Evaluation of the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program
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United States Office of Policy November 2013 Environmental Protection (1807T) EPA 100-K-13-014 Agency Evaluation of the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program Promoting Environmental Results Through Evaluation TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY CHAPTER 1 | INTRODUCTION Introduction to EPP Program and Purpose of Evaluation 1-1 Report Organization 1-1 EPP Program Logic Model 1-2 Evaluation Scoping Challenges 1-5 Defining the Boundaries of the EPP Program 1-5 Identifying EPP’s Major Program Activities 1-6 Data Availability 1-7 EPP Product and Service Sectors Selected for Evaluation 1-7 Electronics 1-8 Building Products 1-10 Hospitality and Travel 1-12 Evaluation Questions 1-14 Questions on EPP Outcomes Specific to the Federal Government 1-14 Broader Evaluation Questions (Beyond the Federal Government Realm) 1-15 CHAPTER 2 | METHODS Use of Existing Data 2-1 Cross-Sector Federal Data Sources Reviewed 2-1 GSA Advantage 2-1 Federal Procurement Data System – Next Generation (FPDS-NG) 2-2 Other Federal Sources of Comprehensive EPP Purchasing Data 2-3 Electronics Purchases Data Sources and Analytic Approaches 2-5 EPEAT 2-5 FEC 2-5 Building and Construction Product Data Sources and Analytic Approaches 2-6 Agency-Specific Sources for Building and Construction Purchasing Data 2-6 GSA Schedule Data 2-7 Mini-Market Analysis 2-8 Other Building and Construction Product Data Sources 2-12 Hospitality and Travel Data Sources 2-13 Existing Data Sources on Non-federal Green Purchasing Trends 2-13 States 2-13 i Universities 2-14 Other Non-Federal Institutional Purchasers 2-14 Data on Use of EPP Website 2-15 New Data Collections 2-15 Survey of Federal Purchasers 2-15 Identification of Survey Participants 2-16 Survey Mode 2-17 Overview of Respondents 2-19 Survey Analysis 2-20 Interviews 2-24 Strengths and Weakness of the Methodology 2-29 Strengths 2-29 Limitations 2-29 CHAPTER 3 | FINDINGS Question 1: Changes in Federal Purchaser Attitudes toward Green Purchasing 3-1 Introduction 3-1 Key Findings 3-2 General Awareness of and Attitudes toward Environmentally Preferable Purchasing 3-3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Environmentally Preferable Purchasing 3-5 Importance of Environmental Attributes in Purchasing Decisions 3-7 Question 2: Changes in Federal Purchaser Behavior Regarding Green Purchasing 3-9 Introduction 3-9 Key Findings 3-9 General Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Behavior 3-10 Incorporating Green Criteria into Agency Purchasing 3-12 Responsiveness to Executive Orders 3-14 Question 3: Federal Purchases of Green Products and Services 3-15 Introduction and Key Findings 3-15 Electronics Sector 3-15 Building and Construction Products 3-18 Furniture 3-19 Carpet 3-21 Question 4: Leading by Example 3-23 Introduction 3-23 Key Findings 3-24 Survey Evidence of Leading by Example 3-24 Interview Evidence of Leading by Example 3-26 EPA Participation in FEC 3-27 ii Question 5: Environmental Benefits of Federal Green Purchases 3-32 Introduction 3-32 Key Findings 3-32 Calculation of Environmental Benefits of Federal EPEAT Purchases 3-32 Impact of EEBC Assumptions on Total Environmental Benefits of EPEAT 3-35 Question 6: Use and Influence of EPP Program Outputs 3-37 Introduction 3-37 Key Findings 3-38 Use and Helpfulness of EPP Program Outputs 3-38 EPEAT and Other Electronics 3-39 Building and Construction Products 3-41 Hospitality and Travel 3-45 Influence of EPP Outputs on Purchasing Attitudes and Behaviors 3-45 Standards Development 3-47 Question 7: EPP Program Coordination with Other Federal Agencies 3-50 Introduction 3-50 Key Findings 3-50 Electronics 3-50 Standards Development 3-54 Other Electronics Efforts 3-54 Building Products 3-54 Standards Development 3-54 Other Building Product Efforts 3-55 Travel and Hospitality 3-55 Standards Development 3-55 Other Travel and Hospitality Efforts 3-55 Other Collaborative Efforts 3-56 Interview Suggestions for Improving Future Collaborations 3-56 Question 8: Federal Electronics Challenge 3-57 Introduction 3-57 Key Findings 3-58 Notes on this Analysis 3-59 Overview of FEC Activities 3-59 Power Management 3-60 End of Life 3-65 Question 9: Federal Electronics Challenge and EPEAT Purchases 3-69 Introduction and Key Findings 3-69 Electronics Purchase Data 3-70 Proportional Levels of EPEAT Purchases and the ‘Early Adopter’ Hypothesis 3-74 FEC Program Participation 3-78 iii Trends in EPEAT Certification Levels among FEC Partners 3-79 Question 10: Use of EPP Outputs Outside of the Federal Government 3-81 Introduction 3-81 Key Findings 3-81 Overall EPEAT Impacts: Non-Federal Buyers 3-82 Sales and Associated Environmental Benefits of EPEAT Electronics 3-82 State Trends 3-88 General Trends 3-88 Trends in Northeastern States 3-89 Electronics 3-90 State Electronics Challenge 3-91 Building and Construction Products 3-93 Hospitality and Travel 3-94 University Trends 3-95 General Trends 3-95 Electronics 3-95 Building and Construction Products 3-96 Hospitality and Travel 3-96 Trends among Other Non-Federal Institutional Purchasers 3-96 General Trends 3-96 Electronics 3-97 Building and Construction Products 3-97 Hospitality and Travel 3-98 Question 11: Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards by Manufacturers 3-99 Introduction 3-99 Key Findings 3-99 Use of the IEEE 1680 (EPEAT) Standards by Electronics Manufacturers 3-100 Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards by Building Product Manufacturers 3-102 Use of the ASTM Green Meetings and Events Standards by Industry Participants 3-104 Evaluation Question 12: Success Factors for Voluntary Consensus Standards 3-105 Introduction 3-105 Key Findings 3-106 Market Success Factors 3-106 Other Success Factors 3-111 Question 13: EPP Effects on the Marketplace 3-115 CHAPTER 4 | RECOMMENDATIONS EPP Standards Development and Promotion 4-1 Other EPP Resources for Purchasers 4-2 Additional Research 4-3 iv Procurement Data Recommendations 4-4 Measurement Recommendation 4-5 APPENDICES Appendix A. EPP Program Activities Appendix B. Survey Instrument Appendix C. Survey Results by Survey Question Appendix D. Interview Guides Appendix E. Interview List v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EPA’s Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program was established in 1993 by Executive Order 12873, “Federal Acquisition, Recycling and Waste Prevention.” It has been reaffirmed and expanded by subsequent Executive Orders, most recently Executive Order 13514, “Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance,” in 2009. EPP is administered by EPA’s Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT), and is a high-priority area for the office. EPP activities include taking a leadership role or participating in the development of product and service standards, creating procurement guidance, developing model contract language, and developing tools to help buyers assess specific products and services. The program’s objectives are to achieve significant reductions in the environmental footprint of federal purchasing, and to make the overall consumer marketplace more environmentally sustainable through federal leadership. OPPT requested a program evaluation to better understand EPP outcomes, in terms of quantitative changes in spending on environmentally preferable products and services, resulting environmental benefits, and the influence and utility of EPP activities and resources within the federal government and in the broader marketplace. EPA’s Evaluation Support Division (ESD) awarded funding to OPPT under EPA’s Program Evaluation Competition (PEC) to support the evaluation. ESD contracted with Industrial Economics, Incorporated (IEc) to conduct the evaluation. The evaluation was guided by 14 questions (see the text box on the next page). These include questions on EPP outcomes specific to the federal government (questions 1-9) and beyond the federal realm (questions 10-13). Question 14 inquires about recommendations for the program moving forward. Given the breadth of topics covered by the evaluation, and the range of activities undertaken by the EPP Program, we were not able to examine EPP’s activities in every product and service sector that the program has worked on. IEc worked with EPA to select three sectors to focus on for this evaluation: electronics, building and construction products, and hospitality and travel services. Chapter 1 describes EPP’s activities and the criteria for selecting the sectors. IEc used several research methods to answer the evaluation questions, detailed in Chapter 2. First, IEc conducted an exhaustive search for a comprehensive, cross-sector data source for federal environmentally preferable purchasing data. As discussed in Chapter 2, no comprehensive source of federal purchasing data exists. Experts in the federal acquisition community interviewed for this evaluation concur that the government’s current inability to track environmentally preferable purchasing information in a uniform manner is a major challenge facing the federal procurement community. As such, IEc relied on a mix of methods for this evaluation, including existing data at the sector level, a survey effort, and interviews. IEc surveyed more than 2,500 purchasers from across the federal government, and studied differences in purchasing attitudes and behaviors for purchasers with low exposure to EPP Program resources versus those with high exposure, hypothesizing that those with higher exposure would demonstrate more environmentally preferable attitudes and behaviors. Moreover, we compared the results of our survey to ES-1 EPP EVALUATION QUESTIONS Questions on EPP Outcomes Specific to the Federal