"Best practice" refers to "products that are in the upper 25 percent of energy efficiency for all similar products, or products that are at least 10 percent more efficient than the minimum level that meets Federal standards." (Sec. 507.) Waivers are permitted only where "best practice" products don't meet an agency's other performance standards or where these products are not cost-effective.
How will agencies, or consumers in general, be able to identify energy and water-using products that qualify as "best practice?" The Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) of the U.S. Department of Energy will issue "Product Recommendations" as soon as January, 1996 to inform federal procurement officials, and anyone else who is interested, what the minimum energy efficiency ratings are for products that make the grade. A product recommendation for windows, for example, might report that only those windows with a "U value of .3" or lower are recommended. Product Recommendations will be issued for products in the following categories: Office Technologies, Residential Equipment, Residential Appliances, Commercial Appliances, Lighting Technologies, Water Saving Technologies, Industrial Technologies, Renewable Technologies, Commercial Equipment, Building Technologies and Transportation Technologies. Once the cut-off line criteria are established, they will be published in FEMP's Product Recommendations report.
According to Executive Order 12902, the General Services Administration (GSA) and the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) "will provide all agencies with information on specific products that meet the energy-efficient criteria...." (Sect. 507.) As the suppliers for the federal government, GSA and DLA are currently working with FEMP to develop a system to highlight the compliant products that are available from their services. The GSA and the DLA expect to use a common, government-wide symbol or color in their product schedules and on-line systems to distinguish "best practice" products. Both agencies will provide federal government customers with information to assist them in selecting the most energy-efficient products that also meet their performance, delivery, quality and life-cycle cost needs.
But how will you know that a product identified by GSA and DLA as "best practice" does what it says it does? This is one of the issues that FEMP is beginning to resolve. FEMP expects to use what they consider "the best available data" to verify manufacturers' claims about a product's energy efficiency, according to Aimee McKane, Program Manager at FEMP. According to Jeff Harris of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, it may be that what is defined as "best practice" might only include those products that have already been voluntarily submitted to a third-party verification organization. It does not seem that FEMP will take manufacturers' claims as the final word on a product.
To identify "best practice" products, purchasing officials at non-federal government agencies can access directories which compare the energy efficiency of similar products. Perhaps the best place to go to find sources of information is the Directory of Data Sources for Purchasing Officials. This directory is produced by the Energy-Efficient Procurement Collaborative, a joint project of purchasing officials, leaders from state and federal government, utility companies, and public interest and not-for-profit organizations. (See: "Doing Your Own Energy Comparisons.")
For more information about Executive Order 12902, or to obtain a copy of Product Recommendations, call, fax, or e-mail an information request to: Federal Energy Management Program. Phone: (202) 586-5772 or (800) 566-2877 Fax: (202) 586-3000 Internet: FEMP@tmn.com
For more information about Product Recommendations, contact Aimee McKane at (202) 586-5772.