Sustainability at USPS – Making the grade on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Scorecard
The U.S. Postal Service recently released its Office of Budget and Management Sustainability and Energy Scorecard. The OMB Scorecard is a reporting scheme from Executive Order 13514 which directs that federal government agencies publicly report their sustainability goals. As a self-funded federal agency, the Postal Service isn’t required to meet all of the federal sustainability requirements in Executive Orders (EO) 13423 and 13514 or Presidential Memoranda goals for fleet management and biobased purchasing. However, where possible, USPS voluntarily sets specific objectives and follows the federal goals.
The U.S. Postal Service reports annually on the following goals:
Reducing greenhouse gas emissions 20% by FY 2020
Reducing facility energy intensity 30% by FY 2015
Reducing potable water intensity 26% by FY 2020
Reducing total postal vehicle petroleum fuel use 20% by FY 2015
We have achieved our interim goals and are on track to achieve all goals except for the postal vehicle petroleum usage goal. Reducing overall petroleum consumption continues to be a challenge, because the total number of delivery points we must travel to serve our customers continues to grow each year. Further, we are confronted by an aging fleet of delivery vehicles and the lack of capital funds to replace or upgrade in the near future. We are working to optimize our delivery route efficiency and continue to test alternative vehicle technologies. We currently have vehicles capable of running on compressed natural gas, ethanol, electric, propane, and biodiesel. In addition, more than 8,000 letter carriers deliver mail by foot across our nation.
Our energy and utility management practices include improving our understanding of energy use so we can make informed decisions, investing in energy efficient technology in our buildings and fostering a culture of conservation within our organization. We makes new and existing facilities more sustainable with features like high efficiency lighting and HVAC, recycled building materials (such as insulation), low-water use fixtures, solar energy systems, native plant species in landscaping, natural daylight, and low volatile organic compound materials. USPS has just broken ground on its second green roof in New York. Green roofs reduce contaminants in storm water run off and filter pollutants out of the air.
Chief Sustainability Officer Thomas G. Day notes that, “Our Sustainability Scorecard shows that we are making steadfast efforts to achieve our Sustainability goals. We have a strong commitment to be sustainability leaders in the federal government and the mailing and shipping sector.”
Our unique mission is to deliver mail to every community in America. We are a self-supporting agency that funds its operations from revenue generated by sales of products and services—not taxpayer subsidies received through Congressional appropriations. For more information please see our OMB Scorecard.
