Green Purchasing and Energy Efficiency

By Mr. Karsten Andrup Pedersen Manager of Logistics and

PurchasingMunicipality of Kolding, Denmark

Kolding Kommune

Green Purchasing

• Green purchasing by integrating environmental criteria

• Procedure and experiences

• How to use energy efficiency as award criteria:

• Exemplified by purchase of Multifunctional Copiers and Printers

• The A-Club funded by the Danish Energy-Conserving Fund

Kolding Kommune

The process of green purchasing

Users draw up demands on:

- Functionality

- Quality

- Delivery Terms

An environmental questionnaire is designed by

the environmental department

The suppliers to bid are identified and the call for tender is published

Evaluation process:

- Users evaluate suppliers on price, functionality, quality, delivery terms etc.

- Environmental department evaluate suppliers on environmental performance

Evaluation is done by a point score

system

The supplier with the highest point score is selected

Kolding Kommune

• Designing a green purchasing policy:– The policy was confirmed by the Town

Council in 1998– The policy calls for an ecological resetting

of all purchasing actions– Thus environmental questionnaires are

integrated by turn into all calls for tenders

– Within the year 2004 Kolding have greened approximately 85% of all framework agreements

Green Purchasing

Kolding Kommune

• There are several reasons why Kolding has chosen to purchase green:

• It helps to reduce the environmental impacts

• It helps to promote production that has the least environmental impact

• It demonstrates Kolding as a convincing and efficient environmental authority

• It sets an example for changed consumption patters for all citizens

Green Purchasing

Kolding Kommune

• Identifying green suppliers:– The suppliers must answer an environmental

questionnaire– The questionnaires contains different kinds of

questions– regarding the supplier’s business– regarding the product– regarding the packaging

– The questions are formed in a way, that positive answers indicates a positive environmental performance

Green Purchasing

Kolding Kommune

• Identifying green suppliers:– For every product group there are minimum

requirements, that must be met– The questions provide the basis to compare

the environmental standards of the offered products

– Assessment is facilitated by a point score sys-tem

– In the end environment is assessed on par with price, quality and level of service

Green Purchasing

Kolding Kommune

• Assessing the suppliers environmental performance:– The number of yes in the fulfilled

questionnaire are counted, assessed and converted into point

– If every question is answered by an yes the supplier can get maximum points, if the yes is assessed to be correct

– If an yes is assessed to be incorrect, the yes is assessed as a no

Green Purchasing

Kolding Kommune

• Experiences:– Green purchasing has been implemented

without supply of extra economical funds– Modifications of the procurement procedures

and creation of an easily applicable assessment have helped to avoid an increase in costs

– Higher prices have only been found in the product group of organic food

Green Purchasing

Kolding Kommune

• Experiences:– Kolding has experienced very positive

reactions to the environmental questionnaires– The suppliers are very open and fulfil the

questionnaires with great skill– Kolding cannot support the argument, that an

insufficient range of green products is available on the market

Green Purchasing

Kolding Kommune

• In this call for tender environmental criteria weighed 10%

• Criteria are divided into two equal parts; environmental profile criteria and energy efficiency criteria with each 5% weight

• For evaluation of energy efficiency the suppliers must give informations on energy consumption during use, stand-by and auto-off for each individual copier

• For evaluation of environmental profile the suppliers must answer an environmental questionnaire for each individual copier

Multifunctional Copiers and Printers

Kolding Kommune

Assessment of Energy Efficiency:• Bids were given for both low performance and

high performance copiers• Energy consumption during a year is calculated

for each copier with the assumption, that the copiers are in active use 5 hours pr. day, in stand-by 2 hours pr. day and in auto-off 17 hours pr. day

• The individual supplier’s low performance and high performance copiers energy consumption is compared

Multifunctional Copiers and Printers

Kolding Kommune

Calculation of points for Energy Efficiency:• The point used in awarding the contract is

calculated as an average of part points• Part points are given for both low performance,

high performance copiers and for average energy consumption for all copiers in the bid

• The supplier which copier has the lowest energy consumption gets maximum points

• Points are reduced relatively for each 10% deviation to lowest energy consumption

Multifunctional Copiers and Printers

Kolding Kommune

Points Part Point - Low

Part Point - High

Part Point - Average

Award Point

Supplier A 3 4 5 4

Supplier B 2 4 4 3,3

Supplier C 1 2 2 1,7

Supplier D 0,5 1,5 1,5 1,2

Supplier E 0,5 4,5 4,5 3,2

Supplier F 1 5 5 3,7

Supplier G 5 2 2 3

Multifunctional Copiers and Printers

Kolding Kommune

Evaluation of Environmental Profile:• The questions in the environmental

questionnaire can be answered by yes or no• An yes-answer indicates an environmental

positive performance • The numbers of yes’ is counted and calculated

into points• If yes to every question the supplier gets

maximum point• Point are reduced relatively to the numbers of

yes’ by using the following function: Point = (number of Yes/number of

Questions)*Max points

Multifunctional Copiers and Printers

Kolding Kommune

Points Environment Energy Total

Supplier A 4,8 4,0 8,8

Supplier B 4,8 3,3 8,2

Supplier C 4,8 1,7 6,5

Supplier D 5,0 1,2 6,2

Supplier E 4,7 3,2 7,9

Supplier F 5,0 3,7 8,7

Supplier G 4,7 3,0 7,7

Multifunctional Copiers and Printers

Kolding Kommune

• The aim of the A-Club is to change the market by

• stimulating members to purchase energy efficient apparatuses

• stimulating producers and retailers to offer more energy efficient apparatuses

• The results should be a better economy through cheaper purchases, lower running costs and reduced CO2 emissions

The Danish A-Club

Kolding Kommune

• The Municipality of Kolding is a member of the A-Club, funded by the Danish Electricity-Conserving Fund

• The A-Club is a network for public and private purchasers of energy consuming apparatuses and systems

• The A-Club have 140 members

The Danish A-Club

Kolding Kommune

• Members are committed to • purchase energy efficient apparatuses when

available • use the A-club’s purchase guidelines

• Purchase Guidelines offered by the A-Club• makes it easier to find energy efficient

apparatuses• are easy applicable and operative

• The A-club also offers • system solutions such as energy efficient

ventilation systems at schools or energy efficient lightning

• personal guidance on purchase technical matters

The Danish A-Club

Kolding Kommune

• There are several reasons why energy efficiency should be taken into account– It gives lower running costs– It reduces environmental impacts through

reduced CO2 emissions– It contributes to fulfilling International

declarations such as Agenda 21 and the Kyoto Protocol

Green Purchasing and Energy Efficiency