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ETV Canada is continuing discussions with Public Works and Government Services Canada (PWGSC) regarding the implementation of green procurement to foster the development and deployment of verified, environmentally sound technologies and practices.
PWGSC has a key role in ensuring that federal procurement policies and procedures reflect environmental objectives. Specific challenges include:
- The lack of credible information to facilitate “buy green” decisions, and uncertainty about trustworthy sources of credible environmental product information
- The views that green products are unavailable, too expensive, or unreliable, and that recycled-content, energy-efficiency, water-efficiency and low-toxicity messages are separate issues unrelated to procurement decisions
- Conflicting mandates and claims (i.e., recycled content, buy local, etc.), and concerns that the concepts and rationale for green procurement are too difficult to explain to senior decision-makers and end-users
- Confused and inconsistent environmental purchasing messages from multiple sources, including misleading information supplied by vendors and “green solution” competitors
- Limitations related to the capacity and expertise of procurement personnel and the need for effective coordination of decentralized purchasing practices.
ETV Canada’s performance assessment approach uses a distributed network of credible experts from a variety of qualified institutions and organizations. This complements PWGSC’s mandate and provides the opportunity for rapid mobilization of a qualified, independent network of technology assessment and performance verification specialists.
By working together, it is envisaged that PWGSC and ETV Canada would be well positioned to assist decision-makers in accessing reliable data and expertise to evaluate innovative technologies and management practices. This would include improving the capacity of technology users to demonstrate leadership in the implementation of environmentally sound technologies and processes through:
- Validation of technologies and processes to support investment decisions
- Monitoring and tracking the effectiveness of environmentally sound solutions to ensure that proposed options are sustainable and perform in a reliable manner
- Integration of green procurement and innovative, environmentally sound solutions within existing systems and infrastructure.
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