Legal Requirements Lists federal requirements related to the purchase of this item, including applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) requirements

• FAR 23.108-3 Products and services that are subject to EPA Recommendations of Specifications, Standards, and Ecolabels
• FAR 23.107-2 Biobased products.
• FAR Subpart 23.1 Sustainable Products and Services
• FAR 23.107-1 Products containing recovered materials

Life Cycle Cost Savings

Life Cycle Costing (LCC) aims to quantify the financial impact of a product over its entire life cycle to assist consumers in making decisions that will save them money over the long term.

An efficient product is cost effective when the energy costs saved over the life of the product exceed the additional upfront cost (if any) of the more efficient model. Energy Star considers both upfront costs and lifetime energy cost savings when setting required efficiency levels. Federal purchasers can assume that Energy Star-qualified products are life-cycle cost effective.

To calculate life cycle cost savings, explore these tools:

• NIST’s BEES Online v2.0 offers detailed environmental lifecycle analyses. Life cycle costing is available as an option. It is recommended that users have some experience with life cycle analysis in order to answer the tool’s questions.

Guiding Principles

Contributes to meeting The Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings

• 4 - Enhance the Indoor Environment
• 5 - Reduce the Environmental Impact of Materials

Additional Guidance

For paint, particularly if the building is located in an air non-attainment area or if there are concerns about indoor air quality, look for paints with no or low levels of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).

Federal Programs

Some types of paints are also covered by EPA's Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) program, which identifies acceptable substitutes for ozone-depleting substances in products.

According to BioPreferred, interior paints and coatings are pigmented liquids, formulated for use indoors, that dry to form a film and provide protection and added color to the objects or surfaces to which they are applied. BioPreferred maintains an electronic product catalog listing products that either (1) are eligible for preferred federal procurement, or (2) have earned the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label.

Guiding Principles for Sustainable Federal Buildings

For products such as paints, the applicable Guiding Principle for High Performance and Sustainable Buildings depends on what characteristics are included in the product.  If it has recycled or biobased content it would be GP 5, if it is low-emitting it would be GP 4, if it's both, it would be included in both. "Low emitting" would be any product that has a low emissions or low VOC standard.

Indoor Air Quality/VOC Emissions

For products such as paints, review the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) Standard Method for the Testing and Evaluation of Volatile Organic Chemical Emissions from Indoor Sources Using Environmental Chambers, Version 1.1-2010. (This is the VOC emission testing method for California Specification 01350.

Related Workspaces Head to the explore section of SFTool to view related workspaces

• Break/Pantry
• Cafeteria
• Computer/LAN room
• Enclosed Conference
• Laboratory
• Open Office Area
• Open Teaming Space
• Private Office
• Reception/Lobby
• Support Area
• Tenant Corridor
• Tenant Restroom