The Office of Legacy Management’s (LM) Weldon Spring Site, Missouri, is the recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy’s GreenSpace Award for fiscal year 2021.
LM was honored for greening the newly built Weldon Spring Interpretive Center by purchasing more sustainable equipment, materials, and products in that space. The Silver level GreenSpace Award was in recognition of LM meeting a 90 percent threshold of environmentally preferable product purchases at the new interpretive center at the Weldon Spring Site.
The GreenSpace Award was launched this year, and LM was the first recipient. The award was in the Auditorium/Conference Space category.
“This award demonstrates that LM is committed to DOE’s principles of sustainable acquisition,” said E2SH&Q Team Lead Tracy Ribeiro. “We are truly honored to be the first recipient of this award. Ninety percent is a high bar to clear, and we are proud to be among the pacesetters of Federal agencies.”
Federal policy requires all agencies to purchase environmentally preferable products and services that use less energy and water, reduce or eliminate waste at the source, promote the use of nontoxic or less toxic substances, implement conservation techniques, and reuse materials rather than put them into the waste stream. The benefits of sustainable acquisition include:
- Improvement of employee health and performance.
- Reduction of emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
- Conservation of resources.
- Reduced maintenance costs.
- Reduced waste-management costs.
- Support of green building requirements.
- Energy efficient - ENERGY STAR certified or meet Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) energy efficiency and low standby power requirements.
- Fuel efficient – SmartWay certified transport partners.
- Water efficient – WaterSense labeled.
- Made from biobased content – BioPreferred designated.
- Made from recycled content – Comprehensive Procurement Guideline designated.
- Non-ozone depleting – Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) alternative.
DOE sites receive recognition for purchasing programs that obtain sustainable products, save energy, conserve water, and reduce negative health and environmental impacts under the GreenBuy Award Program. The GreenSpace Award, a component of the GreenBuy Award Program, recognizes achieving goals for multiple products within a single space or function. For the Weldon Spring Interpretive Center, products were purchased for the auditorium and two conference rooms within the following categories that met GreenBuy criteria: furniture, LED lighting, carpeting, acoustic ceiling tile, and electronic equipment/computers and displays.
The sustainability goals are based on evaluations of environmental performance standards, ecolabels, and input from DOE sites as well as external organizations. The goals often go beyond the Federal requirements, but do not preclude responsibility for meeting the Federal sustainable acquisition requirements.
The awards become progressively more challenging over time, encouraging participants to transition to more and more sustainable products. LM’s participation in this program leverages the Federal government's purchasing dollars to achieve mission goals while improving the marketplace for greener products and reducing the environmental impact of DOE’s operations. LM and its contractors are asked to do their part to help LM achieve future recognition for purchasing sustainable products. Personnel from procurement, environmental compliance, and sustainability team members are available to assist if needed.
LM and support contractor staff who contributed to the purchasing, information gathering, and review of the award nomination were Sara Atkins, Teri Kisner, Bob Ransbottom, Tracy Ribeiro, Rebecca Roberts, Lisa Saurborn, Randy Thompson, and Kate Whysner.
