Purchaser Profile

New York State (Office of General Services)
       
State Government
New York State and EPEAT: Case Study
2017 EPEAT Purchaser Award – 1 Star

 
New York State Aggregate Buy Program, Todd Gardner

New York State purchases EPEAT-registered computers and displays.
$109,263,730 (2016)

The aggregate buy program has been in place since 2008 and requires PCs/Displays to meet EPEAT criteria and the New York State Executive Order #4 specification for Desktop and Laptop Computers. The number of units purchased through the program varies from year to year, but on average approximately 250,000 PCs/Displays are purchased annually.

 
2008
New York State OGS conducts an Aggregate Buy Program for microcomputers through its centralized contracts. Through this program, Authorized Users of OGS centralized contracts, which includes but is not limited to New York State Agencies, political subdivisions, local governments, public authorities, public school and fire districts, public and nonprofit libraries, and certain other nonpublic/nonprofit organizations, are permitted to purchase microcomputers that meet the specifications required by the program.

Since 2008, the specifications of the Aggregate Buy have included requirements that the products awarded for the buy meet either EPEAT Silver or Gold criteria as well as the New York State Executive Order #4 (EO4) specification for Desktop and Laptop Computers.

For the latest Aggregate Buy Program, which was conducted by Procurement Services under Group 7300, Award 22802 ‘Information Technology Umbrella Contract – Manufacturer Based (Statewide) in the summer of 2016, the following language is included in the ‘Minimum Technical Build Requirements’:

For Enterprise Desktops, Enterprise Notebooks, Enterprise All in One, Convertible Tablets, Education Entry Level Desktops and Education Entry Level Notebooks:

Environmental Standard Complies with NYS Executive Order 4, Establishing A State Green Procurement and Agency Sustainability Program and EPEAT Gold

 

For Unbundled Displays:

Environmental Standard EPEAT GOLD is required above this line
Over their lifetime, compared to products that do not meet EPEAT criteria, the 235,156 EPEAT registered electronics purchased by users of the Office of General Services’ Computer Aggregate Buy between April of 2014 and the end of December of 2015 will result in environmental impact reductions including:

  • Reduce use of primary materials by 29,900 metric tons, equivalent to the weight of 824  tractor-trailer 18-wheelers
  • Avoid the disposal of 200 metric tons of hazardous waste, equal to the weight of 1,626 refrigerators
  • Eliminate the equivalent of 567 U.S. households’ solid waste for a year—1,060 metric tons
  • Avoidance of 135 metric tons of water pollutant emissions

Energy-Related Savings
EPEAT’s requirement that registered products meet, and often exceed, the latest ENERGY STAR specifications means these products will consume less energy throughout their useful life, resulting in:

  • Savings of 85 million kWh of electricity—enough to power 6,655 U.S. homes for a year
  • Reduction of 14,400 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions— equivalent to taking 10,353 average U.S. passenger cars off the road for a year
  • $8,770,000 in lifetime cost savings

*EPEAT Purchasing Tier indicates how many EPEAT categories are specified in the organization’s purchasing agreements