The London borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Her Majesty's Prison Service. Cranfield University.
They may not have much else in common, but, along with Wrightinton, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust, the Medway NHS Foundation Trust and Coventry city council, these public sector organisations have been rated as top performers in their commitment to energy saving and carbon reduction.
Yesterday they, with many other public sector bodies, met in London to share ideas about how they are going to achieve their targets for cutting emissions. The event was hosted by the Carbon Trust, the independent company set up in 2001 by the government to encourage carbon reduction, which says that in the past few years, public sector bodies have dramatically increased their carbon reduction targets.
Projects implemented as a direct result of the trust's public sector carbon management programme have already generated savings of £36m on energy bills, according to the trust. In 2008-09, 109 organisations participated in the programme – including 71 local authorities, 17 universities, 19 NHS Trusts as well as Central Government Estate.
As a result, they developed new plans that will cut their collective carbon emissions by a further 500,000 tonnes a year and save over £90m a year on energy bills.
But this is about more than simply saving money on internal energy bills, important though that is.
Public sector bodies have considerable influence in their community, which these organisations aim to use to get the carbon-cutting message across to a far wider community.
"We are the biggest employer in the borough of Wigan, with almost 5,000 staff, and that puts us in a good position to spread the word," comments Keith Griffiths, director of finance at the Wrightinton, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust.
"In terms of the public sector, we are allied to our colleagues in local government and together we can make a big difference. The impact goes well beyond the four walls of our organisation," he says.
That includes aiming to buy from more local suppliers and changing the behaviour of staff not just at work, but also at home. By addressing a whole raft of issues, including transport, procurement and waste management, the trust aims to get its carbon-reduction message over to a wide audience.
The trust made an immediate impact on its carbon emissions by replacing an old, coal-fired boiler at one of its hospitals with a new boiler, which reduced emissions from 8,000 tonnes to 4,000 tonnes. Another success has been installing sub-metering - local meters that enable the trust and, more importantly, its staff, to see exactly how much energy is being used at different locations. "It is important to recognise where we are at now," points out Griffiths. "We have put in a number of schemes, the impact of which we have not yet seen."
Taking these kinds of steps has not been cheap. Replacing the old boiler cost £4m and the trust has allocated a further £200,000 in capital spending on its energy-reduction schemes. But the investment is well worthwhile, according to Griffiths. He points out that because of rising energy prices, if these steps had not been taken, the trust's bills would have continued to rise. Instead, it is seeing a reduction of £200,000 a year in real terms. "It's about reducing costs that don't impact on patient care," he says.
Richard Rugg, head of public sector at the Carbon Trust, says the public sector is leading by example. "There are some regulatory issues, but there is a genuine desire to lead and to include businesses in the local area," he comments. "The public sector is one step ahead."
Star performers
London borough of Kensington and Chelsea
• 4,000 employees
• Carbon emissions 2007-08: 24,000 tonnes
• Projected emissions by 2014: 9,600 tonnes
• Target reduction: 40%
HM Prison Service
• Annual energy bill: £44.8m
• Projected emissions by 2015: 88,373 tonnes
Wrightinton, Wigan and Leigh NHS Trust
• 4,200 staff
• Carbon emissions, 2007-08: 18,000 tonnes
• Projected emissions, 2014: 12,000 tonnes
Coventry City Council
• Emissions, 2007-08: 20,900 tonnes
• Projected emissions, 2014: 14,630 tonnes
• Target reduction: 30%
