Overall Rating Silver
Overall Score 63.21
Liaison Mark Klapatch-Mathias
Submission Date June 30, 2021

STARS v2.2

University of Wisconsin-River Falls
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.25 / 3.00 Brandee Drinken
Director
Purchasing Services
"---" 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 multiple commodity categories institution-wide?:
Yes

A copy of the policies, guidelines or directives:
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The policies, guidelines or directives:

State Procurement Manual-Recycling Procurement: http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod19.asp

The Bureau of Procurement and state agencies will achieve the goals of recycling and waste reduction procurement by revising specifications, bidding effectively, and purchasing recycled products. The Bureau's role is to assist state agencies in complying with current state law. The majority of the following specific material requirements, timetables, deadlines, and compliance requirements come directly from 1989 Wisconsin Act 335, as amended by later legislation. State agencies will write product specifications which incorporate requirements for recycled materials and recovered materials when technically and economically feasible. Specifications for the following priority categories were reviewed and revised by January 1, 1991:

- Paper and paper products;
- Plastic and plastic products;
- Glass and glass products;
- Motor oil and lubricants;
- Construction materials, including insulating materials;
- Furnishings, including rugs, carpet, and furniture; and
- Highway equipment, including signs, signposts, reflectors, guardrails, lane dividers, and barricades.

Specifications should include requirements that minimize solid waste in accordance with the state solid waste management priorities; favor durable, multiple-use items over single-use disposable products; and acknowledge ultimate disposal and recyclability of products. In the case of paper, specifications will use the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) definitions of the terms recovered material and postconsumer recovered material. Specifications should not contain unnecessary prohibitions to products made from recycled materials or recovered materials.

Department of Administration-Supplier Diversity Policy & Reporting: https://doa.wi.gov/ProcurementManual/Pages/PRO-606.aspx

State Procurement Manual-Minority Business Enterprise (MBE): http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod1.pdf
Statutes provide that agencies “shall attempt to ensure that 5% of the total amount expended in each fiscal year is paid to minority businesses.” In addition, state law allows agencies to apply a price preference of up to 5% on behalf of certified MBEs. The MBE goal and preference apply only to minority businesses certified by the Department of Administration Supplier Diversity Program.

State Procurement Manual-Disabled Veteran-Owned Business (DVB): http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod35.pdf
Statutes provide that agencies “shall attempt to ensure that 1% of the total amount expended ... in each fiscal year is paid to disabled veteran-owned businesses.” In addition,
state law allows agencies to apply a price preference of up to 5% on behalf of certified DVBs. The DVB goal and preference apply only to disabled veteran-owned businesses certified by the Department of Administration Supplier Diversity Program.

State Procurement Manual-Small Business:

http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod9.pdf
"Small business" means a business which has had less than $1.5 million in gross annual sales in the most recent calendar or fiscal year. In general, minority businesses are considered to be small businesses. The State Bureau of Procurement encourages the participation of small businesses in the statewide purchasing program by inviting small businesses to actively solicit public purchasing business and by reducing undue impediments to such participation.

State Procurement Manual-Reciprocity:
http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/proc20.pdf
Wisconsin law does not provide a preference for in-state businesses. Rather, Wisconsin treats another state’s vendors as our vendors are treated there (i.e., Wisconsin penalizes an out-of-state vendor if its state imposes an in-state preference). Vendors from states without a preference compete on an equal basis with Wisconsin vendors. The absence of an in-state preference allows Wisconsin businesses to compete for contracts in other states without penalty.

State Use Board - Work Center Program:
http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/swc/requirement.asp
- http://stateuseprogram.wi.gov/index.asp
The Wisconsin State Use Board attempts to maximize state agency, including the University of Wisconsin System, contracting with certified Wisconsin Work Centers, insuring the procurement of quality products and services while providing a positive impact on the employment of individuals with severe disabilities.

In 1989, the State Use Law was created and the Wisconsin’s State Use Program was developed, for the purpose of providing gainful employment for the thousands of Wisconsinites with severe disabilities across the state who seek job opportunities in their communities.

The law, Wis. Stat. 16.752, requires all state agencies to purchase products and services from Wisconsin nonprofit work centers employing persons with severe disabilities when the work center is able to meet the state’s specifications and provide the product or service at fair market value.

Wisconsin’s State Use Program creates economic independence and self-reliance for people with disabilities. The work centers provide long-term, transferable work experience and marketable job skill training to people with disabilities that increase their independence and self-sufficiency. When individuals with disabilities gain employment, they are able to reduce or eliminate reliance on government funded programs and services. In addition, they add to the tax base by becoming tax payers. Having fuller, more diverse employment and by reductions in the need for tax funded support services benefits society as well.

PRO-209 Sustainability in Procurement
https://doa.wi.gov/ProcurementManual/Pages/PRO-209.aspx
The purpose of this policy is to promote development of contract specifications that minimize the generation of solid waste and increase recyclability and to establish procedures to follow in purchasing goods with recycled content.


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:

State Procurement Policy: http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod19.asp

Specifications should use life cycle costing when it is appropriate to include the costs of waste disposal or to evaluate durability or reusability.

Life cycle cost formulas may include, but are not limited to the applicable costs of energy efficiency, acquisition and conversion, money, transportation, warehousing and distribution, training, operation and maintenance and disposition or resale.

Bid specifications should state whether or not life cycle costs will be used in the bid evaluation. If life cycle costing is used for bid evaluation but the details are not included in the bid specifications, then the terms, conditions, and evaluation criteria will be available upon request at the time of the bid opening.

Any energy-related product implemented for the purpose of energy savings is evaluated according to its simple payback, or the length of time it can pay for the initial investment through energy savings. If the simple payback exceeds the useful life of the product, it is deemed infeasible. While this calculation is suitable for purposes of securing state funding, campus projects also incorporate an estimate of maintenance costs, particularly when a project can realize maintenance savings over the existing technology or product.

Therefore, maintenance cost is implicit in the lifetime of the product itself, but servicing more complex systems that might only achieve minimal gains in energy savings lose some degree of credibility, even if they achieve the lifetime payback metric.


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:

State Procurement Manual-Use of Products Containing Phosphorus: http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod14.pdf
State agencies will not purchase or use products that contain more than 0.5 (one-half of one) percent phosphorus by weight which cannot be sold to the public at the retail level.

VendorNet-Cleaning Chemicals: https://vendornet.wi.gov/Contract.aspx?Id=f40f7b48-212a-e611-8964-40a8f0ad9999
Contract: https://vendornet.wi.gov/Download.aspx?type=contract&Id=f40f7b48-212a-e611-8964-40a8f0ad9999&filename=3292_2.PDF

PURPOSE AND SCOPE OF THE REQUEST FOR BID: The State of Wisconsin (State), as represented by its Department of Administration, State Bureau of Procurement, requests bids for Cleaning Chemicals. The results will be used to establish a statewide contract for all its agencies and institutions, including the University of Wisconsin System campuses and Wisconsin municipalities.

The purpose of this Request for Bid (RFB) is to provide interested parties with sufficient information to enable them to prepare and submit a bid for Cleaning Chemicals. Contractors are encouraged to work with authorized end-users to replace non-Green certified chemicals with Green certified (Green Seal, Ecologo, or EPA Dfe certified) cleaning chemicals through product testing processes. Contractors are also expected to provide end-users with current cleaning methods and techniques for using Green Certified cleaning chemicals.

TRAINING: Contractor is encouraged to provide advice to end-users about efficient and economical solutions to cleaning problems. Contractor is encouraged to keep end-users updated on the latest Green Certified (Green Seal, Ecologo or EPA DfE certified) products within their category of award. The Bureau of Procurement is committed to expanding the Green Certified (Green Seal, Ecologo or EPA DfE certified) product lists for all Tier 1 categories. To this end, awarded vendors are encouraged to work with end-users in performance testing processes of Green Certified sample products to replace non-green products.

PRICING: Bidder shall submit a percent discount off of a dedicated Green Certified (Green Seal, Ecologo and/or EPA DfE certified) manufacturer’s catalog or list prices. Bidder will also submit the publication number and date of the price lists that discount is derived from. Upon award, Bidder must provide documentation of their company’s price lists.


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:

In the case of paper, specifications will use the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) definitions of the terms recovered material and postconsumer recovered material.
Based on the following general recycled content criteria, paper specifications will achieve the maximum postconsumer content that is reasonable available from at least two manufacturers and that satisfies performance standards. The criteria for determining realistic recycled content specifications are:

Adequate supply;

Competitive market with at least two manufacturers producing the specified content; and

Reasonable price.

Sustainable Facilities Standards: https://doa.wi.gov/Pages/DoingBusiness/Sustainability.aspx

State Procurement Policy-Recycling Procurement: http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod19.asp
State agencies will write product specifications which incorporate requirements for recycled materials and recovered materials when technically and economically feasible. Specifications for the following priority categories were reviewed and revised by January 1, 1991:
- Paper and paper products;
- Plastic and plastic products;
- Glass and glass products;
- Motor oil and lubricants;
- Construction materials, including insulating materials;
- Furnishings, including rugs, carpet, and furniture; and
- Highway equipment, including signs, signposts, reflectors, guardrails, lane dividers, and barricades.


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:

Sustainable Facilities Standards: https://doa.wi.gov/Pages/DoingBusiness/Sustainability.aspx

The requirements of the Sustainable Facilities Standards mirror the credits for LEED certification at the Silver level.

RECYCLED CONTENT: Use materials with recycled content such that the sum of post-consumer recycled content plus one-half of the post-industrial content constitutes at least 10-20% of the total value of the materials in the project. The value of the recycled content portion of a material or furnishing shall be determined by dividing the weight of recycled content in the item by the total weight of all material in the item, then multiplying the
resulting percentage by the total value of the item.

REGIONAL MATERIALS: Use a minimum of 20% of building materials and products that are manufactured* regionally within a radius of 500 miles. * Manufacturing refers to the final assembly of components into the building product that is furnished and installed by the tradesmen. For example, if the hardware comes from Dallas, Texas, the lumber from Vancouver, British Columbia, and the joist is assembled in Kent, Washington; then the location of the final assembly is Kent, Washington.

RENEWABLE MATERIALS: Use renewable building materials and products (made from plants that are typically harvested within a ten-year cycle or shorter) for 5% of the total value of all building materials and products used in the project.

CERTIFIED WOOD: 70% of wood-based materials and products, must be obtained from forests certified in accordance with Wisconsin State, County or Managed Forest Law certification program and certain national certification programs listed below, for wood building components including, but not limited to, structural framing and general dimensional framing, flooring, finishes, furnishings, and non-rented temporary construction applications such as bracing, concrete form work and pedestrian barriers.

PURCHASING OF FURNITURE, FIXTURES, AND EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENT: Purchase Energy Star approved equipment and products with ECO-labels or ECO-label certifications. Preference for recycled content, used equipment, locally manufactured. No PVC content.

State Procurement Policy-Recycling Procurement: http://vendornet.state.wi.us/vendornet/procman/prod19.asp
State agencies will write product specifications which incorporate requirements for recycled materials and recovered materials when technically and economically feasible. Specifications for the following priority categories were reviewed and revised by January 1, 1991:
- Paper and paper products;
- Plastic and plastic products;
- Glass and glass products;
- Motor oil and lubricants;
- Construction materials, including insulating materials;
- Furnishings, including rugs, carpet, and furniture; and
- Highway equipment, including signs, signposts, reflectors, guardrails, lane dividers, and barricades.


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:

Sustainable Facilities Standards: https://doa.wi.gov/Pages/DoingBusiness/Sustainability.aspx

PURCHASING OF FURNITURE, FIXTURES, AND EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENT: Purchase Energy Star approved equipment and products with ECO-labels or ECO-label certifications. Preference for recycled content, used equipment, locally manufactured. No PVC content.

VendorNet-Computer Equipment and Related Services: https://vendornet.wi.gov/Contract.aspx?Id=d3b40eca-08ad-e611-80f8-0050568c7f0f
Mandatory Contract Requirements: https://vendornet.wi.gov/Download.aspx?type=contract&Id=d3b40eca-08ad-e611-80f8-0050568c7f0f&filename=2.+Mandatory+Contract+Requirements.docx
TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS: ENVIRONMENTAL

1. Each standard configuration shall have a minimum Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) certification as indicated on the cost sheet. General information on the criteria of EPEAT can be found at http://www.epeat.net. Bidder shall provide verification of EPEAT certification at the required level, upon request.

2. The State is committed to energy saving and environmentally friendly devices. Energy efficient and environmentally friendly devices shall be included in the Product offering. Contractor shall provide energy efficient devices that meet the following, as applicable:
- Equipment shall meet applicable Energy Star standards.
- Monitor screens shall not emit electrostatic and electromagnetic radiation.
- All Products capable of meeting Energy Star low-power enabled features shall be shipped with the Energy Star low-power feature activated or enabled unless otherwise agreed upon by the State.
- Products shipped without the Energy Star seal affixed to the Product shall include the manufacturer’s certification specifying that such Products are Energy Star compliant.

"PRO-510 Procurement of Equipment: Energy-Efficient and Graphic Reproduction" is a policy to establish official procedure for the procurement of certain equipment related to graphic reproduction processes, and equipment with energy efficiency requirements.
https://doa.wi.gov/ProcurementManual/Documents/PRO-510.pdf


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:

Below are the sustainability requirements with our dining contract:

The Contractor will collaborate with the University for the potential purchase and use of products grown locally if said products meet the appropriate risk management, health codes, etc. The Contractor will work with the University to implement a sustainable dining plan. The University encourages purchases to be made from local producers within the region with an expectation for growth in this area over the life of the contract. The Contractor will provide annual reports specifying purchases made with local producers.

The Contractor will be expected to collaborate with the University to develop a pre-consumer/post-consumer waste program.

Sustainability efforts will be reviewed by June 30th annually for effectiveness and comparison/alignment to goals of the University sustainability initiatives. Upon these reviews and upon mutual agreement between the Contractor and the University, pending notification of and approval from the UW-System Procurement Office, appropriate adjustments/amendments to the contact will be made.

The Contractor shall use recyclable packaging materials, cups, isolation meal containers, plates, to-go containers and similar items as much as possible.
Chapter 266 State Statutes:
The Contractor shall comply with University and State policies and procedures related to recycling of waste materials, purchase of recycled materials and participate in required waste separation programs. The University shall arrange for space and/or suitable containers required for recycling.
Disposal Product Reduction Programs
The Contractor shall develop programs, approved by the University, to reduce the use of disposable items that are not recyclable and separate for recycling the following materials that are generated as solid waste by the University and Contractor:
• Aluminum containers
• Corrugated paper or other container board
• Glass containers
• Magazine or other material printed on similar paper
• Newsprint
• Office paper
• Plastic containers #1, #2
• Steel containers, aerosol cans, paint cans
Recyclable Materials and Trash Removal
The University will provide dumpster service for trash and recycling under separate contract. The University is currently under a Single Stream Recycling Program, thereby minimizing the need to separate and sort. The Contractor is encouraged to recycle.
The University will be responsible for all recycling expense for items properly separated by the Contractor.
The Contractor will be responsible for 70% of the total garbage disposal expense for the University Center.
Waste Containers
Unless otherwise indicated in this section, the University shall provide waste and recycling containers in sufficient quantity to maintain sanitary standards for trash and recycling disposal. The Contractor shall provide trash bag liners as needed. A minimum of 1.9 mil weight must be used for all trash liners. Waste and recycling containers shall be kept in a clean and satisfactory condition at all times, and emptied by the Contractor to maintain sanitary and aesthetically pleasing conditions.


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:
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Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating professional service providers?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for professional service providers:
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Does the institution have published sustainability criteria to be applied when evaluating transportation and fuels?:
No

A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for transportation and fuels:
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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:
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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.