Greening Government Through Technology Acquisition

The United States government faces an urgent need to become the nation’s environmental steward and leading innovator in sustainable solutions. Perhaps more than any other federal agency, the General Services Administration (GSA) has an opportunity to lead the federal agencies in embracing sustainability by utilizing its position as a procurement solutions provider to the government in most areas critical to achieving sustainability. GSA’s mission is to "use expertise to provide innovative solutions for our customers in support of their missions and by so doing foster an effective, sustainable, and transparent government for the American people." This by definition signifies that GSA must not only embrace sustainability as its own cause, but also help other agencies to achieve more sustainable operations.

GSA currently handles approximately one-third of the overall federal information technology (IT) acquisition volume, manages a real estate portfolio of more than 354 million square feet of office space for the government, and provides over 212,000 automobiles through GSA Fleet. GSA, therefore, is ideally positioned to lead the effort in identifying and implementing sustainability solutions that minimize the environmental footprint of technologies used by government agencies. We suggest five specific steps GSA can take to become the provider of choice for government agencies’ green IT procurement needs.

Step 1: Understand the "why" of green IT

Government mandates to lead by example: The federal IT market will generate a strong demand for "green IT" solutions, given the current administration’s impetus on sustainability, energy conservation and environmental stewardship. These priorities are captured in Executive Order 13514 "Federal Leadership in Environment, Energy, and Economic Performance (2009)," which urges the federal government to "lead by example" in utilizing environmentally responsible products and technologies. The Executive Order also reflects the increasing social momentum toward technologies that minimize energy consumption and environmental harm, as evidenced by the popularity of items such as compact fluorescent light bulbs and hybrid cars.

Sustainable cost savings: Perhaps more compelling than the governmental, regulatory and social factors, economics may be the true driving force for agencies to "do more with less" using green IT solutions in the coming years. The federal government is the nation’s largest consumer of energy, and the U.S. leads the world’s consumption of energy, using 22 percent of the power generated worldwide in 2006. Federal servers and data centers account for approximately 10 percent of electricity used by the IT industry in the U.S.; just a 10 percent reduction in this area would represent over $45 million in savings.

It is the right thing to do: Energy security, environmental stewardship and resource conservation are some of the top priorities of the U.S. government. From the World Commission on Environment and Sustainability: "sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." So, at the intersection of fiduciary responsibility and environmental stewardship lie significant opportunities for GSA to promote and deliver green IT products and services.

Step 2: Build a model for green government procurement

Federal agencies submitted their first-ever environmental sustainability plans to the White House in June 2010, reflecting their leading strategies and goals for greener government. As agencies begin implementing their plans by procuring environmentally friendly products and using professional services to assess and redesign their infrastructure and operations, GSA could position itself as the first-choice provider of these products and services.

GSA also manages the federal government’s real estate and leads the effort in the operation and management of green buildings. The Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 established the Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings within GSA to develop and disseminate green practices throughout the life of federal facilities. This office was moved from Public Building Service (PBS) to the Offices of Governmentwide Policy in 2010, signaling the leadership’s intention to bring green solutions not just to government buildings but to other areas GSA serves.

In conjunction with its activities in the areas of building and energy management, GSA has a chance to pioneer innovative ways to deliver green IT offerings, since IT is the linchpin that connects many areas of sustainability, including manufacturing, transportation, distribution and energy. Green IT embraces an array of solutions in the areas of power management, data center optimization, equipment recycling, telecommuting and green professional services that assist in technology assessments and implementation of energy-saving solutions.

This model for green government procurement focuses on the four underlying principles of Manage, Reduce, Optimize and Deliver, and is illustrated below.

Manage: Manage the use of recycled equipment, and maintain cost-effective waste prevention and green disposal. For example, to meet green mandates, GSA could lease equipment, purchase used/refurbished equipment and enroll in device disposal programs.

Reduce: Reduce energy consumption to minimize carbon footprint (achieve the goal of Zero Environmental Footprint). For example, GSA could utilize Energy Star-/EPEAT-compliant products, minimize travel through teleconferencing services, and optimize, adopt and/or implement data-center efficiencies.

Optimize: Optimize energy usage and realize cost savings through standards that promote energy-efficient initiatives. For example, GSA could migrate/integrate legacy systems, employ server, network and desktop virtualization, install power management software, and utilize laptops using energy-efficient screen-saver settings.

Deliver: Deliver green IT by aligning procurement and implementation efforts that drive sustainability. For example, GSA could promote the use of green standards in acquisition policy, execute "environmentally preferable" clauses in procurement terms and adopt policies that follow green architectural standards.

An active development and promotion of this model for green government procurement is GSA’s opportunity to crystallize these concepts into actions for sustainability, and significantly contribute to achieving the administration’s goals and objectives for a zero environmental footprint.

Step 3: Form partnerships

To be a government leader in sustainability, GSA must disseminate and continuously enhance its "model for green government" by forming strategic partnerships with existing and prospective customers, as well as with organizations that are at the cutting edge of sustainability, both within and outside of government. This can enable agencies to focus on their core mission, while GSA provides them access to the leading green IT products and services through industry partners.

Internal partnerships: GSA could foster partnerships within the agency that will strengthen its model for green government. For example, GSA could leverage the new position of Chief Greening Officer to convene a panel of experts that scans and identifies all green offerings from the entire portfolio of GSA’s products and services, not only in PBS but also in Federal Acquisition Services (FAS). For example, Integrated Technology Services (ITS) in FAS offers a range of green IT products and services that can be implemented within the construct of PBS’ Smart Buildings program to realize significant energy efficiencies and cost savings.

External partnerships: In addition to fostering key internal partnerships, GSA must stay at the forefront of innovative technologies and solutions for sustainability by strengthening partnerships with other agencies, industry partners and relevant technological associations. In the past, GSA has had success in partnering with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Department of Energy (DOE) to launch Energy Star, a joint program that offered agencies and taxpayers a broad range of energy-efficient products. GSA can replicate the success of the  Energy Star program to identify and develop partnerships that enable agencies to achieve their green goals. Another equally important partnership avenue is with industry and technology associations. In 2009, for example, GSA collaborated with the American Council for Technology (ACT), Industry Advisory Council (IAC) and the National Academy for Public Administration (NAPA) on a collaborative project, BetterBuy, to bring innovation to the federal acquisition process.  Such collaborative initiatives enhance GSA’s market presence and can help position GSA as a leader in identifying and adopting new technologies and effective practices that enable sustainability.

Step 4: Communicate to educate 

GSA’s model for green government can only be as good as the people who understand it and use its offerings effectively to green their agencies. Paralleling the partnership efforts in Step 3, GSA could launch a communications campaign to identify, pursue and educate new and prospective customers on the model, and then connect the customers to the latest sustainability initiatives and programs forged through various partnerships developed by GSA in Step 3.

This communications/education campaign should fully leverage the various channels and latest technologies available in the market - print media, events and conferences, interviews and social media. Leveraging social media and its real-time dissemination of information, in particular, affords GSA with a valuable first-mover advantage, so that whenever an agency official hears the words "sustainability" or "green," GSA is at the top of his or her mind.

Step 5: Enable continuous innovation through industry collaboration

Innovation is continuously created, refined and launched from private industry, as well as individuals working on sustainable solutions at academic institutions and nonprofit organizations. GSA has an opportunity to utilize the emerging suite of collaboration and open government platforms to foster an active exchange of ideas from these innovators. The innovators, in turn, can solicit feedback from the public and enjoy a positive buzz on the most promising of their innovations, potentially leading to large-scale adoption.

GSA is already an innovator in this field, recently testing a crowd-sourcing platform with its BetterBuy online acquisition wiki to collect public comments about three upcoming cloud-computing requirements. By utilizing similar platforms for potential sustainability requirements in their acquisitions, GSA can play a crucial role in identifying, leading and disseminating innovative green technologies through collaborating with industry partners, and opening the channels for agencies to adopt and realize their sustainability goals.

Conclusion

GSA has an unprecedented opportunity to be a leader in environmental sustainability by designing, promoting and implementing green IT procurement standards for the federal government. Through a number of actions - e.g., understanding and reaffirming the compelling reasons for going green; recognizing the critical role of green IT procurement and establishing a model for green government; developing internal and external networks and partnerships; leveraging up-to-date communications and education techniques and strategies; and facilitating and sponsoring innovation and creative research and development - GSA is ideally situated to meet the administration’s broad sustainability goals, while simultaneously assisting other agencies and the general public to go green. 

*Footnotes