Table of Contents
What is the Challenge?
The Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC) is a partnership program that encourages federal facilities and agencies to:
Purchase greener electronic products;
Reduce impacts of electronic products during use; and
Manage obsolete electronics in an environmentally safe way.
Why Electronics?
The purchasing, use, and disposition of electronics, such as computers, printers, and mobile phones, have significant environmental impacts. Electronic equipment may:
Contain toxic constituents;
Consume significant energy during use; and
Present complex challenges when disposed of.
Acquisition
EPEAT – Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
EPEAT, launched in 2006, is an on-line procurement tool that allows for the comparison and selection of electronic products based on environmental attributes. The EPEAT system evaluates electronic products according to three tiers of environmental performance – Bronze, Silver and Gold. The complete set of criteria includes 23 required criteria and 28 optional criteria in eight performance categories: Reduction/Elimination of Environmentally Sensitive Materials, Materials Selection, Design for End of Life, Life Cycle Extension, Energy Conservation, End of Life Management, Corporate Performance, and Packaging. EPEAT standards are currently available for computer desktops, monitors and notebook computers.
Purchase of EPEAT-Registered Products Required for Federal Government
Executive Order 13423, Strengthening Federal Environmental, Energy and Transportation Management, requires federal agencies to meet at least 95 percent of acquisition requirements for electronic products with an Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT)-registered electronic product, unless there is no EPEAT standard for such product. Using EPEAT also fulfills other federal requirements for environmentally preferable purchasing, including the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR), which requires the use of EPEAT when acquiring personal computer products.
Environmental Benefits of EPEAT Purchases, 2009
Over their lifetime, compared to the purchase of products that do not meet EPEAT’s criteria, EPEAT registered notebooks, desktops, and monitors purchased worldwide in 2009 will:
Reduce use of primary materials by 19 million metric tons, equivalent to the weight of more than 148 million refrigerators;
Reduce use of toxic materials, including mercury, by 1537 metric tons, equivalent to the weight of 768,000 bricks;
Eliminate use of enough mercury to fill 372,000 household mercury thermometers;
Avoid the disposal of 72,000 metric tons of hazardous waste, equivalent to the weight of 35 million bricks; and
Eliminate the equivalent of more than 14,500 US households’ annual solid waste — over 29,000 metric tons of waste.
In addition, due to EPEAT’s requirement that registered products meet the latest ENERGY STAR efficiency specifications, these products will consume less energy throughout their useful life, resulting in:
Savings of over 10 billion kWh of electricity — enough to power 900,000 US homes for a year;
Avoidance of 44 million metric tons of air emissions (including greenhouse gas emissions) and over 93,000 metric tons of water pollutant emissions; and
Reduction of over 2 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions — equivalent to taking nearly 1.4 million US passenger cars off the road for a year.
ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR is a program, started in 1992, to promote energy efficiency and environmental protection through energy-efficient products and practices. It is run jointly by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy.
The ENERGY STAR label was established to:
Reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other pollutants caused by the inefficient use of energy; and
Make it easy for consumers to identify and purchase energy-efficient products that offer savings on energy bills without sacrificing performance, features, and comfort.
Products can earn the ENERGY STAR label by meeting the energy efficiency requirements set forth in ENERGY STAR product specifications. EPA establishes these specifications based on the following set of key guiding principles:
Product categories must contribute significant energy savings nationwide;
Qualified products must deliver the features and performance demanded by consumers, in addition to increased energy efficiency;
If the qualified product costs more than a conventional, less-efficient counterpart, purchasers will recover their investment in increased energy efficiency through utility bill savings, within a reasonable period of time;
Energy efficiency can be achieved through broadly available, non-proprietary technologies offered by more than one manufacturer;
Product energy consumption and performance can be measured and verified with testing; and
Labeling would effectively differentiate products and be visible for purchasers.
ENERGY STAR qualified products are more than just electronics. A wide range of household and business items may carry the symbol, such as fans, water heaters, freezers, furnaces, etc. ENERGY STAR also recognizes energy efficient buildings with the symbol.
Operations & Maintenance
Power Management
For more information on power management, or to get assistance in enabling monitor and computer power management, please visit the
ENERGY STAR 
website.
What is “power management”?
Power management refers to the utilization of ENERGY STAR features on ENERGY STAR qualified electronics, in order to save power. ENERGY STAR power management features — standard in Windows and Macintosh operating systems — place monitors and computers into a low-power “sleep mode” after a period of inactivity. Simply touching the mouse or keyboard “wakes” the computer and monitor in seconds. Power management features must be “enabled” on computer desktops, laptops and monitors to ensure power savings.
What is “enabled”?
Monitors: ENERGY STAR power management features are “enabled” if a monitor is set to enter “sleep” mode or turn off after a specified period of inactivity. ENERGY STAR recommends that this time frame be set at 5 to 20 minutes of inactivity.
Desktop Computers: ENERGY STAR power management features are “enabled” if a desktop computer is set to enter “system standby” or “hibernate” after a specified period of inactivity. ENERGY STAR recommends that this time frame be set at 30 to 60 minutes of inactivity.
Laptop Computers: ENERGY STAR power management features are “enabled” if a laptop monitor is set to enter “sleep” mode or turned off after a specified period of inactivity, and the laptop computer is set to enter “system standby” or “hibernate” after a specified period of inactivity. These power management features must be enabled in both the “plugged in” and “running on battery” modes.
Why should I use power management features?
You can save up to $75 or more per computer by activating system standby or hibernate features.
Extend Useful Lifetime
Computer hardware is expected to last 7 years, but federal equipment is used for an average of 3 years. New products require raw materials and energy for manufacturing and transportation. We are to strive to extend the useful lifetime of electronic equipment to a minimum of 4 years.
Duplex Printing
Duplex (double-sided) printing is being set as the default setting for all compatible network-managed printers or print queues. Use duplex printing whenever possible, however, systems may be configured to allow for single-sided printing as required to meet specific business needs. Exemptions should be justified, approved, and signed by the Chief Information Officer
End of Life
Everyone is a Property Manager. All NIH employees have duties and responsibilities in property management. The goal of property management is to make proper and full use of property resources. Meeting that goal affords NIH the opportunity to use public funds in support of its research mission rather than the acquisition of additional property.
Reuse
In 2010, 5,544 electronic items at NIH were reused.
Used furniture, lab equipment (microscopes, refrigerators, hoods, etc.), and information technology equipment (computers, printers, etc.) are available to government employees at no charge. Property can be found on NIH's main campus at the Personal Property Branch Reutilization and Surplus Yard (Surplus Yard) or off campus at the Gaithersburg Distribution Center (GDC).
You can screen property at the GDC between 7:00 am and 3:00 pm Monday through Friday or you can schedule an appointment for screening by emailing
Mike Zindel. All screening must be done in person as property is available
at no charge on a first come, first serve basis. Shipping and transportation of those items back to your business area for official use is at your expense. Property is available only for government use.
Recycling
In 2010, 22,957 electronic items from NIH, totaling 315 tons, were recycled.
Any government property (anything purchased with NIH or federal funds) that you possess and no longer have a need for cannot be thrown or given away. When you no longer need the property, you must turn it in for other authorized uses. The primary goal of federal property disposal programs is making maximum use of property within the Government before acquiring a new item or disposing of the old item through various government programs. Recycling or reutilizing property saves federal tax dollars. All property that you want to dispose of must be classified, prepared, reported and transferred to the Personal Property Branch for reuse or disposal.
Contact:
Ph: 301.496.4247
Personal Electronic Equipment
The following links provide information on where you can recycle your personal electronic equipment.