1. What is the Green Procurement Compilation?

The SFTool's Green Procurement Compilation provides sustainable acquisition resources for the federal acquisition community. No matter the value of the procurement, or your level of experience, use the GPC to:

• Quickly identify purchasing program requirements that apply to products and services acquired by the U.S. Federal Government;
• View Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements that support each purchasing program;
• Find options available to purchase compliant products for federal buyers, including GSAAdvantage and GSA Global Supply;
• Create customized, downloadable product lists that include purchasing programs and applicable FAR references for each of your selected items;
• Find commercially available, environmentally preferable products that align with federal requirements in the GPC on SFTool Product Search. For best results use the green binoculars on select GPC product pages to jump directly to a filtered product list. You may also use the shortcut directly to SFTool Product Search on the GPC landing page. SFTool Product Search helps you quickly find products, automate documentation and simplify reporting. 
• New to the site? View a quick video introduction (YouTube)

The SFTool features procurement topics beyond the Green Procurement Compilation that can help make your next purchase a sustainable one! While you’re here:

• Learn about federal environmental purchasing programs;
• Use acquisition life cycle tools to assist buyers with each phase of the procurement life cycle; and
• Identify products that contribute to the Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings.

We have made recent improvements to the Green Procurement Compilation!  Review the significant changes.

You can download GPC Data by selecting an option below:

2. How does the Green Procurement Compilation help agencies meet sustainable acquisition requirements?

The Green Procurement Compilation consolidates information from each of the statutory purchasing programs and required  Environmental Protection Agency purchasing programs and organizes it by product category, making it easy to find sustainable product and service requirements in one place.

You can find the federal government’s sustainable acquisition policies and procedures at Federal Acquisition Regulations Part 23. Federal agencies are required to buy sustainable products and services to the maximum extent practicable. Sustainable Products and Services means products and services that are subject to and meet the applicable statutory mandates and directives for federal purchasing.

Select a purchasing program icon below to search products that fall under each purchasing program or go to the GPC to search for a specific product or service:

3. How do I find the purchasing programs that apply to my acquisition?

Go to sftool.gov and select the Procure Products and Services menu along the top, also known as the Green Procurement Compilation. There are three ways to access the environmental purchasing program information for a product:

1. Use the search bar towards the top of the page and enter a product or service category.
2. Scroll down on the Green Procurement Compilation and browse the categories of products and services.
3. Explore product categories according to their workspace.

Once you open the product page, you can find a description of the product and determine the purchasing programs that apply to your product or service by reviewing the product details. The legal requirements menu on the product page lists the FAR subsections applicable to the product. If you do not find a category for your product, we recommend you first, try searching using another frequently used term for the product category. For example, you may try multipurpose cleaner instead of all-purpose cleaner, or trash bag instead of trash liner.

For vendors, the sustainable products and services (including applicable purchasing programs) for an acquisition are identified by the federal buyer (e.g., Contracting Officer), and can be found in the statement of work or elsewhere in the contract or order. Review the contract or order for applicable sustainability clauses, such as FAR 52.223-23, Sustainable Products and Services, which requires contractors to ensure the sustainable products and services identified in the contract are delivered, incorporated, or furnished under the contract.

4. Are there priorities within the purchasing programs?

FAR 23.104(c) provides direction to ensure that federal agencies, first and foremost, comply with statutory purchasing program requirements and prioritize multi-attribute sustainable products and services, which are those that meet all applicable statutory purchasing program requirements and one or more required U.S. Environmental Protection Agency purchasing programs. 

The EPA Recommendations of Specifications, Standards and Ecolabels are a required EPA purchasing program and include additional preferences within their program. For all products that include EPA Recommendations, you will find a link at the bottom of the product details page that takes you to EPA Recommendations website to help you explore additional purchasing preferences and learn how key environmental hotspots like Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) and plastics are addressed.

This information is available on the product details page for each product listed on the Green Procurement Compilation.

5. Does sustainable acquisition apply to services or construction contracts?

Yes, per FAR 23.103(c), the requirement to purchasing sustainable products and services to the maximum extent practicable includes products under contract actions for services or construction if the products are:

• Delivered to the Government;
• Furnished by the contractor for use by the Government;
• Incorporated into the construction of a public building or public work; or
• Acquired by the contractor for use in performing services under a Government contract where the cost of the products is a direct cost to a Government contract.

The Green Procurement Compilation Services section addresses these requirements and in addition, the Services section allows you to:

• Download previous sustainable solicitation examples, and learn about optional green practices that buyers can incorporate in contracts for services;
• Download a full list of suggested sustainable product requirements for each service; and
• Explore ways to incorporate environmental criteria into the contract evaluation process.

6. Can I buy sustainable products on the Green Procurement Compilation?

No, products cannot be purchased on the Green Procurement Compilation; however, federal buyers can look for the “Where to Buy” options to be routed to available contracts, such as GSA’s contracting solutions. GSA helps federal agencies meet sustainable acquisition requirements by offering thousands of sustainable products. Federal buyers can procure sustainable products through:

• GSA Advantage Environmental Aisle: Allows you to search and buy thousands of individual sustainable products available through our Multiple Award Schedule, Best-in-Class contracts, and more. 
• GSA Global Supply™: Your one-stop source for requisition-based ordering, providing comprehensive, environmentally compliant solutions. Agencies who order through GSA Global Supply are assured regulatory compliance, a single bill, and global delivery from a government source.

Companies interested in becoming a GSA vendor can visit How to Sell to the Government and the Buying and Selling page on GSA.gov. Companies can also review the types of GSA contracts on GSA's Vendor Support Center.

7. Where can I find information about sustainable products in the commercial marketplace?

SFTool Product Search simplifies procurement, documentation and reporting by creating digital catalogs of commercially available sustainable products. The SFTool Product Search allows you to sort products by:

• energy and water performance
• product category
• brand
• environmental purchasing program 
• standard or ecolabel 

The product data in SFTool Product Search is supplied directly and automatically from ecolabel registries identified in the Green Procurement Compilation, which means the products conform to specifications or standards outlined by the purchasing programs (e.g., EPA, DOE, USDA, etc.). The SFTool Product Search contains over 300,000 products, making the procurement and reporting process easy by streamlining access to product documentation. 

You can access the SFTool Product Search by using the green binoculars on select Green Procurement Compilation product pages.

8. How can I confirm if a product complies with a purchasing program listed in the Green Procurement Compilation?

When a federal agency requires or gives preference to sustainable products or services, acquisition teams need to determine how to confirm a product complies with the requirements. At times, this may be as simple as instructing offerors to identify the offered products and self-declare that it meets the applicable standards. In fact, there are existing FAR provisions for bio-based products and EPA-designated items made with recovered materials that require offerors to self-certify that they meet the applicable standards. In other cases, it may be reasonable to request documentation, certifications, or other evidence that a product meets a specific standard or is otherwise sustainable. For example, the offeror may be able to submit a letter of certification or verification from a third-party certification or verification organization or utilize SFTool Product Search to document their product is third-party certified. Acquisition teams and federal suppliers have access to SFTool Product Search, which can streamline and simplify the acquisition process.

Many of the environmental programs include product registries, which if available, can be accessed through the link to the purchasing program website, which is listed under the Product Details - Procurement Information page on the Green Procurement Compilation.

9. The product I'm looking for is not listed on the Green Procurement Compilation. What next?

It probably means the product category does not have a federal sustainable acquisition requirement. You can try using another term used to describe the product and confirm in the product description if it includes the specific item. Product categories are listed in the Green Procurement Compilation when the category is covered by a purchasing program that meets the definition of sustainable product and services (the statutory purchasing programs and required EPA purchasing programs), identified in FAR 2.101.

When statutory or required EPA purchasing programs do not include the product category you are searching for, federal buyers may consult their agency-specific sustainability plans for recommendations, or may conduct their own assessment of standards and ecolabels that support a specific contract action.

10. Where can I find information related to a specific acquisition or purchasing program?

If you are a member of the public who has a policy or regulation question, we recommend that you contact the contracting officer for the particular solicitation or contract. If you have questions about a purchasing program, we recommend contacting the program directly.

If you are a federal employee seeking guidance on policy or regulation: The Green Procurement Compilation helps buyers identify sustainable products and services, as defined in FAR Part 2.101. The site is not intended, and should not be construed, to create any new policy. Please reference https://www.acquisition.gov for policies and procedures. If you have policy interpretation questions, we recommend that you contact your agency policy office or legal council.

To report possible errors, please send a message to sftool@gsa.gov.