48 CFR § 952.223-78 - Sustainable acquisition program.
In accordance with 923.103 insert the following clause or its Alternate I in all contracts under which the contractor operates Government-owned facilities, motor vehicle fleets, or significant portions thereof or performs construction at a DOE facility.
(a) Pursuant to Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management, and Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance, the Department of Energy (DOE) is committed to managing its facilities in an environmentally preferable and sustainable manner that will promote the natural environment and protect the health and well being of its Federal employees and contractor service providers. In the performance of work under this contract, the Contractor shall provide its services in a manner that promotes the natural environment, reduces greenhouse gas emissions and protects the health and well being of Federal employees, contract service providers and visitors using the facility.
(b) Green purchasing or sustainable acquisition has several interacting initiatives. The Contractor must comply with initiatives that are current as of the contract award date. DOE may require compliance with revised initiatives from time to time. The Contractor may request an equitable adjustment to the terms of its contract using the procedures in the Changes clause of the contract. The initiatives important to these Orders are explained on the following Government or Industry Internet Sites:
(1) Recycled Content Products are described at http://epa.gov/cpg.
(2) Biobased Products are described at http://www.biopreferred.gov/.
(3) Energy efficient products are at http://energystar.gov/products for Energy Star products.
(4) Energy efficient products are at http://www.femp.energy.gov/procurement for FEMP designated products.
(5) Environmentally preferable and energy efficient electronics including desktop computers, laptops and monitors are at http://www.epeat.net the Electronic Products Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) the Green Electronics Council site.
(6) Green house gas emission inventories are required, including Scope 3 emissions which include contractor emissions. These are discussed at Section 13 of Executive Order 13514 which can be found at http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/disposition.html.
(7) Non-Ozone Depleting Alternative Products are at http://www.epa.gov/ozone/strathome.html.
(8) Water efficient plumbing products are at http://epa.gov/watersense.
(c) The clauses at FAR 52.223-2, Affirmative Procurement of Biobased Products under Service and Construction Contracts, 52.223-15, Energy Efficiency in Energy Consuming Products, and 52.223-17 Affirmative Procurement of EPA-Designated Items in Service and Construction Contracts, require the use of products that have biobased content, are energy efficient, or have recycled content. To the extent that the services provided by the Contractor require provision of any of the above types of products, the Contractor must provide the energy efficient and environmentally sustainable type of product unless that type of product—
(1) Is not available;
(2) Is not life cycle cost effective or does not exceed 110% of the price of alternative items if life cycle cost data is unavailable (EPEAT is an example of lifecycle costs that have been analyzed by DOE and found to be acceptable at the silver and gold level);
(3) Does not meet performance needs; or,
(4) Cannot be delivered in time to meet a critical need.
(d) In the performance of this contract, the Contractor shall comply with the requirements of Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management, (http://www.epa.gov/greeningepa/practices/eo13423.htm) and Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance (http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/disposition.html). The Contractor shall also consider the best practices within the DOE Acquisition Guide, Chapter 23, Acquisition Considerations Regarding Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. This guide includes information concerning recycled content products, biobased products, energy efficient products, water efficient products, alternative fuels and vehicles, non-ozone depleting substances and other environmentally preferable products and services. This guide is available on the Internet at: http://management.energy.gov/documents/AcqGuide23pt0Rev1.pdf.
(e) Contractors must establish and maintain a documented energy management program which includes requirements for energy and water efficient equipment, EnergyStar or WaterSense, as applicable and procedures for verification of purchases, following the criteria in DOE Order 430.2B, Departmental Energy, Renewable Energy, and Transportation Management, Attachment 1, or its successor to the extent required elsewhere in the contract. This requirement should not be flowed down to subcontractors.
(f) In complying with the requirements of paragraph (c) of this clause, the Contractor(s) shall coordinate its activities with and submit required reports through the Environmental Sustainability Coordinator or equivalent position. Reporting under this paragraph and paragraphs (g) and (h) of this clause is only required if the contract or subcontract offers subcontracting opportunities for energy efficient and environmentally sustainable products or services exceeding $100,000 in any contract year.
(g) The Contractor shall prepare and submit performance reports, if required, using prescribed DOE formats, at the end of the Federal fiscal year, on matters related to the acquisition of environmentally preferable and sustainable products and services. This is a material delivery under the contract. Failure to perform this requirement may be considered a failure that endangers performance of this contract and may result in termination for default.
(h) These provisions shall be flowed down only to first tier subcontracts exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold that support operation of the DOE facility and offer significant subcontracting opportunities for energy efficient or environmentally sustainable products or services. The Subcontractor, if subcontracting opportunities for sustainable and environmentally preferable products or services exceed the threshold in paragraph (f) of this clause, will comply with the procedures in paragraphs (c) through (f) of this clause regarding the collection of all data necessary to generate the reports required under paragraphs (c) through (f) of this clause, and submit the reports directly to the Prime Contractor's Environmental Sustainability Coordinator at the supported facility. The Subcontractor will advise the Contractor if it is unable to procure energy efficient and environmentally sustainable items and cite which of the reasons in paragraph (c) of this clause apply. The reports may be submitted at the conclusion of the subcontract term provided that the subcontract delivery term is not multi-year in nature. If the delivery term is multi-year, the Subcontractor shall report its accomplishments for each Federal fiscal year in a manner and at a time or times acceptable to both parties. Failure to comply with these reporting requirements may be considered a breach of contract with attendant consequences.
(i) When this clause is used in a subcontract, the word “Contractor” will be understood to mean “Subcontractor.”
Alternate I for Construction Contracts and Subcontracts (OCT 2010)—When contracting for construction, alteration, or renovation of DOE facilities, substitute the following paragraphs (d) through (i):
(d) In the performance of this contract, the Contractor shall comply with the requirements of Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management, (http://www.epa.gov/greeningepa/practices/eo13423.htm) and Executive Order 13514, Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance (http://www.archives.gov/federal-register/executive-orders/disposition.html). The Contractor shall also consider the best practices within the DOE Acquisition Guide, Chapter 23, Acquisition Considerations Regarding Federal Leadership in Environmental, Energy, and Economic Performance. This guide includes information concerning recycled content products, biobased products, energy efficient products, water efficient products, alternative fuels and vehicles, non-ozone depleting substances and other environmentally preferable products and services. This guide is available on the Internet at: http://management.energy.gov/documents/AcqGuide23pt0Rev1.pdf. When developing the Bill of Materials for approval of the Contracting Officer or Representative, the contractor shall specify energy efficient and environmentally sustainable materials to the extent possible within the constraints of the general design specifications. Compliance with the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings (Guiding Principles) shall be achieved through certification to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold level under the LEED rating system most suited to the building type.
(e) [Reserved]
(f) In complying with the requirements of paragraph (c) of this clause, the Contractor(s) shall coordinate its activities with and submit required reports through the Environmental Sustainability Coordinator or equivalent position. Reporting under this paragraph and paragraphs (g) and (h) of this clause is only required if the contract or subcontract offers subcontracting opportunities for energy efficient and environmentally sustainable products or services exceeding $100,000 in any contract year, except for reporting on high performance sustainable buildings which may be required elsewhere in this contract.
(g) The Contractor shall prepare and submit performance reports using prescribed DOE formats, at the end of the Federal fiscal year, on matters related to the acquisition of energy efficient and environmentally and sustainable products and services. This is a material delivery under the contract. Failure to perform this requirement may be considered a failure that endangers performance of this contract and may result in termination for default.
(h) These provisions shall be flowed down only to first tier construction subcontracts exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold that support operation of the DOE facility and offer significant opportunities for designating energy efficient or environmentally sustainable products or services in the materials selection process. The subcontractor, if subcontracting opportunities for sustainable and environmentally preferable products or services exceed the threshold in paragraph (f) of this clause, will comply with the procedures in paragraphs (c) through (f) of this clause regarding the collection of all data necessary to generate the reports required under paragraphs (c) through (f) of this clause, and submit the reports directly to the Prime Contractor's Environmental Sustainability Coordinator at the supported facility. The subcontractor will advise the contractor if it is unable to procure energy efficient and environmentally sustainable items and cite which of the reasons in paragraph (c) of this clause apply. The reports may be submitted at the conclusion of the subcontract term provided that the subcontract delivery term is not multi-year in nature. If the delivery term is multi-year, the subcontractor shall report its accomplishments for each Federal fiscal year in a manner and at a time or times acceptable to both parties. Failure to comply with these reporting requirements may be considered a breach of contract with attendant consequences.
(i) When this clause is used in a subcontract, the word “Contractor” will be understood to mean “Subcontractor.”