Purchasing Policies and Procedures

Our Goals

The university’s goals related to purchasing policies/procedures focus on creating policies that promote sustainability, getting those policies approved, and ensuring they are followed. NIU will work to:

• Develop procurement policies that support sustainable purchasing across the university, addressing categories such as chemicals/cleaning supplies, office products, IT equipment, transportation/fuels and garments/linens.
• Develop a process for evaluating products, systems and building components that use energy and/or water (for example, HVAC systems) to inform the use of more sustainable options.
• Monitor and assess compliance with policies that promote sustainability.

Our Progress

NIU seeks to support sustainable purchasing policies and procedures across campus. Some of the ways we strive for sustainability in this area include:

• Janitorial operations: 68% of cleaning products used on campus are environmentally friendly, and ionized water is increasingly being used to replace chemical-based products.
• Grounds maintenance: Herbicides and pesticides are used sparingly, generally after nonchemical approaches have failed.
• Greenhouse gas management: Building Maintenance and Operations manages and tracks hundreds of pieces of equipment containing about 10,000 pounds of regulated refrigerant.

Our Partners

Given that all departments make purchases, this is a cross-campus effort. Facilities Management is one of our biggest partners in this area, as purchasing often goes through their department. All Huskies in charge of purchasing materials can play a role in the procurement of sustainable materials.