GSA Blog

GSA is expanding our Sustainable Facilities Tool (SFTool) with a new pilot platform that streamlines sustainable product procurement for vendors and buyers.

SFTool is an interactive website hosted by the GSA Office of Federal High-Performance Green Buildings that shows federal agencies and the general public how to build, buy and operate green. SFTool helps users identify and prioritize cost-effective green building strategies and make environmentally preferable choices for renovations and alterations. SFTool’s Green Procurement Compilation (GPC) is a comprehensive green purchasing resource that consolidates and organizes information from federal environmental programs in one place.  

GSA wants to make it easier for project teams to buy or specify environmentally preferable products. We believe teams will benefit if we link the environmental requirements currently found in SFTool to a detailed product database that simplifies searching.

The pilot platform will supply product-level data to automate product performance calculations and project analytics within SFTool. Organizations can track the ‘watts and water’ results of their buying decisions and document progress towards their sustainable purchasing and building goals, including compliance with green building rating systems. The pilot will include the following product categories: flooring, furniture, lighting, plumbing and appliances.

This new feature simplifies documentation — manufacturers provide it, buyers can find it.

Manufacturers can participate in the pilot and use the platform to showcase their sustainable products. Any buyer–public or private– can search the database to find specific products, and verify compliance.

At GSA, we are always working to improve the way we deliver services to government. This tool helps us to do that and reduce our environmental footprint at the same time.