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Green Purchasing Committee
Villanova University has adopted an Energy Star Priority Purchasing program. The
Green Purchasing
committee of the Environmental Team recommends that Villanova purchase all
Energy Star rated
appliances. Much of the information on Energy Star appliances was gleaned from
the following website: http://www.energystar.gov.
Information includes:
- ENERGY STAR is a government-backed program helping businesses and individuals
protect
the environment through superior energy efficiency.
- Results are already adding
up. Last year
alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved enough energy to power 15
million
homes and avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 14 million
cars - all while
saving $7 billion.
The Energy Star designation is not just for homeowners. In fact, businesses and
universities are
targeted:
- Because a strategic approach to energy management [in universities and other
businesses]can produce twice the savings – for the bottom line and the environment – as
typical
approaches, EPA's ENERGY STAR partnership offers a proven energy management
strategy
that helps in measuring current energy performance, setting goals, tracking
savings, and
rewarding improvements.
- EPA provides an innovative energy performance rating
system
which businesses have already used for more than 10,000 buildings across the
country.
- EPA
also recognizes top performing buildings with the ENERGY STAR.
VU
Procedure
- Villanova University is to purchase Energy Star equipment for both single and
mass purchasing actions
whenever financially possible.
- Departments should analyze the short- and
long-term savings of an
Energy Star appliance over a less energy efficient model before every purchase.
- The Energy Star
website has a calculator tool for most appliances that can be used to calculate
the long-term energy
savings from a particular Energy Star appliance:
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=bulk_purchasing.bus_purchasing.
The
appliances listed on the
website are abundant and diverse from computers and photocopiers to light bulbs,
water heaters, and
dishwashers.
Departments not purchasing energy star products should provide backup to these
purchases indicating
the circumstances for not following this policy. Such backup will be reviewed
during random audits
conducted in each area.
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