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Targets / Strategies / Comments

1. Approach: The PSC has designated a Procurement Services Representative as its Green Procurement Coordinator. The Green Procurement Coordinator attends the Green Procurement Forum and ensures that the PSC is up-to-date on the requirements of this policy.
2. Management processes and controls: The existing PSC sustainable development policy and related guidelines developed in 2007 remains in effect. For the PSC, these initiatives include the recommended use of refillable/remanufactured cartridges for all printers and photocopiers, the return of used cartridges for recycling, the purchase and use of recycled paper products as well as the reduction of paper use through the setting of printer defaults to duplexing (double-sided).
3. Setting targets: The PSC is not a Category 1 Department and is therefore not required to set green procurement targets. In light of the PSC’s buying patterns, the PSC does not see the need to establish its own specific green procurement targets, since it relies mainly on already established Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) Standing Offers and Supply Arrangements for the acquisition of the majority of its goods. The PSC nonetheless achieves Green Procurement commitments through a combination of initiatives, including government-wide commodity management initiatives and the procurement services of PWGSC.
   
   Notable initiatives include the following:
   
   
   • All of the PSC’s solicitation documents include the following clause regarding green procurement and services:
     • “Green Procurement and Services: The contractor should make every effort to ensure that all documents prepared or delivered are printed double-sided on Ecology certified recycled paper or on paper with equivalent post-consumer recycled content to the full extent to which it is procurable”;
   • The PSC provides only electronic references of its General Conditions, Supplementary Conditions and Terms of Payment in all of its solicitation documents;
   • In the future, the PSC’s intention is to only provide electronic references of its General Conditions and Supplementary Conditions for contractual agreements;
   • All of the PSC’s contractual documents are printed double-sided;
   • Whenever possible, the PSC posts its solicitation documents on-line (MERX);
   • Even though the PSC has significantly reduced the number of printers in use and continues to do so, it has initiated a review of its photocopier fleet with the intent to optimize it with regard to usage and to identify potential redundancies;
   • The PSC purchases most of its goods using standing offers established by PWGSC that relate to green products/services;
   • The PSC has undertaken internal space reconfiguration projects;
   • The PSC has limited investments in furniture and furniture systems;
   • Based on operational priorities approved by senior management, the PSC has acquired and installed replacement green office furniture / furniture systems; and
   • The PSC has invested in over 62 new Teknion workstations (for a total of 342) that can be re-used, reconfigured or relocated at any time and at minimal cost, especially in light of the planned move of the PSC Headquarters from L'Esplanade Laurier to a new building in Gatineau within the next 2-3 years. The procurement for the Teknion workstations was performed through PWGSC’s office furniture Standing Offer.
   The PSC is in the process of planning for the relocation of its Headquarters operation into a new building in 2012-2013. The new building will be a LEED Gold building. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System and is set up to encourage and accelerate the global adoption of sustainable green building and development practices. LEED is an internationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.
   
   LEED promotes a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health:
   • sustainable site development
   • water efficiency
   • energy efficiency
   • materials selection
   • indoor environmental quality
   With the relocation to the new building in 2013, new furniture and equipment specially designed for the new building will be acquired. In addition to the usual Environmental Policy Statement in the Request for Proposal, the PSC will also request that the products contribute to LEED points; that a hazardous and toxic material management system be in place at the manufacturing facilities; and that packaging be kept to a minimum.
   
   The PSC continues to be an active participant in the Green Citizenship Network. With excellent co-operation and good communication with the L’Esplanade Laurier government tenants, the PSC has managed to organize various activities within the L'Esplanade Laurier complex related to such worthwhile causes as Earth Day, Waste Reduction Week and Environment Week.
4. Meeting targets: The PSC previously made a commitment to create a site on its Intracom page that allows employees access to information on sustainable development initiatives and pertinent sites of interest. This site was implemented as planned, and is updated as new information becomes available.
   • The PSC has completed, with PWGSC, the implementation of sustainable development initiatives and improved building efficiency (removal of polychlorinated biphenyls from the electrical transformers located within L'Esplanade Laurier).
5. Training: In the past, the PSC had one of its Procurement Services Representatives attend the Green Procurement Forum, and the PSC is committed to sending a representative in the coming years. Additionally, all employees of the Procurement Services Unit are encouraged to complete CSPS Course C215 – Green Procurement.
6. Performance evaluations: The PSC continues to assess its procurement needs with regard to environmental considerations, and applies any relevant green initiative in all acquisition phases.

Notes:

• 1 Alternatively, departments and agencies bound by the Policy on Green Procurement but not the Federal Sustainable Development Act (FSDA) can follow the approach required of FSDA departments for green procurement by setting and reporting on green procurement targets as specified in the "Green Procurement Targets" section in the above table.