Buying Green for Federal Purchasers

The federal government is the single largest consumer in the world, spending more than $760 billion on products and services each year. The Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) Program helps federal agencies purchase greener products and services. As federal purchasers, you have an opportunity to harness the power of the federal pocketbook to catalyze a more sustainable marketplace for all – reducing climate impacts, improving the health of frontline communities, preventing pollution, and increasing U.S. industry competitiveness.

Read more about the Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) program.

Getting started essentials

Before you buy:

• Consider how to reduce and reuse.

Resources to find used goods to meet your needs:

• Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Disposition Services: Offers a wide variety of serviceable property for reutilization, transfer, or donation (RTD) to DOD units and other agencies.
• GSAXcess: Portal for the GSA’s Federal Excess Personal Property Utilization Program and the Federal Surplus Personal Property Donation Program. Your agency can report excess personal property for transfer by GSA to other Federal and State Agencies for Surplus Property (SASPs) as well as search for and obtain excess personal property. Your agency can also report and transfer excess computers and peripheral equipment to schools and educational nonprofit organizations through the Computers for Learning program or post your CFL transfers done outside our system.

Understand the federal sustainable purchasing requirements:

• Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 23.108 directs federal contracting officers, after meeting statutory purchasing program requirements in 23.107, to purchase to the maximum extent practicable products and services that meet required EPA purchasing programs, including EPA’s Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels (23.108–3). In addition, part 23.103 directs agencies to prioritize multi-attribute sustainable products and services which are those that meet applicable statutory purchasing program requirements and one or more required EPA purchasing programs (23.103 & 23.104).  Learn about recent revisions to the FAR, which strengthened, streamlined, and clarified federal sustainable procurement requirements.
• President Biden’s goal of net-zero emissions for federal procurement by 2050 as part of the Executive Order 14057 on Catalyzing American Clean Energy Industries and Jobs Through Federal Sustainability and the accompanying Federal Sustainability Plan. The plan directs the federal government to maximize procurement of sustainable products and services, including ENERGY STAR-rated equipment; products that are bio-based, made from recycled content, water-efficient, fuel-efficient, made with safer chemical ingredients, and non-ozone-depleting; and products that have earned third-party ecolabels reviewed and recommended by the Environmental Protection Agency. Additional sustainable purchasing goals in Executive Order 14057 include:
  • Products that can be reused, refurbished, or recycled
  • Products/services addressing multiple environmental impacts
  • Products that do not contain PFAS

  • Actions to reduce and phase out procurement of single-use plastic products

• GSA’s Green Procurement Compilation (GPC) helps to identify federal green purchasing requirements by purchase category.
• GSA’s Sustainable Facilities Tool Product Search (SFTool) allows purchasers to search over 5,700 brands and more than 300,000 products that align with federal sustainability requirements. The search allows you to sort compliant products by energy and water performance, create projects, and even gather the documentation you need to streamline the procurement process.
• Access federal sustainable acquisition training resources.

Consider leasing or procuring a service: 

Leasing a product or procuring a service (print management services, for example, instead of printers and copiers) often ensures that the products will return to the vendor at the end of use – which facilitates efficient and effective refurbishment, reuse, and/or recycling – extending the life of the product and reducing impacts to the environment and public health.

Check out the service categories listed in GSA’s Green Procurement Compilation (GPC) for additional resources.

Buy products certified to sustainability standards and ecolabels:

Often, buying or leasing products certified to sustainability standards and/or ecolabels can help meet multiple sustainable purchasing requirements at once. EPA’s EPP program has put together some resources to help purchasers identify the credible and effective standards/ecolabels that can be used within federal procurement.

• Introduction to standards and ecolabels for greener products.
• EPA’s Recommendations of Specifications, Standard, and Ecolabels for Federal Purchasing.
• Federal purchasers can contact their agency’s Standards Executive to share success stories, learn more about using private sector standards, and participating in their development and/or update. 
• GSA Advantage is an online shopping and ordering system that provides access to thousands of contractors with millions of products and services.

Other tools and resources:

• Buy clean procurement and ENERGY STAR.​
• Learn how to utilize tools and resources during each phase of the procurement lifecycle.
• Greening RFP and contract writing systems.
• Read about Federal Sustainability Progress, Plans, and Performance.
• Learn about options for ensuring products meet the manufacturer’s sustainability claims:
  • NIST’s ABCs of Conformity Assessment
  • FTC’s Green Guides
• Share and hear best practices from federal partners via Interagency Workgroups:
  • Sustainable Acquisition Materials Management (SAMM) Work Group
  • Federal Electronics Stewardship Working Group (registration required)
  • Interagency Sustainability Working Group (ISWG) on high-performance, green buildings