Iowa State University's print shop was a front runner in achieving FSC/SFI certification in 2009.  The process, which proved to be a major endeavor for the Ames, Iowa in-plant, required over 8 months of intense preparation and documentation by their Green Team.  

When it came time to renew, however, the print shop opted to let the certification expire based on the lack of demand by customers and what was considered excessive renewal costs.

But that doesn't mean that ISU's in-plant team, comprised of 32 full-time staff members (who average nearly 20 years of service) and 19 students, has turned its back on going green.  

Quite the contrary.  "We continue to follow many of the green directives promoted by those organizations and by ISU's own LiveGreen sustainability green initiative including the continued use of recycled and certified papers. Plus they continue to explore other, more targeted and less costly, certification opportunities. "In these challenging economic times, we are trying to promote sustainability, while staying within our customers' limited budgets,"  explains Steve Weigel, ISU's Director of Printing and Copy Services.

Their challenge now is to educate customers and broaden their view of sustainability, helping them to realize that ink on paper, being totally recyclable and reusable, is not the environmental bogey once commonly thought. Weigel advises other in-plants, "Look closely at the cost/benefit equation of sustainability certification and try to determine if demand is there before investing the time and money."

ISU's 20,000 square foot printing facility and 4 copy centers are known for not only efficiency, but hard dollar savings.  Amazingly, the print shop's pricing usually runs 15-25% lower than the national average for in-plants, while still existing as a profitable, charge-back, self-supporting university resource. "We are an efficient, quality- and budget-minded service group with the goal of providing Iowa State University with a low cost, but superior product."

Any print product that does not fit their niche goes outside for bid with most of the work going to in-state printers. They also have established collaborative efforts with the printing operations at other Iowa Regents universities such as the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa. Typically $900,000 - $1.2 million in printing is outsourced each year. Having an in-plant that is knowledgeable in the bidding process saves the university as much as $250,000 annually.  

Making an early move into black and white variable data in 1999 and then progressing into more complicated color variable work with the acquisition of the NexPress in 2006, proved to be a wise decision. "Growing customer demand has allowed us to keep expanding our variable data offerings, as well as our wide-format department." 

Some of their fastest growing services include extensive 1-1 marketing materials, document scanning, the printing of construction plans, as well as large (up to 64-inch wide) color prints/posters.