From green champions to energy calculators, public sector touts environmental progress

The government may have been repeatedly criticised for its failure to deliver on its own environmental targets but, according to the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), attitudes are gradually changing across the public sector and there is growing evidence that departments will be able to meet the demanding emission reduction targets set out last week.

The OGC, which is responsible for the government's multibillion pound procurement budget, last week published a selection of best practice case studies from across the public sector highlighting how wide-ranging improvements in environmental performance can be delivered.

Central government departments have a target to make their office estate carbon neutral by 2012, increase recycling rates to cover 75 per cent of waste produced by 2020 and reduce water consumption by 25 per cent on the office and non-office estate by 2020, relative to 2004/2005 levels.

The government has faced repeated suggestions that not enough is being done to meet these targets, with both the National Audit Office and various MPs' committees raising fears that the targets will be missed, undermining efforts to cut emissions across the wider economy.

However, economic secretary to the Treasury Ian Pearson said that the new case studies highlighted that the government was committed to meeting the targets through greener procurement policies, while also providing a template for the wider public sector to follow.

"Improving sustainable procurement is part of Departmental delivery plans for the government estate and these case studies illustrate the strides already made in its sustainable operations and procurement practice," he said.

The first case study details how the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) set up an "Environmental Champion" system to encourage staff to get on board with green campaigns. Ten "champions" received training and regular environmental briefings designed to help them ensure other staff supported recycling and paper usage reduction schemes that helped the DCMS gain ISO 14001 accreditation for its environmental management system.

The resulting recycling programme across the department's two buildings in London has seen a 59 per cent increase in the volumes of waste being recycled, while DCMS has also introduced a software system that closes down PCs and printers at night, automatically saving £50,000 a year on power costs.

The Department of the Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has similarly sought to imporve recycling rates with the introduction of a scheme for recycling food generated on its estate. The department found that on-site composting was not an option as its offices are in urban environments, so it instead appointed a firm to regularly collect food waste and take it to a specialist composter - around 30 tonnes have now been collected since January 2008.

Defra has also built a flagship building in Northumberland that adheres to the highest BREEAM standards and features a woodchip burner, solar PV panels, three 15KW wind turbines, high-efficiency lighting and a rainwater harvesting tank.

A Ministry of Defence scheme has also focused on bolstering recycling rates through the installation of its own recycling facilities for seven different waste streams, including paper, metal and organic waste at a site in Cardiff. So far, the onsite facilities have diverted 672 tonnes of waste from landfill and avoided £380,000 in associated charges.

The case study from the Department of Health takes a different tack, highlighting how the NHS has developed an energy calculator to measure the power use of medical implements that do not yet have energy-efficiency labels. The energy-efficiency assessment tool and protocol have been made available to NHS procurement managers online and can be used to compare the energy use of several different products, helping with purchasing decisions. According to the NHS, the tool will help reduce annual energy costs, which currently stand at around £410m.

Meanwhile, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) has introduced a programme to reduce its business mileage. A study commissioned in 2007 found DWP staff were traveling enough miles to circumnavigate the globe once every 40 minutes. A new travel policy for so-called "grey fleet", older, higher-emitting vehicles limits staff to traveling 100 miles a day and 1,000 miles a year. Publicity campaigns across the department were also introduced to encourage the use of phones, video-conferencing, public transport and pool or hire cars. According to the DWP, the measures reduced travel miles by 20 per cent, saving the department £3.6m.

Finally, the Department for International Development (DfID) and the UK Border Agency have both moved to cut energy use from their offices. DFiD, for example, slashed electricity consumption by 14 per cent at its London HQ, saving £6,000 a month on its energy bills by installing equipment that improves the building's voltage supply. Meanwhile, the UK Border Agency has moved 2,000 staff from a dispersed office estate in Sheffield into a single building that has been built to the highest BREEAM standard. As a result, water use has been reduced by 20 per cent since moving in to the building, and energy use has fallen " significantly".

Each of the projects will now be used by the OGC as an example to other departments, with detailed case studies and guidance on how to emulate them being distributed across Whitehall.