EnviroCalc for Environmentally Preferred Purchasing (EPP)

This calculator helps procurement agents estimate the environmental benefits of purchases of recycled content and energy efficient products.  Purchasing these products helps agencies consume less energy, produce less waste, conserve landfill space, save trees and other natural resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and protect public health.  While not all of these impacts are easy to quantify, the calculator allows purchasers to estimate the following:

 Recycled content paper products:

  • Landfill space savings
  • Wood savings
  • Energy Savings
  • Greenhouse gas emissions avoided

Recycled content plastic products:

  • Landfill space savings
  • Energy Savings
  • Greenhouse gas emissions avoided

Remanufactured toner cartridges:

  • Landfill space savings
  • Energy Savings

Re-refined motor oil and recycled antifreeze:

  • Equivalent usage by number of cars

Recycled content office furniture:

  • Landfill space savings

Recycled mulch:

  • Landfill space savings

ENERGY STAR© compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs:

  • Energy Savings
  • Greenhouse gas emissions avoided

ENERGY STAR© monitors:

  • Energy Savings
  • Greenhouse gas emissions avoided

ENERGY STAR© copiers:

  • Energy Savings
  • Greenhouse gas emissions avoided

ENERGY STAR© fax machines

  • Energy Savings
  • Greenhouse gas emissions avoided

EnviroCalc contains four main sheets — two for entering purchasing data for recycled content and energy efficient products, and two for viewing estimated benefits by product type and by benefit.  Specific instructions for each product type are provided on the data entry worksheets. 

Sustainability Officers and Procurement Agents both will find this tool useful for reporting on the impacts of an environmentally preferred purchasing (EPP) policy. It provides metrics that are easily understood and that can be used for tracking progress towards sustainability goals. 
 

A measure of a building's or product's energy performance compared with that of similar buildings or products, as determined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency / U.S. Department of Energy's ENERGY STARŪ Portfolio Manager. Greenhouse gases are a part of the Earth's atmosphere and are both naturally occurring and the result of human chemical processes. The most common greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide, water vapor, methane, nitrous oxide, ozone, and chlorofluourocarbons. These gases trap heat and thus contribute to the warming of the planet. See also CFCS and GREENHOUSE EFFECT.The ability or potential of a physical body to do work. The most common forms of energy are heat, light, mechanical (moving parts), and electrical.

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