U.S. Postal Service Sustainability Officer Talks to CEIL About Green Activities

July 13, 2010 - PRLog -- Alexandria, VA - The Center for Environmental Innovation and Leadership’s podcast series features an interview with the U.S. Postal Service’s (USPS) vice president of sustainability, Sam Pulcrano.  Mr. Pulcrano discusses USPS’ green initiatives as well as specific projects that will meet the mandates of President Obama’s Executive Order 13514.  EO 13514, issued last November, requires federal agencies to reduce energy use, conserve resources and make all operations, processes and facilities more efficient.

The USPS’ five-year strategic plan, Vision 2013, includes a goal for the Postal Service to be a sustainability leader. “We are embracing the Executive Order,” he says, “particularly focusing on reducing energy and fuel use.”

“We have a long history of environmental stewardship,” said Pulcrano. “We were recycling before it became a popular thing to do.”  The Postal Service has won more than 75 environmental awards, including 40 White House Closing the Circle, 10 Environmental Protection Agency WasteWise Partner of the Year, Climate Action Champion, Direct Marketing Association Green Echo, and the Postal Technology International Environmental Achievement of the Year 2009.

In 2009, the USPS introduced its first green roof on its Manhattan, NY mail processing facility.

“We are predicting a 30 percent reduction in energy consumption from our current use,” says Pulcrano.  The roof provides a green environment in a densely populated urban area and is expected to significantly reduce storm water runoff, as well as heating and cooling costs.

USPS has also put in place programs to address energy consumption on a local and regional level. A team of postal experts conducts facility energy audits and identifies alternative energy solutions and cost-effective, energy-saving opportunities at their facilities. USPS also works with employees on Green Teams to implement low-cost, no-cost sustainability solutions in their facilities.  Finally, USPS is greening its mail delivery fleet, which includes alternative fuel-capable vehicles — ethanol capable, hybrid-electric, all-electric, three-wheeled electric, bicycles, and two hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles.  All of this has paid off — USPS has reduced its overall energy consumption, according to Pulcrano.

Listen to the interview:  The interview aired on June 29, 2010. To hear the interview go to www.CEILeadership.org.

About CEIL
Inform, Educate, Enable.
The Center for Environmental Innovation and Leadership (www.CEILeadership.org) is an independent organization that facilitates information and education exchange among government and military professionals charged with identifying, specifying and buying green goods and services, and with vendors, contractors and consultants that provide green goods and services. CEIL is the sponsor of GOVgreen Conference and Exposition, a nonpartisan event designed to bring government employees and green suppliers together face-to-face in one convenient place to discover optimal solutions to green the government. The event takes place November 9-10 in Washington, D.C. and is free to all credentialed government professionals and military personnel.

For more information contact Ann Seltz, President, at aseltz@CEILeadership.org or at 703-706-8221 or visit www.CEILeadership.org.

U.S. Postal Service
A self-supporting government enterprise, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 150 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes. The Postal Service receives no direct support from taxpayers. With 36,000 retail locations and the most frequently visited website in the federal government, the Postal Service relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses. Named the Most Trusted Government Agency six consecutive years and the sixth Most Trusted Business in the nation by the Ponemon Institute, the Postal Service has annual revenue of more than $68 billion and delivers nearly half the world’s mail. If it were a private sector company, the U.S. Postal Service would rank 28th in the 2009 Fortune 500.