| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 65.54 |
| Liaison | C Jane Hagen |
| Submission Date | Sept. 3, 2024 |
Virginia Commonwealth University
OP-11: Sustainable Procurement
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
2.50 / 3.00 |
C Jane
Hagen Sustainability Data Analyst Sustainability |
Part 1. Institution-wide sustainable procurement policies
A copy of the policies, guidelines or directives:
The policies, guidelines or directives:
Requirements for General Purchases
- Energy Star-rated appliances and equipment must be purchased (or leased) when an Energy Star designation is available.
- All new copiers, faxes, printers, and other such office equipment purchased or leased must be compatible with recycled paper.
- Recycled paper must be purchased.
- Purchases of individual serving-sized plastic containers of water are permitted as follows:
- distribution to/consumption by employees (requires use of local funds, except in the case of emergencies or for safety and/or health reasons, in which case state or local funds may be used)
- as part of business meals or catered events (state or local funds)
- for information sessions, training sessions, or other events involving prospective students, students, or non-employees (state or local funds)
- intensive/substantive training sessions involving only employees (state or local funds)
- information sessions or other events involving employees only (local funds)
- When selecting sites within the Commonwealth for conferences and meetings (excluding State facilities) which will be attended by fewer than 50 people, departments should strive to use "Virginia Green" certified facilities.
- When selecting sites within the Commonwealth for conferences and meetings (excluding State facilities) which will be attended by 50 or more people (excluding State facilities), only "Virginia Green" certified facilities shall be used unless permission to select a different site has been approved by University Purchasing.
URL: https://procurement.vcu.edu/our-services/university-purchasing/sustainability/
Part 2. Life Cycle Cost Analysis
Which of the following best describes the institution’s use of LCCA?:
A brief description of the LCCA policy and/or practices:
From VCU Facilites Management Design and Construction Standards:
5.3 HVAC
5.3.1 Mechanical Design Standards
The criteria contained in this section supplements VUSBC to assure minimum standards
as indicated and applies to all appropriate projects in the Capital Outlay Program. Its
purpose is not to limit architectural and engineering freedom, but to create awareness
that all designs must effectively minimize the use of energy. The development of these
standards/guidelines has demonstrated that energy efficient designs provide very
significant energy savings and reductions in life cycle costs. Compliance with these
standards/ guidelines is mandatory.
Energy efficiency considerations are a function of building design. All projects financed
by the state will be evaluated for energy conservation and life cycle costs.
URL: https://fmd.vcu.edu/media/fmd/documents/construction-planning-and-design/DesignConstructionStandards-2024-06-13.pdf
Part 3. Product-specific sustainability criteria
To count, the criteria must address the specific sustainability challenges and impacts associated with products and/or services in each category, e.g. by requiring or giving preference to multi-criteria sustainability standards, certifications and labels appropriate to the category. Broader, institution-wide policies should be reported in Part 1, above.
Chemically intensive products and services
A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for chemically intensive products and services:
All of our buildings are mandated to be cleaned with Green Cleaning products, processes and equipment (per contract language) at 90%. We allow 10% cushion for those projects that may require use of a chemical that is not classified as Green Seal or Environmental Choice (for example, we have to remove numerous layers of wax from a new property acquisition, or a specific flooring manufacturer mandates a specific chemical to clean/maintain it, or we have an especially dirty grout in a restroom that requires more intensive cleaning). We monitor the usage and we have to give special contract approval to deviate from the Green Cleaning chemicals.
Consumable office products
A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for consumable office products:
A minimum of 30% recycled content paper must be purchased.
Departments are recommended to purchase products that can be reused (e.g. toner cartridges, batteries, etc.), recycled or remanufactured.
Furniture and furnishings
A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for furniture and furnishings:
VCU Design and Construction Standards
Division 12: Furnishings
All furniture will meet LEED standards or other accepted standards
that are designed for sustainability.
Division 18: Sustainability
Achieve sustainable purchases of at least 40% of total purchases of
furniture by cost. Sustainable purchases are those that meet one or
more of the following criteria:
- Purchases contain at least 10% postconsumer and or 20% postindustrial material.
- Purchases contain at least 70% material salvaged off-site or outside the organization.
- Purchases contain at least 70% material salvaged on-site, through organization’s material and equipment reuse program.
- Purchases contain at least 50% rapidly renewable material.
- Purchases contain at least 50% Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood.
- Purchases contain at least 50% material harvested and processed, or extracted and processed within 500 miles of the project.
Information Technology (IT) and equipment
A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for Information Technology (IT) and equipment:
Energy Star-rated appliances and equipment must be purchased (or leased) when an Energy Star designation is available.
Food service providers
A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for food service providers:
VCU requires our food service providers to adhere to the following requirements:
- Implementation of an energy and water conservation program at every site
- Purchase of paper products with recycled content
- Implementation of daily green cleaning products
- Diversion of 100 percent of fryer oil waste
- An increase of the level of sustainable food offerings, with a 5 percent
yearly goal
Garments and linens
A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for garments and linens:
Professional service providers
A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for professional service providers:
Procurement Services supports diversity within VCU’s supply chain by strongly encouraging the use of SWaM (Small, Women, and Minority-Owned) suppliers for purchases of goods and services in the local economy.
The VCU SWaM Team, in coordination with senior university leadership and the Director of Procurement Services, annually establishes university spend goals with SWaM businesses and reports performance to DSBSD and The Board of Visitors. These goals are always represented by a percentage of overall discretionary spend at VCU, and reflects Virginia's SWaM spend goal of 42%.
In fiscal year 2020, we exceeded the Virginia state goal, reaching at 46.2% spend with SWaM suppliers and vendors.
Transportation and fuels
A brief description of the published sustainability criteria for transportation and fuels:
Optional Fields
Additional documentation to support the submission:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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.