University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

North Carolina state agencies have an environmental and legislative responsibility to purchase environmentally preferable products and services. Executive Order 156 and General Statutes 143 require agencies to buy recycled content and environmentally preferable products and services. Additional statutes and policies provide guidance on hiring historically underutilized businesses.

Electrical and mechanical engineers conduct a life cycle cost analysis when specifying products to use in energy and water efficiency upgrade projects, renovation projects, and capital projects.

Housekeeping purchases green cleaning products and Facilities Services purchases no or low VOC paints, solvents, and adhesives to comply with LEED for Existing Building performance levels. A multi-departmental team from within Facilities Services - including grounds, housekeeping, and sustainability - sought and obtained approval for these internally published maintenance and purchasing guidelines.

The School of Government's purchasing policy is an example of how these guidelines and practices have been codified. The policy states:
"In addition, the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Government shall henceforth:
Comply with LEED for new and existing building requirements when purchasing items in the product categories below:
Building Products including adhesives, sealants, paints and coatings, composite wood, and flooring.
Cleaning Products including general purpose cleaners, disinfectants, floor finishes and strippers, disposable paper products, trash bags, and soaps."




.

Staples "is committed to providing customers with top-quality products at a reasonable price that are also manufactured responsibly. Staples expects all workers, with an emphasis on those who make Staples® Bbrand products, to be treated fairly and with dignity and respect, and the products themselves are made in an environmentally sustainable manner."
UNC Purchasing Services requires that Staples go beyond that commitment to sell UNC customers a minimum of 30% recycled content paper. When customers select virgin content print and copy paper, the UNC/Staples purchasing portal informs them that the order will be defaulted to 30% recycled content paper. The paper sold by Staples to UNC customers is also FSC certified.

University Design Guidelines support the University’s goal of minimum LEED Silver performance levels for all capital projects.

The School of Government's Purchasing Policy demonstrates how this applies to furniture and furnishings. "Furniture shall meet LEED requirements, when practical, without causing undue financial burden. (Ex. The new Darran desks purchased by the SOG comply with LEED Commercial Interiors specifications.)"

State of NC requirement, as included in the University’s standard terms and conditions, is:
Energy Star Compliance: All Products constituting electronic office equipment, including but not limited to, computers, monitors, printers, scanners, photocopy machines, and facsimile machines, shall be Energy Star compliant. If any of the Products do not satisfy Energy Star requirements, Vendor shall provide a justification statement explaining why the Products are not Energy Star compliant.

Carolina Dining Services requests that the dining contractor (Aramark) demonstrates "environmental and energy awareness and responsibility by minimizing waste in any form and to participate in University environmental projects as mutually agreed." These standards are applied to franchises as well.

Facilities Planning incorporates sustainability criteria when recruiting and selecting architects,engineers, contractors, and interior and landscape designers. This is articulated in advertisements for services.

North Carolina law, G.S. 143-128.2, established goals for minority participation in UNC construction contracts. The legislation provides that the State (University of North Carolina) shall have a verifiable ten percent (10%) goal for participation by minority businesses in the total value of work for each project for which a contract or contracts are awarded. Minority businesses are defined has having at least 51% ownership and ongoing management by Black, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, or Female individuals.

The University hired, and continues to employ, a Historically Underutilized Business (HUB) Coordinator/Construction Specialist after the law was passed in 2002. UNC has a verifiable goal of 10% minority participation and achieved 18.95% HUB participation in 2019.

Furthermore, Executive Order 143, signed by Governor Cooper in July, 2020, "tasks the Office of Historically Underutilized Businesses (HUB) with assisting NCPRO and NC Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) in ensuring that historically underutilized small businesses have access to all available economic recovery funds and contract opportunities. It states, in part, that the HUB Office will:
“Work directly with the State Construction Office and State Purchasing Office to identify construction, purchasing and professional services contracts by state agencies that do not exceed $250,000 to increase access to opportunities for small businesses. To further enhance and improve the State's good faith efforts to recruit diverse businesses for participation in public projects, the State Construction Office and State Purchasing Office shall develop a rule to require all projects to include at least one bid or proposal from a certified small historically underutilized business. Exceptions to this rule must be approved by the Secretary of the Department of Administration or her designee.”

State Incentives
Alternative Fuel and Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) Fund

The North Carolina State Energy Office administers the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) Credit Banking and Selling Program, which enables the state to generate funds from the sale of EPAct 1992 credits. The funds that EPAct credit sales generate are deposited into the Alternative Fuel Revolving Fund (Fund) for state agencies to offset the incremental costs of purchasing biodiesel blends of at least 20% (B20) or ethanol blends of at least 85% (E85), developing alternative fueling infrastructure, and purchasing AFVs and hybrid electric vehicles. Funds are distributed to state departments, institutions, and agencies in proportion to the number of EPAct credits generated by each. For the purposes of this program, alternative fuels include 100% biodiesel (B100), biodiesel blends of at least B20, ethanol blends of at least E85, compressed natural gas, propane, and electricity. The Fund also covers additional projects approved by the Energy Policy Council. (Reference North Carolina General Statutes 143-58.4, 143-58.5, 143-341, and 136-28.13) UNC policy is to ensure that at least 75% of the vehicles purchased by UNC run on alternative fuels. To support flex fuel, biodiesel, and electric vehicles, the University has installed E85 and biodiesel pumps as well as electric charging stations.