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EMS at Our Philadelphia Office
1650 Arch St.
Philadelphia
Related Mid-Atlantic Information
Accomplishments
FY 2010 Performance Highlights
In FY 2010, the Regional Office achieved reductions in many key areas of resource use. We completed an internal and external audit of our Environmental Management Systems (EMS) and the building itself received an Energy Star designation.
In FY '10, Region 3's Fleet Managers continued to emphasize Executive Order 13423 regarding E85 use and took steps to encourage employees who use GSA vehicles to plan ahead and use E85 to refill flexible fuel vehicles. The effort produced impressive results. Use of E85 rose 370% over FY'08.
Considering the lack of available E85 stations within our region, this improvement is a very significant accomplishment. In the Philadelphia area, there is only one E85 station. Within our Region, there are only 50. The efforts of the fleet management team to consistently remind and urge employees to use E85 on a regular basis, yielded big dividends.
Also in FY'09 the Regional Office recycled over 4,000 pounds of batteries, approximately 261,000 pounds of office paper, provided Internal EMS Auditor Training to key EMS Team members and purchased green product hand sanitizers for the region to help mitigate any chance for an H1N1 outbreak.
Through the year, we continued to green our computer equipment. We used approximately 110,069 kWh of electricity in FY 2009. When we first started in 2003, our energy usage was 286,000 kWh. Our next greening step is to address "vampire" loads. This is the power the computers are using when they are "off" but still plugged in. We estimate vampire electrical loss to be an additional 4,000 kWh for FY 2009.
For the Regional Office, energy usage decreased 22% from 2008, and water usage continued to follow a reducing trend overall.
Trash and Recycling
- The building our office is located in has recycled an average of 160 tons per year of paper, cardboard, plastic, cans, and bottles - about 40% of our waste. Our building manager also recycles all the fluorescent light bulbs and compact fluorescent lights in our building.
- In addition, our office manages the recycling of our computers, toner cartridges, batteries, phones and more (PDF) (1 pg, 37K, About PDF)!
- Our office has recently set the goal to "strive for 45" - to increase our recycling rate to 45% or more.
Paper Use
- Since 2005, our office has been using 100% recycled content, 100% post-consumer fiber, paper made by a chlorine-free process. Since 2003, we have reduced our paper use by 30% and saved tens of thousands of dollars. However, we are still using about 500 sheets of paper per person per month. Even though we use "green" paper it still requires resources and energy and we continue to evaluate ways of reducing our paper use.
Computers
- Since 2003, our office has saved hundreds of thousands of kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity by activating "sleep mode" on our computers and monitors. Since then, we have been able to hold the line on power use by ever more powerful computers by eliminating the use of cathode ray tube (CRT) monitors and replacing them with liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors. We also only buy Energy Star and EPEAT computers. Finally, we have replaced some desktop PCs with laptop computers and docking stations that are very energy efficient in addition to being portable.
- Since 2006, our office has been a member of the Federal Electronics Challenge that promotes environmentally preferable purchase, use and disposal of electronic devices. Utilizing the Recycling Electronics and Asset Disposition (READ) contract our office has sent thousands of CPUs and monitors to approved recyclers for deconstruction and reuse of materials contained in the equipment.
Energy
- EPA is the first major federal agency to purchase green power equal to 100 percent of its estimated annual electricity use nationwide. Green power can be defined as energy from indefinitely available resources and whose generation has zero/negligible environmental impacts.
- Since 2003, through conservation, our office has saved enough electricity to power over 26 houses!
- Our building’s management is now a member of our EMS Team. The building manager applied for and were successful in attaining an Energy Star certification for the regional office building. In 2009, the building replaced bulbs and ballasts in stairwell lights that will save enough electricity to power a house each year.
- Greening EPA - Philadelphia provides information on BTU, energy and water consumption of our facility.
Vehicles
- In 2004, the Regional office purchased our first hybrid vehicles. ALL of our passenger vehicles are now either hybrid (gas/electric), that get good fuel economy, or Flexible Fuel Vehicles (FFV) which can run on E85 (85% ethanol), a renewable fuel, as well as gasoline. In 2009, we used over 7,265 gallons of E85.
- In 2009, we sets goals to reduce our petroleum consumption by 2% and use 100% E85 in our FFVs. According to EPA Headquarters’ fuel consumption data for the Regional office, in 2008 and 2009 the Regional office reduced their petroleum fuel usage by over 33%.
- Vehicle Operations Report Form (PDF) (1 pg, 104K, About PDF)
Revision History
Date of Action
Originally written September 2004
Revised February 2009
Revised November 2009
Revised March 2010 - added lead-in text above "Trash and Recycling"
Revised August 2010 - updated statistics
Author: EMS Team/EMS Coordinator
Reviewed
and Approved: Senior Management
Review History
Reviewed January 2010