Featured Award: National Federal Green Challenge Awards

Beginning in 2013, the Federal Green Challenge was created in an effort to motivate Federal Agencies to reduce their environmental impact. Supported by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ‘Sustainable Materials Management Program’, organizations participate by selecting at least two target areas and subsequently commit to improve their environmental performance. There are six target areas that agencies may choose from. All goals are gauged relative to individually calculated baselines.

Specific goals for each target areas are as follows:

Waste: 5% reduction in overall waste generated, or 5% increase in materials recycled/composted.
Electronics: 5% increase in average lifespan of electronics, amount of electronic equipment that uses power management, and purchase/use of Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) rated products.
Purchasing: 5% increase of recycled content office products, green cleaning product, and number of meetings/events hosted under a ‘Green Meeting’ policy.
Energy: 5% increase in renewable energy, or 5% reduction in electricity or natural gas/fuel consumed annually.
Water: Reduced water consumption and storm water runoff by 5% annually.
Transportation: Reduced overall mileage by 5%.

Regional winners are identified by target area across ten distinct geographic areas. Regions represented include: New England (Region 1) New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands (Region 2), Mid-Atlantic (Region 3), Southeast (Region 4), Great Lakes (Region 5), South Central (Region 6), Mountains & Plains (Region 8), Pacific Southwest (Region 9), and Pacific Northwest & Alaska (Region 10).

In 2015 there were eight national winners representing the highest achieved percentage in each target area (with a three-way tie in transportation), including:

Waste: Southern Arizona VA Health Care System, Tucson, Arizona
Electronics: Western Laboratory, Drug Enforcement Administration, San Francisco, California
Purchasing: U.S. Courthouse, Los Angeles, California
Energy: Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, San Diego, California
Water: Oregon Caves National Monument, Cave Junction, Oregon
Transportation (tie): National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Golden, Colorado Minneapolis VA Healthcare System, Minneapolis, Minnesota Capulin Volcano National Monument, Capulin, New Mexico

Outcomes from this past years’ challenge brought an estimated savings of more than $24 million to US taxpayers. This included diverting 390,000 tons of waste from landfills, saving 80 million gallons of water, avoiding the use of 15,000 pounds of paper, and reducing unnecessary travel by 12.3 million miles.

For more information about the Federal Green Challenge Award, including past winners, please visit the Federal Green Challenge Award webpage or the GBIG collection page.