Section 8: TRAINING AND INFORMATION SHARING

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A. OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION
B. CASE STUDIES/CURRENT GREEN PURCHASING INITIATIVES
C. COMPARING COSTS AND WAYS TO KEEP THEM DOWN
D. GUIDANCE ON TOTAL COST OF OWNERSHIP AND E-WASTE

A. OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION AND CONFERENCING

NASPO: National Association of State Procurement Officials

NASPO provides a listserv for members to ask questions, exchange information and share solutions virtually instantaneously.
The association also publishes various reference books which serve as guides for procurement officials as well as vendors who do business with the states.
NASPO, in cooperation with Governing Magazine, sponsors an annual Marketing to State Governments Seminar for vendors interested in learning state procurement laws, policies and procedures.
States Helping States is a service provided by NASPO where members and other government officials participate in consulting service projects to improve state purchasing operations.
NASPO holds an annual conference which provides state members with an excellent networking opportunity as well as a chance to participate in sessions on timely and provocative procurement issues.

NIGP: National Institute of Governmental Purchasing

NIGP offers one hour, live webinars designed to introduce new buyers and/or users to the NIGP Code, how it is used, and how to navigate the code website. The webinar provides an opportunity for live question and answer discussion with NIGP staff. For more information and for the webinar schedule, contact the NIGP team at info@nigp.com.
NIGP Code Boot Camp is a two day, on-site training program intended to ensure that businesses are using the Code to its full extent. An NIGP consultant will visit your office to examine the internal processes and recommend ways to incorporate the Code more efficiently and effectively. The first day of Boot Camp consists of reviewing the NIGP Code itself then analyzing how it is being used in your current, internal processes. On the second day, the consultant will hold a series of Code implementation sessions aimed at teaching ways to incorporate the Code into each step of your process. Upon conclusion of the Boot Camp, a report is delivered outlining the consultant's recommendations. For more information on NIGP Boot Camp contact (800) 757-6064 or info@nigp.com.
NIGP in cooperation with Periscope offers a variety of Procurement Management Assistance Programs designed to help procurement professionals face daily pressures. The services include, but are not limited to: spend analysis; diversity program analysis; OA4 accreditation review; and benchmarking and best practice implementation.

NACo: National Association of Counties

NACo provides many educational and technical assistance programs to counties on a wide range of issues. Through publications, workshops, and examples of best practices, NACo helps to improve on local services and to address county wants and needs.

Indoor Air Quality: A comprehensive resource CD designed to provide counties with facts, resources, and best practices to improve and to expand indoor air quality programs.
Climate Protection Program: NACo encourages counties to sign a resolution to assist in creating their own climate protection program.
Energy: NACo encourages that counties participate in the EnergyStar challenge created to challenge organizations to make energy efficient improvements on-site.
Energy Management
Green Government Initiative: NACo serves as a channel between local governments and the private sector to encourage green government best practices and product purchasing.
Land Use: Through a series of forums and publications, NACo is working to educate counties on zoning, land use, and on wildlife preservation to name a few.
Transportation: Through educational training, hands-on workshops and publications, NACo trains county officials on effective transportation management and planning.
Water Resource Management: NACo's water program is designed to improve their water resource management initiatives. Financial and technical assistance, in addition to training programs and publications help counties protect local water supplies.

RPN: Responsible Purchasing Network

RPN provides purchasing guides for a number of products and services, including bottled water, computers, copy paper, lighting, office electronics, etc. Product guides are available in publication form and are easily accessible online.
RPN also provides many forums designed to facilitate communication among members and non-members as well as webinar videos and presentations. The webinars cover environmental issues associated with green purchasing and include discussions on social responsibility.
The EcoMarkets 2008 Summary Report, covering the social and environmental attitudes and practices of North American institutional buyers, is available for download on the RPN site. The report covers marketplace trends and opportunities in green purchasing. It was produced through a partnership between the RPN, TerraChoice Environmental Marketing, and the North American Green Purchasing Initiative of the North American Commission for Environmental Cooperation.
RPN also offers the expertise of their staff to speak at events nationwide.
NASPO partnered with RPN on the 2010 "State of Green Purchasing" report. Webinars to go over survey findings and RPN green resources will be conducted in fall 2010.

GPR: Green Purchasing Roundtable

NASPO and RPN partnered to give each NASPO state member central procurement offfice NASPO-funded memberships.
NASPO participated in GPR's 2010 plenary session in Boca Raton, Fl. Two NASPO representatives attended the meeting.

B. Case Studies / Current Green Purchasing Initiatives

State of Colorado

On April 16, 2007, Colorado's Governor issued an Executive Order titled “The Greening of State Government,” which contained numerous detailed directives calling for new green purchasing policies and practices. In addition, HB1220 (Environmentally Preferable Product Preference legislation) took effect on August 2007. As a result, the state of Colorado held a half-day training class introducing Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP) to state agency and higher education institutional purchasing agents and directors. The session was presented by Green Seal, Inc. The goals of this particular training were:

To introduce to the State Procurement Community an overview of a statute and executive orders that address EPP.
To make purchasing agents and managers aware of Environmentally Preferable Purchasing and the impact that State government has on the environment through its purchase and consumption of products and services.
To make the State Procurement Community aware of the positive impact they can make as purchasing professionals in developing purchasing requirements which incorporate environmentally preferable attributes which reduce environmental impacts ranging from manufacture, acquisition, use and disposal of products.
To provide an overview of some of the resources available to purchasing professionals to assist them in pursuing EPP including other state and governmental EPP programs.

State of North Dakota