| |
|
|
Government Contracting Accounting and Compliance Developments Conference
June 7&8, 2012
8:00 AM
|
|
|
|
| |
The General Services Administration's IT Commodity Division is asking for input from industry as it considers the possibility of several blanket purchase agreements for buying a variety of IT products. The BPA would include IT products and related services, such as hardware, laptop PCs, smart phones, maintenance and product training-- according to the GSA proposal they want companies to also show that their products are green-friendly.
GSA officials anticipate contractors should be working to lower their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, to have no impact on the environment, and to promote the agency's sustainability initiatives. The green requirements are part of GSA Administrator Martha Johnson's main focus since taking the position.
GSA has said it plans to "make and move markets" by emphasizing green products and procurements.
In the request for information, GSA asks whether a company has done a comprehensive GHG emissions inventory as well as its goals for reducing GHG emissions and making a zero environmental footprint. It also asks about IT product sustainability efforts or achievements.
Since 2010, agency officials have wanted more information from companies on their GHG emissions and how those emissions are measured. They have been planning to determine the benefits and challenges for companies to make inventories and disclose emissions data in a registry.
GSA's sustainability initiatives are about not wasting anything and using resources efficiently, as much as they are about protecting the environment, Johnson said in a keynote address at GSA’s Interagency Resources Management Conference March 15.
In its BPA research, GSA officials are also pushing contractors to meet hard-and-fast deadlines and they want real-time tracking of their orders on company websites.
"A goal of this initiative is to reduce both cost and delivery time for existing and emerging technology," the information request states.
