 is BEES Please?
BEES Please is a program to encourage collaboration with biobased product manufacturers so that their
products may be considered for preferred Federal procurement.
 participate in BEES
Please?
Federal Programs. BEES supports section 9002 of the 2002 Farm Security and Rural Investment
Act (Public Law 107-171) and Executive Order 13423 "Strengthening Federal
Environmental, Energy, and Transportation Mangement," by applying metrics enabling consideration of the life-cycle performance of biobased products in Federal
purchase decisions. Spending over $230 billion/year on goods and services, the Federal Government's procurement practices set
a strong example for others to follow. Under sponsorship of the
U.S. EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program, the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, and NIST, BEES supports these initiatives encouraging Federal agencies to purchase biobased
products. We need information on your products so that Federal personnel may consider them in their purchase decisions.
Level Playing Field. We will ask you only for information within your reach and over which you have control. You are not likely
to have detailed environmental data for your suppliers' processes, or for environmental releases resulting from your energy consumption.
We are using the well-known SimaPro life-cycle assessment (LCA) database to combine your data with standard data for your suppliers,
and to translate your energy consumption into environmental releases using standard combustion models. We also use consensus standard approaches
to analyze your data and develop BEES results. Since we will be doing the same for your competitors, your data will be comparable to theirs, ensuring a level playing field.
Data Reusability. Your suppliers and customers are increasingly requesting environmental data on your operations. Each request
asks different questions and requires a different format for delivery, making each data request a unique and time-consuming exercise. BEES uses a
streamlined version of the common SPOLD data exchange format developed by LCA database and software developers. This increases the likelihood that the
data we develop for BEES will also meet the needs of future data requests.
 to participate in BEES Please?
1. Complete the BEES Please Questionnaire. For guidance, refer to the BEES Please Questionnaire User Guide. If further assistance becomes
necessary, contact NIST (see contact information below). A typical manufacturer should anticipate
collecting data from the following departments:
Accounting - quantity of materials purchased
Production Control - quantity of output
Facilities - energy use
Environmental - waste and releases
2. Send completed questionnaire, along with check payable to "NIST," to:
Barbara Lippiatt
NIST
100 Bureau Drive, Stop 8603
Gaithersburg, MD 20899-8603
Submit a payment of $8,000 for the first product plus $4,000 for each additional product with similar processing steps.
3. Once we receive your questionnaire and payment, Concurrent Technologies
Corporation (CTC) will review your data for consistency in modeling and assumptions
both across your processes and from one product to another. Validation will include comparison against industry-average data for your product class.
CTC may contact you if any questions arise during their review.
4. CTC will generate validated, cradle-to-grave BEES data files for your product. In generating BEES files,
CTC
aggregates your data to strictly preserve its confidentiality.
5. NIST will incorporate validated BEES data files for your products
into the BEES software for your confidential review.
 do I contact for more
information about BEES Please?
Barbara Lippiatt
NIST
(301) 975-6133
blippiatt@nist.gov
BEES Please for USDA--Questionnaire (204 KB MS
Word file).
OMB NO: 0693-0036 Expires 10/31/2007. The BEES Please information collection is authorized by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget. Your
response is voluntary. Public reporting for this collection of information is estimated to average,
at most, 63 hours per response, including the time of
reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering the data needed, and completing and reviewing the collection of information.
Send comments regarding this estimate or any other aspects of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing the length of the
questionnaire, to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 3220, Gaithersburg, MD 20899-3220 and the U.S. Office of
Management and Budget, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Washington, D.C. 20503.
Office of Applied Economics
Last modified: 8/20/2007
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