Other Environmentally Preferable Attributes
Along with the specific attributes designated by Congress
for consideration when purchasing products, the U.S. Department
of Energy also takes into consideration other environmentally
preferable attributes, such as seeking products that are safer
for staff and products without hazardous waste disposal costs.
Such environmentally preferable attributes might be no volatile
organic compounds in paint, no lead or mercury in computer
equipment, etc.
Executive Order
13423 specifies that Federal agencies shall purchase "products
or services that have a lesser or reduced effect on human
health and the environment when compared with competing products
or services that serve the same purpose. This comparison may
consider raw materials acquisition, production, manufacturing,
packaging, distribution, reuse, operation, maintenance, or
disposal of the product or service."
Federal agencies are to use
all of the options available to determine environmentally
preferable attributes, including the use of technical expertise
of nongovernmental entities, such as labeling, certification,
or standard-developing organizations. Some useful Web sites
for labeling, certification, standards, life-cycle evaluations
of products are:
Should such shorthand information not be available about
the product in question, DOE
Order 430.1 describes the process--a life cycle analysis-for
weighing and determining environmentally preferable attributes.
This Web site also offers some information and tools on life
cycle analyses.
This page was last updated on November 17, 2009
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