Assessment of Sustainable Procurement Alternatives for Duke Student Affairs

Timeline

2025

Description

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Affiliated Course: ENV 790.41 - Sustainable Operations and Supply Chains

Summary: A student team, composed of five Master of Environmental Management students from the Nicholas School of the Environment worked with the Duke Student Affairs Housing & Residence Life Facilities Team to identify opportunities for a more sustainable procurement strategy for Duke Student Affairs Housing and Residential Life. The team interviewed key stakeholders including Arwen Buchholz (Associate Director for Sustainability), Keith Fleming (Assistant Director for Housing Operations) and Hunter Ward (Account Manager for Grainger, one of Duke’s main maintenance item suppliers). The student team also participated in a walkthrough at Smith Warehouse to understand the supplier’s daily inventory management operations, and find opportunities for utilizing Grainger’s sustainability programs and tools to reduce environmental impacts in the supply chain, specifically in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, and improvements in resource and energy efficiency.

Goals:

1. Identify clear sustainability opportunities for the Facilities Team with Grainger (a major supplier of maintenance, repair, and operations products).
2. Document the current level of environmental impact from purchases.
3. Provide clear recommendations for reducing the environmental impacts (greenhouse gas emissions, and improvements in resource and energy efficiency) of the Facilities Team purchasing activities.

Experience and Learning Outcomes: Through stakeholder interviews, the student team gained a deeper understanding of procurement processes within Housing Operations, including key decision-making factors such as cost, durability, ease/convenience, and sustainability. They identified challenges in implementing more sustainable purchasing practices, such as budget constraints and supplier limitations, and explored potential strategies to overcome them. Additionally, they assessed the supplier’s product offerings to find environmentally friendly alternatives, considering factors like certification, life cycle impact, material composition, cost of switching, and feasibility of adoption. This project provided valuable experience in stakeholder engagement, procurement analysis, and sustainability-driven decision-making within institutional operations.

Recommendations: 

1. Define Sustainable Procurement & Establish Policy
   Establish a clear internal definition of sustainable procurement to guide all related efforts. Create internal policies and standards to institutionalize long-term sustainable procurement practices.
2. Establish a Performance Baseline
   Use the definition to assess current procurement practices and set a baseline for improvement.
3. Evaluate Supplier Offerings
   Review product offerings with suppliers, especially Grainger, to identify sustainable purchasing options.
4. Set Realistic Goals and Timelines
   Develop a procurement goal that is ambitious yet achievable, considering budget, supplier relationships, and service reliability. Outline a structured timeline with milestones for benchmarks, budgeting, stakeholder engagement, and supplier reviews to assess the measurable goals.
5. Conduct a CEPP Gap Analysis
   Potentially through a master's project, analyze gaps in Certified Environmentally Preferred Products (CEPP) to identify opportunities for increased sustainable spending.
6. Perform Cost-Benefit Scenarios
   Evaluate the financial impact of increasing CEPP spend (e.g., by 20%, 30%) to inform decision-making.
7. Target More EPP Purchases
   Increase Environmentally Preferred Product (EPP) purchases from the baseline to a higher target, pending feasibility analysis.
8. Explore Supplier Diversification
   Consider new supplier partnerships to expand sustainable product offerings if feasible.
9. Update Supplier Contracts
   Add sustainability language to contracts and codes of conduct to align vendors with Duke’s goals.

Students: Isabela Delgado, Lauren Ng, Nicole Yaw, Serena Zheng

Client: Arwen Buchholz, Associate Director of Sustainability, Residential Student Services; 

Other stakeholders: Shannon Parker, course instructor (Nicholas School of the Environment); Keith Fleming, Assistant Director for Housing Operations; Hunter Ward, Grainger Account Manager