2015 Federal Green Challenge Award Winners in the Great Lakes Region

In the Great Lakes region, the 2015 award winners were Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center and Argonne National Laboratory.

Education & Outreach

Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, Department of Veterans Affairs, North Chicago, IL

Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center created and applied a quantitative, risk-based formula to evaluate risk from environmental activities and target education and outreach at the facility. In early 2012, Lovell and the neighboring Naval Station Great Lakes, created the "Aspect and Impact Environmental Risk Formula" which evaluates and assigns a weight to each environmental activity based on its relative environmental risk. The Green Environmental Management System Coordinator at Lovell worked with department heads to score key departments. Results of the analysis served as a tool to target educational efforts.

Waste, Electronics, Transportation

Argonne National Laboratory, Department of Energy (DOE)
Lemont, IL

In 2014, Argonne National Laboratory increased its amount of material composted by 115 percent. This was accomplished by starting an on-site composting program with landscape materials (brush, leaves) and fruits and vegetable scraps from the facility's cafeteria kitchen prep area. Additionally, the laboratory increased the number of computers with enabled power management by 63 percent, ensuring that all eligible electronic products are set up and maintained with power management, duplex printing, and other energy-efficient options and features. Through the use of General Services Administration's initiatives to offer leased vehicles with alternative fuel and low greenhouse gas emissions, the Laboratory reduced the number of vehicles with internal combustion engines by 91 percent. The eight facility-owned vehicles in the fleet are specialty vehicles fueled with biodiesel almost exclusively.