The Rites of Spring
Off to Washington In Search of Green Technology
by Dave Bell

I must admit, the idea of seeing hundreds of technology companies hawk their latest wares inside the cavernous Washington Convention Center appealed to me. The occasion was FOSE (rhymes with bossy), the largest technology trade show for federal agency procurement officers. It boils down to five thousand exhibitors trying to charm some 19,000 government workers into spending our money on their goods.

I was on a dual mission: search for signs of intelligent life and bring home some of the cool freebies they hand out. Considering the current administration's antediluvian environmental policies, I had more expectations of filling my flight bag than getting anyone to talk about green technology, but like my backyard in mid-March, I was able to find a few tentative buds of greenery in the concrete halls of government.

E-Structors, a three-month old Maryland company, was making its debut with an e-waste destruction system that promises 100% recycling. First, computers and other electronics are shred into 1½-inch chunks. Then a cross-belt magnet removes the ferrous metal, and an eddy current system separates and sorts the non-ferrous metals as the plastics drop through. The metals are sent to secondary scrap markets to be melted for use in new products and the plastics are used as fuel for smelting -- all in accordance with EPA-approved methods.

"Shredders are not new," E-Structors co-founder Mike Keough told green-techZONE. "The difference is our separation technique that guarantees 100% recycling."

"Our mission as a company is to change the way the country looks at the disposal and recycling of computers and electronics, and if we're going to succeed in this mission, we need to start with the largest producer of this type of materials -- the federal, state, and local governments."

Going Beyond Energy Star

Ace Computers, based in Arlington Heights, IL, introduced its Vision series PC, an energy-efficient design that Government Computer News nominated as a finalist for best new technology of FOSE 2004. "Our Vision series has a redesigned ac-dc power subsystem that emphasizes reliability and efficiency, rather than simply a lower cost, which is the main focus of most desktop designs," John Samborski told us.

"We found that most desktops have an efficiency of 40 to 50% while our design is more like a server, as it is 85% efficient. By having the actual power consumption of the systems tested, we have found that the Vision Desktop operates at an average of 165 VA compared to 295 VA to 350 VA used by other commercially available systems."

Ace estimates that the average savings is from 2.5 to 7 cents per hour of operation. "We immediately recognized that this would be very appropriate for the educational field or the governmental field, as both run large quantities of computers on a 24/7 basis, many sitting idly. By utilizing our design, the customer can save over $1.00 per day if in 24/7 operation or more conservatively, about $3.00 per week if operated on a 5 x 12 basis."

"This capability is not a new invention," said Samborski. "It merely has been ignored by other firms, who have stressed lowball pricing instead of power efficiency. There is an additional cost to implement this solution, but it is trivial when compared to the cost savings that can result from the design."

Purchasing Power

The US General Services Administration (GSA), Uncle Sam's giant procurement agency, secures the buildings, products, services, technology, and other workplace essentials other federal agencies use. "GSA's goal is to become the preferred source for environmental products and services in the federal government," according to environmental services and products specialist Wendell Garner.

"To this end, GSA continually updates contracts to ensure that their supply vendors offer products that meet the EPA and Department of Energy purchasing requirements , when appropriate." GSA requires vendors to highlight products that contain environmental attributes in their individual price lists and catalogs.

To make it easier for federal buyers to locate environmental products and services, GSA publishes the Environmental Products and Services Guide and highlights green products and services in its annual environmental edition of Marketips -- a marketing publication directed to users of the GSA supply system. In addition, Garner has designed a website to help federal buyers find everything from energy-efficient products to environmentally-friendlier cleaning products and alternative fuel vehicles.

Excuse me while I go check out the GSA's recycled products library.

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