beginning construction.

Construction Standards:
Division 09 - Finishes
i. Adhesives:
i. Refer to LEED standards for low VOC products.
https://pdc.uccs.edu/sites/g/files/kjihxj1346/files/inline-files/Division9-Finishes_REV_8-14-17.pdf

UCCS Campus Construction Standards:
Design with building sustainability concepts shall be discussed, considered and integrated into the Project.

UCCS supports and promotes sustainable and environmentally conscious building design, a systematic consideration of a project’s true cost to the environment and energy resources. Sustainable design concepts should be applied within the budgetary and programmatic constraints of the specific projects. A primary motivating premise for sustainability is to make wise resource decisions that will minimize our impact on future generations. Our University campus becomes a prominent forum for educating the public, promoting a higher community consciousness and leading by example. The building and associated landscape can have a substantial influences on teaching and learning. The benefits of improved indoor air quality, energy conservation and enhanced visual surroundings promote a healthy and productive environment for inhabitants.

A commissioning plan shall be produced and an implementation process developed for projects with
substantial mechanical or electrical work. Consideration of mechanical and lighting system efficiency, daylighting schemes, reduction/elimination of environmentally harmful substances, regional material availability, water conservation, and indigenous or xeric plant usage are general strategies that should be evaluated. Consistent with Colorado Senate Bill 07-51, UCCS will institute a policy of building to the highest LEED certification possible (within 5 % of the budget) for buildings that receive a minimum of 25% funding from the state. For other non state-funded buildings, UCCS will institute a system to internally audit buildings to achieve a LEED Silver or equivalent certification.

The furnishing standards listed below support overarching sustainability goals for the University including waste reduction, equity, diversity & inclusion, and energy conservation.
Public Toilets
In order to accommodate our LGBT+ users, new buildings and major renovations are to incorporate at least two single-user restrooms.

Recycling
UCCS has an extensive recycling program. The Architect shall review both internal and exterior recycling collection requirements with the University and provide adequate space in their design to accomplish this efficiently. Accommodation for recycling containers both inside and outside is to be considered during the design process.
https://pdc.uccs.edu/sites/g/files/kjihxj1346/files/inline-files/Introduction-General_Desig_Considerations-REV_13_MAR_2013.pdf

Division 10 - Specialties
d. Electric Hand Dryers:
i. Install electric hand dryers in all multi-stall restrooms and other locations.
Coordinate with Electrical.
ii. Manufacturers:
1. Dyson Airblade V
2. NO SUBSTITUTIONS
https://pdc.uccs.edu/sites/g/files/kjihxj1346/files/inline-files/Division10-Specialties_REV_2016.pdf

The Office of Information Technology manages the purchasing of lab space computers and electronics and implement the following sustainable purchasing practices:
- Changeover from desktop/monitors to all-in-one PCs to reduce electricity usage
- Every iteration of computers has a better energy star rating than the previous one
- Transition from HDD to SSD to reduce power consumption
- Purchase computers with recyclable packaging

The Office of Information Technology manages the purchasing of smart classroom computers and electronics and implement the following sustainable purchasing practices:
- New laser projectors use less power and do not require bulbs, eliminating hazardous waste
- Newer podiums are passively cooled (do not rely on constantly running fans to cool equipment)
https://oit.uccs.edu/areas/sustain

Per the UCCS Dining & Hospitality Services Purchasing Guidelines*, last updated Feb 2021, the following are sustainability criteria applied when purchasing for the UCCS dining halls, coffee shops, cafe, pub, and catering services.
- Traceability: Must have the ability to provide point of origin and traceability information for all products.
- Sourcing for a Better Tomorrow: Sourcing for a Better Tomorrow are guidelines set by the UCCS DHS department for conscientious purchasing practices. We are committed to a better tomorrow by sourcing and serving food and food products that: promote sustainability, include Colorado based farms, support the local economy, and promote healthier livestock.
- Local Sourcing Standard: Our chefs strive to source at least 20% of their ingredients from small, owner-operated farms, ranches, and/ or producers and manufactures within the state of Colorado.
- Colorado Producers and Manufactures Standard: Colorado producers and manufactures are local entrepreneurs who support socially and environmentally responsible practices in the state of Colorado.
*See attached document for more details

Vending is managed by our UCCS Bookstore and excludes the sale of bottled water. This was voted upon the UCCS student body through a referendum which banned the sale of bottled water on campus in August 2014. An educational campaign called Take Back the Tap supported this exclusion of bottled water sales to communicate the negative impact of privatization of water rights to low-income and BIPOC communities, increased oil usage to create the plastic bottles and the carbon footprint of transporting water across the country.
https://gaf.uccs.edu/projects/projects-funded/take-back-the-tap-phase-1-4

The State Architects Office, which directs all building for the university, has a stated goal of at least 3% Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses for professional services. https://www.colorado.gov/pacific/sites/default/files/SDVOSB%20Flyer.pdf
There is also a requirement for 80% of labor to be from Colorado unless certain conditions are met.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByG39KP3LPlCcTl1Mndad3c5aEU/view

The University of Colorado Procurement Services Center, which directs procurement of supplies as well as services, is committed to supporting the goals and mission of the University's Small Business Program. Accordingly, within the policies and procedures of the University of Colorado, the PSC will:

Appoint a Small Business Liaison Officer (SBLO) to:
Administer the University's Small Business Program;
Maximize opportunities for CU departments to procure goods and services from small business concerns, including:
- Small Business Concerns;
- Women-Owned Small Business Concerns;
- Small Disadvantaged Business Concerns;
- Historically Black Colleges/Universities and Minority Institutions;
- HUBZone Small Business Concerns;
- Veteran-Owned Small Business Concerns; and,
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business Concerns.

Inform small and disadvantaged businesses about how to conduct business with the University of Colorado, as well as about the various procurement opportunities available at the University. https://www.cu.edu/psc/psc-commitment-small-business-program

Design and Construction Standards
https://pdc.uccs.edu/campus-design-and-landscape-guidelines

UCCS Campus Construction Standards | Introduction: General Design Standards
https://pdc.uccs.edu/sites/g/files/kjihxj1346/files/inline-files/Introduction-General_Desig_Considerations-REV_13_MAR_2013.pdf