Procurement Ideas for Biden-Harris to Meet Build Back Better Goals

Top 3 vote-getters:

Urban Smart Surfaces: require or strongly preference smart surfaces as the design standard for future federally funded infrastructure investments

Contributors: Greg Kats, Jad Daley, Georges Benjamin, Cooper Martin, Vivian Loftness, Julie T. Katzman, Brendan Shane, Tracy Wolstencraft, Frank Loy

Summary: Proposes that the upcoming infrastructure bill should codify a preference in future federal infrastructure investments for Smart Surfaces (which includes reflective and porous surfaces, green roofs, trees, and solar PV). This would cost-effectively bring large cooling, pollution, health, and energy cost benefits to cities, with many of the benefits concentrated in low-income neighborhoods.

Executive Order to require “Buy Clean” disclosure rules for federal government purchases of steel, cement, concrete, and other heavy energy intensive industries

Contributor: Mike Williams

Summary: Proposes an executive order that would direct an interagency process to develop and implement Buy Clean transparency and disclosure rules for multiple products, but notably steel, iron, cement and concrete. The Buy Clean transparency standards would expand and improve reporting methodologies to better incorporate life cycle assessment and standardize metrics for performance-based standards for climate resilience, resource use, and pollution intensity.

Budget Neutral Federal Fleet Emissions Reduction Program Using Proven Energy Savings Performance Contract Program

Contributors: Jeff Eckel, Guy Van Syckle

Summary: Proposes to amend to the National Energy Conservation Policy Act to permit zero emission vehicles to be an acceptable energy conservation measure under Energy Performance Contract Savings (ESPC) and Utility Energy Service Contract (UESC) governing legislation. This would enable to federal fleet electrification to be financed on a budget neutral basis under the existing very successful contracting EPSC vehicle.

Nominees:

Sustainable Public Procurement: Mandates, Metrics, and Incentives to Overcome the “Tyranny of Low Purchase Prices

Contributors: Steven Schooner, Markus Speidel, Ph.D.

Leverage federal procurement to create markets for direct air capture (DAC) services and products made from CO2 captured from DAC

Contributors: Abigail Regitsky, Preeti Kanther, Mike Weiner, Nicholas Eisenberger

Implement a Climate Competition-Based Concrete Procurement Standard for all Federal Agencies

Contributors: Christopher Neidl, Shuchi Talati, Na’im Merchant

Military Procurement to Create a Market for Clean Hydrogen Products

Contributor: Solomon Goldstein-Rose

We welcome your examination of the full database here., which contains many more highly actionable ideas to help spark the clean economy.