Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 70.92
Liaison Katie Maynard
Submission Date Aug. 19, 2014
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

University of California, Santa Barbara
OP-12: Electronics Purchasing

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.25 / 1.00 Kathy Scheidemen
Management Services Officer, Co-Chair Sustainability Procurement Team
Earth Research Institute
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution have an institution-wide stated preference to purchase computers and/or other electronic products that are EPEAT registered or meet similar multi-criteria sustainability standards for electronic products?:
Yes

A copy of the electronics purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines:
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The electronics purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines :

Per UC Policy on Sustainable Practices (please see http://policy.ucop.edu/doc/3100155/Sustainable%20Practices)
ENERGY STAR ® - Energy Star is a standard for energy efficient consumer products administered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.

EPEAT ® - The Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool is a method for consumers to evaluate the effect of a product on the environment. It ranks products as gold, silver or bronze based on a set of environmental performance criteria. It is managed by the Green Electronics Council.


A brief description of steps the institution has taken to ensure that the purchasing policy, directives, or guidelines are followed:

UC Systemwide has a policy requiring purchase of EPEAT certified Bronze or higher computers (please see the UC Policy on Sustainable Practices, page 14). In addition to requiring EPEAT Bronze, the policy states: “Preference will be given for electronics products that have achieved EPEAT® Silver or EPEAT® Gold registration.” While a policy is in place, it is not fully at the level required by STARS and we are working to improve our tracking systems. We are not currently able to report spend in these areas as our procurement system does not capture the "punch-out" expenditures.


Does the institution wish to pursue to pursue Part 2 of this credit (expenditures on EPEAT registered electronics)?:
No

Expenditures on EPEAT registered desktop and laptop computers, displays, thin clients, televisions, and imaging equipment::
Expenditure Per Level
EPEAT Bronze ---
EPEAT Silver ---
EPEAT Gold ---

Total expenditures on desktop and laptop computers, displays, thin clients, televisions, and imaging equipment:
---

The website URL where information about the institution's electronics purchasing policy, directive, or guidelines is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

UCSB has implemented an on-line procurement system (SciQuest), which we had hoped would allow for tracking, prioritizing, and capturing spend data. Unfortunately, we have found that items purchased via a "punch-out" (log-through directly to vendor's websites) does not allow us to capture or direct spend as planned. This unintended consequence has resulted in our efforts to host more catalogs, in partnership with other UC campuses, in order to help us in achieving sustainability goals. At this time, we are not able to direct spend to the specific EPEAT levels, nor are we able to adequately capture the expenditures within the various EPEAT categories.


UCSB has implemented an on-line procurement system (SciQuest), which we had hoped would allow for tracking, prioritizing, and capturing spend data. Unfortunately, we have found that items purchased via a "punch-out" (log-through directly to vendor's websites) does not allow us to capture or direct spend as planned. This unintended consequence has resulted in our efforts to host more catalogs, in partnership with other UC campuses, in order to help us in achieving sustainability goals. At this time, we are not able to direct spend to the specific EPEAT levels, nor are we able to adequately capture the expenditures within the various EPEAT categories.

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.