Public: Sustainability | Public

Auditor's report: Sustainability vision and strategy

Tue, 06 Jul 2010 15:11:00 GMT

We are pleased to see that the sustainability strategy has been reviewed by the board and extended to include embedding sustainability into wider editorial teams – an important step given the Guardian's recognition of the relative significance of editorial for its overall impact.

The commitment to regular board reporting by directors is another step forward. The launch of the Guardian Media Group's "Power of 10" sustainability vision, which draws on the Guardian's experience, also goes a long way to addressing our previous comment concerns about Guardian Media Group's commitment.

To support the strategy, the sustainability leadership group now have personal objectives around sustainability. However, further work is needed to align their objectives more clearly with the strategy and to set clear metrics to measure progress, especially given the delay in this process from 2009. Moving forwards, sustainability targets should be developed to support the strategy, along with a clear implementation plan.

Resources to deliver objectives are tighter this year given the loss of almost 300 staff. It will be even more important that sustainability objectives for each department are clear and focused to ensure they are deliverable.

Doing more with less C02

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:01:00 GMT

Emissions from IT hardware account for 5% of the global carbon total, on a par with the airline industry, the government's Greening IT strategy is tackling the problem, but there is more the public sector on a whole can do

Last week Dell attended the Guardian's popular Public Services Summit conference at which I participated in a panel discussion on the topic of "Doing more with less CO2".

Sustainability always raises a number of interesting debates within the sector and alongside Liberal Democrat MP Simon Hughes and Will Day, from the Sustainable Development Committee, we attempted to tackle but a few.

Naturally at Dell, we take a technology-focused view of driving down emissions and creating efficiencies. However, the public sector must not take it for granted that the person labelled facilities manager or chief information officer should be the only one tasked with investigating how technology can make a positive difference to hitting EU targets and contributing to a more sustainable future for public services.

In the midst of a perfect storm

I think it's fair to say that we're in the midst of a perfect storm: challenged public budgets, decreasing tax revenues and increasing national debts on the one hand and being asked to meet aggressive national and EU government energy reduction targets on the other.

As part of its recently revised Greening IT Strategy, the UK Government has set out two key targets: government IT will be carbon neutral by 2012, and carbon neutral across its lifecycle by 2020.

These targets present no small task for a sector under pressure to lead by example and yet also under the misconception that green efficiencies can only be created by massive short-term investment. It's difficult to put into perspective the size of the job in hand, but I would think you might be surprised to learn that emissions from IT account for 5% of the global total, putting it on a par with the airline industry, itself a sector much maligned in the great green debate.

Perhaps fortunately for us, unlike the airline industry, just by following simple best practice guidelines we can earn a number of short terms wins.

I'm not suggesting that the larger goal won't require great amounts of time and investment , but rather that the public sector is in a position where it needs to have both demonstrable results quickly and a long term, sustainable strategy.

When engaging with a customer for the first time or embarking upon a new project, my teams often pay a visit to their datacentre. This could be anything from the standard "computer room" in their offices to a warehouse the size of two football pitches stacked with thousands of servers. Despite the obvious size differences there is a striking similarity: if I walked in and unplugged 15%-20% of their servers at random, chances are that most of the users supported by that datacentre wouldn't bat an eyelid.

The reason for this is that each server has such a low utilisation rate (ie the amount of resource it is using to process at any one time), that most of them are doing very little. The problem with operating in this way is that the servers are still using energy to run and stay cool, as well as taking up valuable floor space and adding considerable administrative overheads. A few years ago, average public sector server utilisation was a poor 12% - and this has now dropped to an embarrassing 5%.

The ideal running rate of a server should be about 80%, so the sector is using almost 16 times the space and energy really required.

So what can be done about these massive levels of over-provisioning and wastage?

G-Cloud

The UK government is already making strides in the right direction with plans for its G-Cloud. In a nutshell, the G-Cloud will be a large shared pool of computer resource and services to provide departments with a platform from which to build flexible and innovative public services. Rather than rely on isolated blocks of their own data, departments will share resources across government.

This initiative alone could save up to £300m by 2020 and although it's a longer term aspiration that is still in the planning phases, all public sector leaders can begin to think about some of the short term changes that could easily be implemented in their own datacentres. Without boring you with the minutiae, there are proven, readily available and easy to implement technologies such as virtualisation that could help public organisations consolidate their servers through more intelligent utilisation.

By running several "virtual" servers on a single physical machine, computer resources are more efficiently allocated, allowing organisations to quickly realise energy savings.

Although quick wins can be easily favoured, there is a much harder, longer term shift in culture and thinking that must take place across the public sector if we're to come close to hitting new targets.

Whether it's the simple notion of working policies such as being an eco-friendly user and turning off PCs and monitors overnight, or a more fundamental change in greening the government's ageing procurement policies, we believe that placing sustainability at the heart of decision making and working across departments will be crucial ingredients in the recipe for success.

As my co-panel speaker Simon Day rightly stated, there's a great deal more opportunity than risk out there at the moment. I believe it's simply a case of seeking the right advice, communicating at every level and not losing sight of the long term objective.

Undoubtedly, however, there is a long way to go.

Iain Campbell is director and general manager, Dell UK Public Sector

Zero-carbon schools on the curriculum

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 11:24:12 GMT

Government runs the rule of a new initiative to zero the carbon footprint in schools with new builds and the establishment of a new task force to speed up plans

The government has spelt out its plans for an 80% reduction in carbon emissions in schools in three years time - with the expectancy of gradually achieving zero emissions.

The reduction target, which will be measured against 2002 levels, has been increased from the current 60% target.

As part of the plan at least four pilot zero-carbon schools will be built in each government region before 2016 in order to demonstrate how zero carbon can be achieved.

Schools secretary Ed Balls announced the new targets simultaneously with the launch of the final report of the Zero Carbon Task Force (ZCTF), established by the Department for Children Schools and Families (DCSF) in 2008.

The ZCTF report, Road To Zero Carbon, examines how the carbon footprint of English schools can be reduced.

Balls said that the government has accepted the ZCTF's recommendations and plans to take them forward with the caveat that this is subject to funding in the next comprehensive spending review.

Schools emit approximately 9.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year, which is about 2% of the total UK greenhouse gases and is 15% of the public sector emissions according to the ZCTF.

Buildings account for 37% of the total emitted by schools. However, the ZCTF report points out that the three- to four-year construction cycles for schools are too long to allow the technical, financial and social challenges to be overcome if zero carbon schools are to be delivered across the board by 2016.

It says that in some circumstances zero carbon schools are achievable, such as in rural settings where renewable energy is accessible and in urban areas where low carbon community energy schemes can be tapped.

The ZCTF's brief was to focus on new build schools. However it points out that new build is just part of the picture and among the 30 recommendations in its report says that the DCSF should review the potential of a programme of "refurbishment and retrofit".

Carbon emissions generally decrease by 5% to 20% and sometimes more as a result of refurbishment, even when energy saving is not a stated objective.

Modelling suggests that savings of 53% to70% can be achieved by "whole school energy efficiency refurbishments" but the report says that this is optimistic.

ZCTF says that 50% to 65% reductions in carbon emissions from English schools could be achieved at a cost of about £12bn, although this "assumes optimum occupant behaviour which will require additional measures" according to the report.

Ed Balls also announced a £12m campaign to get schools in England to install free energy display meters. The DCSF says that smart meters and wider behavioural changes could cut fuel bills by 10% to 15% which could mean as much as £3,000 a year to a 900-pupil secondary school.

Going green to get out of the red

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 11:18:55 GMT

With cuts now a reality there is a fear that green initiatives may slip further down the priority list. However, with a spend to save policy and future proofing of new buildings, the public sector could meet its green targets - and save cash at the same time

Back in November, children's secretary Ed Balls ordered schools to turn lights off and heating down. Part of the government's commitment to reduce harmful CO2 emissions by 40% by 2030?

Perhaps of more immediate concern was the expected £750m such measures would save.

The schools drive highlights the truth of the environmentalists' refrain: sustainability is common sense, and easier on both planet and wallet. The government has its targets – central office estates carbon neutral by 2012, water consumption reduced by 25% and 75% of waste recycled by 2020, and is working towards these aims – but sustainability's case is likely to be made even more forcefully with future budget cuts.

Why aren't more public sector bodies recognising the wisdom of going green to get out of the red?

For many, it's a case of short-termism: green initiatives inch further down the to-do list as outlays increase.

Martin Hunt of environmental thinktank Forum for the Future (FFF) says they need to spend to save, investing in "whole-life payback".

"Focusing on capital spend alone is a false economy: budgets may be shrinking, but maintaining the value of assets for the longer term creates savings in the future, especially with buildings that will be here for decades. Factoring in the public spend deficit and coming cuts, we have to get a lot smarter about how we see the financing of our built environment."

With 100 new hospitals to be built in 2010, future-proofing will result in long-term savings. Energy bills can be slashed even before the application of technology: a holistic view of sustainability would see buildings positioned to maximise sunlight and heat, with green spaces providing cooling shade.

In New Jersey, US, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital is making big savings on its annual $20m utilities spend by renting out its roof for solar panels. From April, UK public sector buildings that generate their own wind or solar energy through wind turbines or solar panels will be able to sell excess electricity back to the national grid through feed-in tariffs.

Fit for the future

FFF's 2003 report Fit for the Future details how different climate change scenarios would impact on health service provision going into 2030. Despite the economic and environmental case – the NHS consumes 45m gigajoule of energy and 40m square metres of water a year – and significant policy-drivers, Hunt says uptake of the sustainability agenda among trusts has been "patchy".

There is help out there, however: organisations such as SHINE (the Sustainable Heathcare Network) advise on delivering healthcare sustainability through buildings and procured services, while The Carbon Trust funds not-for-profit social enterprise Salix, providing public sector bodies with loans and grants for environmental and sustainability projects.

It calculates it has made savings of £85m from 4,300 projects since its inception, one of which is Frimley Park Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in Surrey.

"We lower energy expenditure through efficiency schemes in order to divert money into patient care," says business and performance manager Kwan Cheng.

"We have a programme to fit double-glazed windows, low-energy radiators and lighting, and a rolling programme to replace the roof and improve insulation."

An investment of £100,000, half from Salix, will result in annual savings of £25,000 (251 tonnes of CO2); bigger projects, such as Great Ormond Street's new Children's Medical Centre, complete with green roof, can expect to offset 20,000 tonnes of CO2 annually and cut energy costs still further.

An added proven benefit is that greener buildings can impact positively on, for example, patient recovery rates and teacher satisfaction.

As Martin Hunt says, "Sustainability doesn't just mean carbon or cost savings – there are other criteria by which the efficiency of trusts or education authorities can be measured."

Energy consumption across government IT systems will be carbon neutral by 2012; the Greening Government IT strategy report reveals savings of almost £7m and 12,000 tonnes of CO2, by simple expedients such as delaying how often printers are replaced.

The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is reducing the number of its servers from 100 to eight, to cut power consumption by two-thirds and waste heat emissions by three-quarters – saving "a significant amount of money in ongoing costs," according to a spokesperson.

As budgets bite further, we can expect sustainability to become a lot more appealing.

Government working towards its green targets

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 10:46:00 GMT

A report published today shows a 10% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions across Whitehall, earning plaudits from the Sustainable Development Commission

As the troubled UN climate talks in Copenhagen draw to a close today, the British government has Sisannounced it is expecting to meet its targets to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its occupied buildings.

The announcement comes as the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) publishes key performance data on Whitehall's own sustainability targets and as the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) publishes its commentary on government performance.

Data, signed off by permanent secretaries, shows last financial year there was a 10% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions from offices relative to a 1999/00 baseline (compared to 6.3% the previous year).

According to latest projections, which are built up from departmental plans, the government is in a robust position to exceed its current target of 12.5% by the end of March 2011 and can achieve a 17.8% reduction in carbon emissions against the baseline.

Ian Pearson, the economic secretary to the Treasury said: "The figures released today demonstrate the strong commitment and progress being made across Whitehall to address the crucial matter of reducing the environmental impact of government's day-to-day business operations.

"We are dedicated to encouraging more radical and innovative approaches to tackling negative impacts on the environment, and we will announce new targets for Whitehall next year, following a comprehensive review, to ensure they remain relevant, ambitious and lead best practice."

Rebecca Willis, vice chair of the SDC, said: "It's great to see the progress that has been made in the last 12 months, thanks to considerable efforts from government. We have seen improvements from road transport, water, waste and recycling targets.

"The next task for government is to get to grips with its supply chain, and to look at the performance of all government agencies, including its non-departmental public bodies.

"The world is coming to understand the urgent need to cut carbon dioxide emissions and live within environmental limits. The government now needs to make sure that its own performance matches the scale of the challenge."

• The Sustainable Development in Government 2009 data and a copy of the delivery plan update, which describes the work government will do to continue to improve performance, can be viewed here

• For Sustainable Development Commission commentary on the Sustainable Development in Government results click here

Loans available to meet green targets

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 10:18:00 GMT

Interest-free funding, provided by the government, is available to public bodies to help buildings become more efficient and achieve their carbon reduction commitment goals

With this week's Copenhagen summit focusing the attention of global statesmen on climate change, UK public servants are already feeling the pressure to meet very real targets on sustainability.

As the reality of climate change continues to be felt, these demands will become more exacting, and rightly so.

From April, the Carbon Reduction Commitment will aim for a 60% reduction in emissions from larger organisations by 2050.

And George Osborne's recent announcement on central government emissions, which he hopes to cut by 10% within a year of coming to office, is just one of many of ideas designed to ensure the public sector leads the way in cutting the UK carbon footprint.

But any observer of public sector performance will know that targets, while essential, don't bring about change on their own. Without proper management, the pressure to meet them can lead to short-termism and poor decision making, and without ring-fencing, budget cuts may be diverted to other areas.

Long-term cost savings are easy to achieve

Where CO2 emissions are concerned, long-term cost savings are easy to achieve but often require targeted, carefully planned investment and practical support up front, ensuring the right technology is put in place to guarantee the benefits are felt over many years.

Often, a start needs to be made with the basics – better insulation or new heating systems, but again, a proper assessment needs to take place to ensure that the most cost effective solution is identified, and implemented in full.

To its credit, the government has realised this, and has managed public money accordingly.

Across the UK, schools, colleges, local authorities, universities and NHS trusts are taking advantage of interest-free funding that the government has made available through Salix Finance to drive such efficiencies.

Money is only allocated to projects that can meet sensible energy and cost effectiveness criteria in advance – so money is only saved, never wasted. And rigorous monitoring ensures that the focus is kept on ensuring that projects are completed in full and savings are achieved.

Investment in energy efficiency projects, properly implemented, really will reap a long-term financial dividend. The £175m total funding that is being allocated for energy saving projects managed by Salix Finance will achieve £600m lifetime cost savings and 3.5m tonnes of carbon savings. Already, 488 public sector bodies are benefitting.

Future savings on these, and potentially greater, levels would be put at risk if up-front investment in the projects that will deliver them were to be cut.

Better insulation, new boilers or lighting may not make headlines, but continuing investment in these unglamorous projects will help any government ensure that when future targets are set, real delivery follows.

•The current deadline for loan funding applications is 31 December 2009

Alastair Keir is chief executive of Salix Finance, an independent company which provides interest free loans to help public sector organisations to cut their energy bills

Quick-smart start to carbon reduction commitment

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 10:07:00 GMT

Cutting the public sector's carbon footprint is going to be a tall order, but by using technology tools properly results will show and services will be maintained

The legislative driver the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) comes into force next April, and will require many public and private organisations in the UK to provide definitive evidence of their energy consumption.

The purpose of this scheme is to reduce, over a defined period of time, the energy usage and carbon footprint of the country's largest energy consumers.

The ambition of the scheme is to effectively "manage down" energy usage and to encourage more sustainable longer term business behaviours with respect to energy and carbon.

It starts with those organisations that are metered every half hour, but there's a good chance that once underway the scheme could be used to change behaviours further down the energy usage ladder.

It's clearly a top priority and Colin Challen MP, chair of the All Party Parliamentary Climate Change Group recently stated that we would need to reduce CO2 emissions by 76% from their 1999 levels by 2050.

In order for carbon reduction to be effective it needs to be part of an organisation's whole ethos, one that's embedded and that underpins the organisation's policies, practices and operations.

But it's tough to start from scratch and many public sector organisations face the challenge of having to "retrofit" sustainability into their existing operations rather than implementing truly sustainable operations.

Add to this that the public sector has the additional pressure of ensuring efficient operations in order to reduce costs to the taxpayer and alongside volatile energy costs it must use its resources in a highly efficient manner.

So, how then can the public sector and its multitude of organisations quickly and smartly reduce their environmental impact without adversely impacting tight budgets?

Using technology tools to great effect

As the pressure mounts, the public sector must use technology as part of its campaign to cut carbon. Not just one-time spreadsheets, but tools that look deep into the organisation and report on energy usage in a near "real-time" manner.

By taking this approach organisations can measure carbon usage to manage resources and implement good environmental practices; report on carbon emission performance to a wide range of stakeholders and even change behaviours to find areas for improvement and make reductions in energy consumption and carbon emissions.

There are software and solutions available that establish a baseline against which to measure improvements and prepare for future legislative changes. These tools provide a "window" through which an organisation can effectively monitor, measure and manage down its energy usage.

More and more organisations are being asked to comply with a number of sustainability regulations, among other challenges such as the rising cost of energy and resources. But with the help of technology, public sector organisations can make sustainability an integral part of operations while increasing efficiencies and delivering cost savings.

This approach to sustainability needs to live and breathe in an organisation in order for quick and smart carbon efficiency to be achieved.

Simon Godfrey is director of business development and government relations at SAP

Independent body measuring carbon footprint of 2012 Games reveals construction biggest contributor

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:32:37 GMT

Carbon report from the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012 urges Olympic Board and the government to take responsibility for carbon footprint

The Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, the independent body established to assure and monitor the sustainability of the London 2012 Games, has published its Carbon Report on the approach taken to address the greenhouse gas emissions caused by the London 2012 programme.

The report calls for London 2012 to continue the work to measure its carbon footprint; to take responsibility for ensuring that emissions are reduced as far as possible, and to develop a strong and, where possible, quantifiable programme to mitigate remaining emissions.

Shaun McCarthy, chair of the commission, said: "We first recommended that London 2012 measure its carbon footprint in 2006; now three years later we're seeing the fruits of that recommendation. Everyone expected the biggest CO2 contributor to be air travel, but in fact it's the construction process"

"The job for London 2012 and government now is to carry on avoiding and reducing emissions – ideas like the low-carbon torch flame are great examples of what can be done. The commission also commends the work of the Olympic Delivery Authority in relation to sustainability in terms of achievements they have made in waste, reuse and transport. London 2012 has to take responsibility for the inevitable remaining footprint."

Responsibility for the footprint, hes said, lies with the Olympic Board.

"The board should ensure that the each of the delivery bodies continues to reduce and avoid emissions in their areas of control. The board should also allocate responsibility for mitigating the footprint to the body best placed to do so; in many cases much of the responsibility will need to lie with government," it said.

McCarthy said: "Britain and London 2012 could be world leaders in the field of embodied carbon. We're strongly recommending the development of a British Standard for best practice relating to embodied carbon, which should be completed by 2012. This standard would be a real legacy from the Games, and would lead to millions of tonnes of carbon being saved in the future. Government must take this learning on board and ensure that it is taken into account for all major construction projects."