HHI Series: Greening Up Electronics Purchase with EPEAT and a Case Study by Kaiser Permanente

Session Description

This webinar will take participants step by step through the Healthier Hospitals Initiative’s Smarter Purchasing Challenges’ Electronic Products Environmental Assessment (EPEAT) tool. Learn how to use EPEAT to identify energy efficient and less toxic electronic equipment without spending more, with a focus on how Kaiser Permanente saved $4 million per year through energy use reduction with the use of EPEAT-registered computers.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the goals of the Healthier Hospitals Initiative’s Smarter Purchasing Challenges’ Electronic Products Environmental Assessment (EPEAT) tool.
  • Learn how to submit data for the EPEAT challenge.
  • Learn how Kaiser reduced cenergy costs by $4,000,000 per year through use of EPEAT for computer purchase.

Presenters

Sarah O’Brien, EPEAT Director of Outreach and Communications, Green Electronics Council
Sarah O’Brien is an expert in the use of ‘green purchasing’ initiatives to reduce environmental impact. A key purchasing member of the stakeholder process that created the EPEAT purchasing tool to address lifecycle environmental impacts of ICT, she now works with EPEAT’s parent organization, the nonprofit Green Electronics Council, educating the purchasing community and supporting all users of the EPEAT system.

Previously, as EPP Program Manager for H2E (Hospitals for a Healthy Environment), and Senior Outreach Associate with INFORM, Ms. O’Brien assisted health systems, Group Purchasing Organizations, states, cities and businesses to improve environmental performance through purchasing initiatives.

Earlier, as environmental health advocate for the National Wildlife Federation and Vermont PIRG, she worked throughout New England in legislative advocacy and public education efforts around toxics reduction issues – especially mercury reduction. Ms. O’Brien graduated magna cum laude from Yale University, received her MA from Temple University and served as a Board member of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable.

Rachael Baker, Environmental Supply Chain Manager, Kaiser Permanente
Since early 2008, Rachael Baker has managed the strategic planning and day-to-day operations of the national environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP) and supply chain program at Kaiser Permanente impacting over $5 billion in spend. Under her management the program has delivered over $60 million in purchasing and operational cost savings for KP. Environmental savings have reached approximately 1,300 tons of waste reduced, 20,000,000 kwh saved per year, dozens of chemically-safer products used on our campuses, and untold improvements in manufacturing and transportation efficiency in our supply chain. In her role, Rachael authored and implemented KP’s sustainability scorecard for medical devices resulting in tens of millions of dollars being directed toward safer products.

Additionally, Rachael co-leads KP’s Safer Chemicals committee with responsibility for setting the corporate agenda for phasing out chemicals of concern from products that pose the highest risk to employees and patients. The strategy for and results of this work have been recognized by the U.S. congress, state legislature, and within industry and advocacy best practice groups. Rachael lives in Berkeley, CA with her husband Doug and two children Andalucia and Calder.  

Pricing

Member: $0  Non-member: $0

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