What is Green Purchasing?
Every time the interior spaces of a home or healthcare facility are laid out, or an office is refurbished to give it a fresh look, the building’s ecological footprint is extended. In fact, during the average 50-year life of a building in the U.S., interior products – the finishes and the furnishings – are replaced five to 10 times, resulting in potentially more environmental degradation than the core and shell of the structure.
Purchasers of interior products for commercial buildings and residences evaluate, recommend, specify and procure thousands of materials and furnishings on a daily basis. And everyday, requests for green products increase as builders and developers strive for LEED or Green Globes certification. As this demand grows, building professionals are expected to distinguish between greenwash and serious green, quite a challenge in an industry with 10,000 building product manufacturers selling more than 61,000 distinct products. To succeed, architects, engineers, contractors, interior designers, facility managers, and governmental and educational procurement professionals must understand the systems behind serious green purchasing.
Greenwash is the practice of inflating a company’s environmental practices or the environmental benefits of a product or service. Greenwash claims are typically vague, inflated or irrelevant. You might read or hear ambiguous but beguiling assertions such as environmentally-friendly, green, essentially non-toxic, eco-safe, 100% natural, or Earth smart.
The prudent approach to green purchasing is to rely on scientifically-based, third-party certifications. These standards exist to help specifiers and purchasers evaluate environmental characteristics of products, solving the ambiguities by using science-based yet user-friendly tools to measure and communicate environmental impacts. Third party certification that is granted by an independent organization with expertise to assess and verify a company’s compliance with standards is needed. It is used generally as the basis for several emerging components in the global products information system. These key tools are product Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), Sustainable Product Standard (SPS), and Environmental Product Declaration (EPD).
GPAP Benefits
As a Green Purchasing Accredited Professional, you will be able to efficiently and effectively navigate today's environmentally-sensitive business landscape, while building value, competitive advantage and social responsibility.
Green Purchasing AP certification will help you:
- Create consistency and transparency in your purchasing strategies
- Position your firm as a leader in the green economy that is advancing green production & consumption
- Provide your staff, stakeholders and clients with science-based documentation of your improvements
Moreover, the training helps you relate green product specification to the LEED Green Building Rating System
- LEED credits in Indoor Environmental Quality for Low-emitting Materials
- LEED credits in Materials & Resources for Recycled Content, Local/Regional Materials Use, Rapidly Renewable Materials,
Construction Waste
- LEED credits in Innovation for Product LCAs
GPAP Training
Module 1: Introduction and Understanding the
Framework of Best Practice
To overcome the tsunami of green-wash, a system is needed featuring a framework within which all types of product evaluation and selection tools can be viewed with a clear sense of what each covers and contributes to a scientifically robust and user-friendly green/sustainable purchasing program. This module covers:
- Introduction to Green Purchasing
- Discussion of Best Practices
- Principles and Essentials of a successful green
purchasing program
- Sustainability vs. Green
- Single vs. Multi-attribute
- Life Cycle Considerations Standards,
Certifications and Ecolabels overview
Time: 1.15 hours
Cost: $150.00
Module 2: Understanding Comprehensive Standards,
Certification Programs and EcoLabels
In order to succeed at Green Purchasing, an understanding of the comprehensive programs, or “umbrella programs”, that are marketed everyday is required. This module details four major certification programs and/or ecolabels in order to provide a thorough understanding of what they mean and how to use them:
- C2C —from McDonough-Braungart Design Chemistry
- SMART Sustainable Product Standard—from the Market for the Transformation to Sustainability
- Green Seal—from Green Seal
- EcoLogo—from TerraChoice
Time: 1.15 hours
Cost: $150.00
Module 3: Understanding Industry-specific Standards and
Programs for Various Product Categories
Like the “umbrella standards”, utilizing category specific standards as a means of assisting in green purchasing is a great way to simply the decision making process. However, it is still crucial to understand what is behind these standards and programs in order to ensure that values, principles and achievements are all in line. This module covers:
- Floor Covering
- Carpet—NSF 140 & California Platinum, Sustainable Choice , MTS v2, C2C
- Resilient Flooring – NSF 332 draft & trial use, SMART
- Wood Flooring – FSC, SFI
- Furniture—BIFMA e3-2008 & LEVEL, SMART, C2C
Time: 1.15 hours
Cost: $150.00
Module 4: Looking at Green Purchasing Tools and Programs
As green purchasing has become more of an area of focus, many various tools and programs have been created in order to assist a purchaser with their decision making process. This module will highlight the major programs covering other product categories. As well it will discuss in a general manner how all of the eco-labels can be applied conceptually to complement Green Globes and LEED green building rating systems.
Time: 1.15 hours
Cost: $150.00
Module 5: Deeper Understanding—Life Cycle Assessment and Environmental Product Declarations
Utilizing tools as described in Module 4 can be very beneficial when the attributes and issues are already defined and recognized as a part of the tool or program. However, manufacturers are looking towards Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) as a means of transparency in with their environmental attributes and impacts. This module covers the necessary principles in order to understand what each is, what to look for and how to use them as a part of your decision making efforts.
Time: 1.15 hours
Cost: $150.00
Module 6: Creating Your Own Green Purchasing Policy
Building on the knowledge of the previous modules, this session will demonstrate how to create a green purchasing policy for your organization that is based on core concepts of sustainability, best practices and incorporates the specific values of your organization. As well this module will discuss strategies to use in enrolling associates in your firm in shaping and implementing a company-wide green purchasing policy.
Time: 1.15 hours
Cost: $150.00
Module 7: Accreditation Exam & Certification
Exam consists of 52 multiple choice questions. Certification will be awarded upon achievement of a 75% correct score on the exam.
(Prerequisite Modules 1-6)
Time: 1 hour
Cost: $150.00
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