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Patricia Atherton is an engineering manager at MPC. Besides using her background in industrial engineering to develop and manage our manufacturing processes, she is also heavily involved in helping MPC to become a “greener” electronics manufacturer. Evidence of her success is cited in my earlier blog on the EPEAT report from the Green Electronics Council.
As I mentioned in the audio portion of this blog, the announcement of the EPEAT report prompted an inquiry from Ted Samson of InfoWorld, who covers the EPEAT program for InfoWorld. You can see Ted’s online article in his “Sustainable IT” blog, including his quote from some questions he e-mailed to Patricia. Below are her answers to the questions in full.
TS: Why does your company participate in the EPEAT program? How do you benefit?
PA: A large portion of our government contracts require us to offer EPEAT qualified products. This helps us to be more competitive and increases our chances at winning these types of contracts.
TS: Have you seen an increased demand from customers for green products?
PA: Yes, we have. Besides government contracts, we have started to receive inquiries from the health and education markets. As the only top-ten U.S. PC manufacturer that focuses exclusively on the professional computing market, we are gratified to see that an increasing number of our customers view sustainability as a corporate value - and one that is reflected in spending decisions, rather than just platitudes.
TS: What sort of “green” features do customers ask for most? Energy efficiency is clearly important, but how do you hear them asking you to reduce hazardous substances, enhance recyclability, limit packaging, or requesting other EPEAT criteria?
PA: Customers are requiring products that are minimum EPEAT Silver. This means that a higher number of the requirements must be met. These requirements include energy efficiency, reduced hazardous materials, easily upgradable and/or recyclable. Customers are also requiring longer warranty periods (up to 5 years).
TS: Is a customer generally going to pay more, less, or the same amount for buying green products (e.g., products listed on EPEAT) vs. non-green? If they’re paying more, why? Does it cost more to build greener products? What might drive those prices down?
PA: This will depend on the EPEAT rating of the products offered. EPEAT rates green products as Bronze, (meeting minimum requirements), Silver (meeting minimum plus 50% of some optional requirements), and Gold (meeting minimum plus 75% of the optional requirements). Silver and Gold products will comply with more challenging requirements, and this might affect the cost of certain components. As an example, LCD on monitors, laptops and integrated systems must have reduced amounts of mercury at a minimum. In order to elevate this product rating, the mercury content must be reduced to a minimum or eliminated. The technology is there (LED backlit LCD), but at a slightly higher price than a regular LCD with CFL lamps. Another factor is to offer products containing plastic parts with high recycled material content. Since this may affect the properties of the plastics, requiring special techniques or materials, plastic components manufacturers may increase their prices as their own costs increase.
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