Sandia’s FY10 electronics stewardship activities have received an award for reducing the environmental impacts of the computers, printers, and other office electronics it uses on a daily basis.

The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Office of the Federal Environmental Executive, which jointly manage the Federal Electronics Challenge (FEC), gave Sandia a silver award for its progress in life- cycle electronics stewardship (purchasing, operations, and end-of-life management). Sandia was one of four DOE sites recognized at the silver level and was recognized at the bronze level in fiscal year 2008.

John Zepper, director of Sandia’s Computing and Network Services Center (9300), accepted the award at a recent ceremony in Washington, D.C.

Sandia’s Pollution Prevention program works on electronics stewardship with other Labs organizations, including procurement, computer support, and property management. Sandia’s best practices in electronics stewardship include:

• Purchasing gold- or silver-certified computers. Ninety-five percent of computers purchased by Sandia in FY10 were certified as environmentally responsible through the IEEE Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT). Eighty-one percent of new computers met the gold standard for environmental responsibility.
• Replacing some older copiers and printers with 105 networked multifunction devices that use half the energy of previous devices, and power down when not in use.
• Implementing power management software on nearly 17,000 computers. The machines are monitored and controlled remotely, removing the need to leave computers on overnight for updates or remote access.
• Redistributing more than $55,000 worth of excess toner supplies, which otherwise would have been recycled.
• Recycling all used electronic equipment through facilities certified through Responsible Recyclers, or R2, a third-party certification for electronics recyclers aimed at ensuring the responsible management of toxic and nontoxic materials in the recycling process.

The FEC encourages federal facilities and agencies to purchase greener electronics, reduce the impact of electronics during use, and manage used electronics in an environmentally safe way.

Sandia has participated in the FEC since 2006.