Call for Tender – Green public procurement for construction products

ECOS Procurement and Purchase Policy

This tender complies with the ECOS Procurement and Purchase Policy adopted by the ECOS Executive Committee, and last updated in October 2021. This policy covers general principles relating to transparency and fairness, value for money, and non-discrimination. It specifies thresholds relating to a competitive negotiated procedure with at least a specified number of candidates either with tender or selection, and sets out the procedure to be followed by ECOS.

About ECOS

ECOS is an international NGO with a network of members and experts advocating for environmentally friendly technical standards, policies and laws. We ensure the environmental voice is heard when they are developed and drive change by providing expertise to policymakers and industry players, leading to the implementation of strong environmental principles. More at www.ecostandard.org.

About the project

The work being commissioned is a part of a wider ECOS project focused on driving public purchase towards truly green construction products and materials by 2030. National support will play a key part in the overall strategy as it seeks to create political momentum on green public procurement (GPP) in key Member States.

The three pillars of the overall ECOS project will focus on:

1. Building the case for the green public procurement for construction product, by:

• providing impactful research and data to showcase the need for a EU-level approach to GPP as well as the benefits of its implementation at national level, including by tackling questions of feasibility.
• leading the national debate on GPP, by creating narrative, media and political attention at national level.

   2. Securing political commitments from decision-makers to maintain, develop and implement GPP criteria. This means safeguarding the currently proposed mandatory framework at EU level, throughout the revision by EU institutions of the Construction Products Regulation (CPR) and the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) by:

• Delivering tailored policy recommendations to national policy makers in various forms
• Leveraging on strategic partnerships with national allies, including low-carbon manufacturers and progressive local/regional authorities.

The focus of these activities will be on most polluting construction products and high energy intensive intermediates, such as cement, concrete and steel.

Tender objective 

ECOS seeks to subcontract national support to ECOS policy (and communication) work on green public procurement policies for construction products to environmental non-governmental organisations active in a selection of the following countries: France, Germany, Sweden, Italy.  

Tasks & outputs  

The Recipient is expected to work in cooperation with ECOS to influence respective national positions on the green procurement of construction products.  

Overall, ECOS will provide strategic coordination and support from the EU perspective, with national partners being in charge of planning and delivering all relevant activities to influence their Member State position on the objectives developed by ECOS.  

To do so, the Recipient will:

Develop a national influence strategy to advocate for EU mandatory criteria in their country, that should at include at least:

• Stakeholder mapping
• National policy targets
• List of activities planned

Implement the developed national influence strategy to reach strategic objectives, including:

• Outreach and advocacy: drafting of advocacy materials in the national language (briefings, analysis,..), meetings with relevant officials and other stakeholders, capacity building workshops, on strategic policy files such as ESPR, CPR or national initiatives.
• External communications: development of a communication strategy and its implementation, organisation of events, meetings and publications.
• Coalition building: Identify and work with national allies, including low-carbon construction producers and ambitious local and regional authorities (such as C40 members) who will support such criteria.

Carry out impactful research: provide ECOS with an analysis of existing GPP criteria at national level, their strengths, and weaknesses.

Regularly coordinate with ECOS and adjust national activities as necessary.

The project will involve active contribution from and regular coordination with ECOS, including, as a minimum a kick-off meeting, an interim meeting, and a final meeting. Activity & financial reports should also be delivered prior to the interim and final meetings.

Timeline

ECOS seeks to subcontract national environmental organisations for a period of 24 months in a selection of the following countries: France, Germany, Sweden and Italy.

Budget

The budget available for this work is maximum €35.000 (including VAT) per year per national partner, and all other costs will be incurred by the subcontractor. Note that sub-contracting is accepted in cases where a delivery team involves individuals from different institutions or organisations. In this case, the lead tenderer retains responsibility for legal and financial arrangements for any sub-contracting.

Tender preparation

Tenderers are requested to submit a proposal by 23:59 CET 20th October 2023 to info@ecostandard.org outlining:

• Their motivation and commitment to support the delivery of this project
• A brief description of the tenderer’s understanding of the main objectives in their national context
• An outline of their national influence strategy, including a list of deliverables, timeline, and expected impacts
• A description of the anticipated activities to achieve the desired policy objectives at national level (including deliverables)
• A timeline with milestones, work streams and proposed deliverables
• Budgeting for each element of the work and proposed payment schedule
• Biographies and time commitment of the key staff delivering the work
• Examples of previous work with a similar scope and main achievements

Required qualifications

Essential:

• Demonstrated expertise related to green public procurement.
• Demonstrated experience in influencing national positions relating to the policy files mentioned in the Objectives section
• Experience with supporting EU organisations during co-decision processes, including EU level representatives from your Member State
• An ability to influence national policies, including through strong external communication strategies.
• Strong network of contacts at national level, including key decision makers in relevant ministries and/or at EU level.
• Environmental non-governmental organisational ambition and environmental values.

Desirable:

• Prior experience influencing the development of public procurement procedures at national level.

Tender Assessment

Assessment of the tenders will be made using a weighted multi-criteria approach.

The award criterias are:

• 70% quality (qualifications, relevance of the application, quality of the deliverables) and
• 30% price

Only shortlisted tenderers will be contacted.

The fact of publishing a procurement procedure does not oblige ECOS to award the contract to a tenderer simply because its tender fulfils those criteria. It also reserves the right to decide not to award the contract to any tenderer and to cancel the procedure at any time before award.