(the below message went to the most frequent purchasers of monitors at LBL)

As part of our overall sustainability program, the Laboratory tries to
purchase sustainable products, including computers and monitors that
are EPEAT registered. Registered computers and monitors are confirmed
to use significantly less energy and meet our overall sustainability
goals. In particular, purchasing EPEAT products ensures that multiple
sustainability goals are met, including reducing the use of
environmentally sensitive materials and design for end of life waste
reduction and safety.

While most popular products meet these specifications, it is very
important that you as a purchaser take the time to verify that
commodity electronics products (like monitors, laptops, and computers)
are EPEAT registered.

Last year, approximately 10% of the monitors purchased were not EPEAT
registered. 4 models, two from Dell and two from Asus, accounted for
the majority of these monitors. EPEAT registered alternatives at
competitive price points exist for both of these models*.

The ebuy website for USFalcon (CDW) lists the EPEAT status of almost
all products. You can also verify the EPEAT status of any product by
visiting the EPEAT website (http://www.epeat.net) and using their
“Search the Registry” tool. It takes just a minute or so to verify
the model you are interested in.

We know there will always be situations which require particular
monitors which may not be registered, but we ask for your help in
limiting those circumstances as much as possible.

We are working with the ebuy vendors to improve the visibility of the
registrations to you, the purchaser, but in the meantime, we need your
assistance in order to keep the purchasing process flexible, but
responsive to our sustainability goals. To make things easier, all
future recommended monitors and computers listed on the IT website
will be EPEAT certified.

Thanks in advance for your help. If you have other ideas about how we
should spread the word about EPEAT purchases, drop us a line at
[email protected]. And please share this email with others in your
organization who make IT purchasing decisions.

The SustainLBL Team

http://lbl.gov/sustainlbl