Another tool that can really help 'green' your IT purchasing is EPEAT -- the Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (www.epeat.net). This product environmental rating system offers purchasers an easy way to address not only energy efficiency but also dozens of other environmental performance attributes.
EPEAT (www.epeat.net) is a stakeholder-developed environmental standard supported by US EPA that currently covers desktops, laptops and monitors and is expanding to address printers, TVs, servers and mobile devices (cell phones,PDAs) over the next year or two.
EPEAT addresses 51 environmental performance criteria in 8 categories, including energy efficiency (Energy Star mandatory), toxics reduction (RoHS mandatory), takeback and recycling (mandatory), greener materials choices (recycled, biobased) , ease of disassembly and recycling, life cycle extension, packaging and company performance.
Dozens of manufacturers participate in EPEAT, with nearly 500 products registered. And the US Federal government has integrated an EPEAT requirement into the Federal Acquisition Regulations (the Government's purchasing "rulebook") – meaning that billions of federal purchasing dollars will flow to EPEAT registered products, creating a huge incentive for manufacturers to provide a steady stream of registered products.
Products register at Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels in EPEAT, depending on how many criteria they meet. Choosing the highest rated product appropriate for your needs allows you to immediately and significantly reduce the environmental impact of your computing. Search the product database, see participating manufacturers, product rating criteria, environmental benefits estimates and media coverage of the EPEAT system at www.epeat.net
Hope this is helpful - it's hard to keep track of multiple separate product ratings (we've alll got plenty to do!), so having one that addresses a comprehensive spectrum of attributes can really help!
|
