Navy’s Green Procurement Program

The new Department of the Navy Green Procurement Program Implementation Guide is harnessing the fleet's purchasing power in support environmentally friendly and energy-efficient technologies and products.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment BJ Penn and Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition Sean J. Stackley signed the Department of the Navy Green Procurement Program Implementation Guide Feb. 5.

The Guide, written jointly by Naval Supply Systems Command's (NAVSUP) Naval Inventory Control Point (NAVICP) and Marine Corps Headquarters, makes it easy to set up a Green Procurement Program (GPP) for an installation or activity, and makes buying green products—like energy efficient items, biobased products, non-ozone depleting substances, recovered material, and recovered material—easy. It also helps Department of Navy (DON) personnel understand and execute Department of Defense (DOD) GPP policy.

"The Guide provides a clear methodology for implementing the Department of Defense's Green Procurement Program strategy within the organizational structure of the Navy," said Blair Collins, Navy point of contact for green procurement at NAVICP.

"One of the easiest ways to go green is through the purchase of green products," Collins said. "Green products are available from the General Services Administration (www.gsaadvantage.gov). When accessing the Web site, go to "Special Programs" and click on "Environmental."

Additionally, green products are available on the Department of Defense EMALL (http://www.dlis.dla.mil/emall.asp). When accessing this Web site a green tree appears beside all green products, along with two capital letters that designate a specific environmental category.

Buying green can be applied to all purchases of products and services by NAVSUP personnel and their contractors, regardless of how the products or services are purchased or what the dollar value is. Examples include commodity purchases, construction contracts, service contracts, items bought from base supply stores, and items used for in-house construction and services. Buying green pertains to all NAVSUP facilities, operations, and systems. Policy requirements apply to all developers, contracting officers, and Government purchase card holders.

The guide is available for all activities in the NAVSUP Enterprise to use and has been posted on the Joint Service Pollution Prevention and Sustainability Technical Library at
www.p2sustainabilitylibrary.mil/p2_documents/don_gpp_implementationguide020509.pdf

The guide supersedes NAVSUP Publication 728, dated September 2001.

NAVSUP's primary mission is to provide U.S. naval forces with quality supplies and services. With headquarters in Mechanicsburg, Pa., and employing a diverse, worldwide workforce of more than 25,500 military and civilian personnel, NAVSUP oversees logistics programs in the areas of supply operations, conventional ordnance, contracting, resale, fuel, transportation, and security assistance. In addition, NAVSUP is responsible for quality of life issues for our naval forces, including food service, postal services, Navy Exchanges, and movement of household goods.