EPA Partnership Programs for the Green Team
Through its partnership programs, EPA works collaboratively with companies, organizations, academic institutions, communities, and individuals to address a wide range of environmental needs. There are now close to 50 EPA partnership programs that companies are participating in, in one form or another. The Green Construction and Operations Team, or Green Team, established in 2006, is a group of EPA employees from different programs in Region 2 who have come together to identify major upcoming development projects and figure out what EPA Partnership Programs and other techniques can be used to “green” those projects. The team then makes a comprehensive presentation to the project sponsors on actions that can be taken to reduce a facility’s energy use, water use, storm water run-off, waste generation, air pollution emissions, and natural resource impacts. Project sponsors are invited to identify the EPA partnership programs they want to join and to incorporate their intentions to follow these and other green practices in a voluntary agreement with EPA..
The following list of EPA partnership programs has been identified as being particularly relevant and applicable to the Green Team’s mission:
ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy helping us all save money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices.
EPA’s National Clean Diesel Campaign promotes diesel emission reduction strategies and includes regulatory programs to address new diesel engines as well as innovative programs to address the millions of diesel engines already in use.
The Coal Combustion Products Partnership program is a cooperative effort between EPA, the American Coal Ash Association, Utility Solid Waste Activities Group, U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, U.S. Federal Highway Administration, and Electric Power Research Institute to help promote the beneficial use of Coal Combustion Products and the environmental benefits that result from their use.
Waste Wise is a successful partnership program between business, government, and institutional organizations that seek to reduce municipal solid waste through innovative waste prevention and recycling techniques.
Green building is the practice of creating buildings, and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource efficient, from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability, and comfort.
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary program that supports the organizational procurement of green power by offering expert advice, technical support, tools and resources. Partnering with EPA can help an organization lower the transaction costs of buying green power, reduce its carbon footprint, and communicate its leadership to key stakeholders. Green power is electricity produced from a subset of renewable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and low-impact hydroelectric power.
WaterSense is a partnership and labeling program sponsored by EPA that makes it easy for Americans to save water and protect the environment by choosing products that earn the WaterSense label.
GreenScapes provides cost-efficient and environmentally friendly solutions for landscaping to help preserve natural resources and prevent waste and pollution. GreenScapes encourages companies, government agencies, other entities and homeowners to make more holistic decisions regarding waste generation and disposal and the associated impacts on land, water, air, and energy use.
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing helps the federal government "buy green," and in doing so, uses the federal government's enormous buying power to stimulate market demand for green products and services.
Industrial materials reuse and recycling, also referred to as beneficial use, means reusing or recycling byproduct materials generated from industrial processes. These materials can be used as substitutions for raw materials in the manufacture of consumer products, roads, bridges, buildings, and other construction projects. Thousands of manufacturing and industrial processes and electric utility generators create hundreds of millions of tons of non-hazardous industrial materials that can be reused or recycled.