By Verity Hambrook, Industry RE Sustainability, Dec 2011 Tweet
Organisations must ensure such programmes are managed effectively and represent a wider transformational shift in green behaviour 

As the ever-descending cloud of economic gloom hovers menacingly over the UK, the government must not loose sight of the importance of championing a green economy. With job cuts and pay freezes gripping the public sector, the government needs to explore enterprising ways to save money with the least damage to our already faltering economy.

It is for this reason that the Carbon Trust was spot-on to urge Westminster to extend central Government’s 25% carbon target to the whole of the public sector to save more than £2bn in cost savings.

New research released last month by the Carbon Trust showed that the public sector has doubled its drive to address climate change over the past five years, despite the tough economic downturn. The trust analysed over 472 public sector bodies and found average carbon reduction targets have doubled since 2006, increasing from 16% to over 28% in 2011.

For the government, it is good news. The ambition to cut carbon emissions from the government estate by 25% by 2015 seems convincingly attainable. Furthermore, the targets have been underpinned by projects that more than pay back the initial investment, saving the taxpayer money and hopefully preserving vital jobs in worrying times of mass unemployment.

“The public sector has a vital leadership role to play in helping the UK to meet its carbon targets,” said Tim Pryce, Head of Public Sector at the Carbon Trust. “It is exciting to see leading organisations elsewhere in the public sector matching that level of ambition, and saving the taxpayer money at the same time,” he added.

The Carbon Trust did warn the savings of £2bn could only be achieved with the right direction, leadership and expert support. These sentiments are similar to those driven home to businesses in the private sector.

And it can be done. For example, the University of Bath have achieved substantial energy savings which have cut their annual electricity bill by half a million pounds. The organisation plans to further cut their emissions by an impressive 43% between 2005 and 2020. “Difficult economic times have increasingly led organisations like ours to recognise the value of cutting carbon emissions as a way of reducing our energy costs,” says Peter Phelps, the university’s energy manager.

It’s all owed to proper carbon management. In the last eight years 2500 public sector bodies cut 12 million tonnes of CO2 and saved £426 million through projects that pay back in less than five years.

As in the private sector, these savings can only be achieved if the organisation is truly committed to energy efficiency and sustainability. Often, senior management fail to recognise the cost saving potential of cutting carbon use, energy managers are often undervalued and overlooked and there is a failure to properly monitor carbon reduction and track the impact of projects, particularly those focused more on employee behaviour change.

But like the private sector again, the government recognises the potential benefits in overcoming these challenges. It has got behind the sustainability sector’s ethos: make small investments now for much larger returns in the future. Only this week, the government has announced £30m in funding designed to support energy efficiency improvements to public sector buildings and help local communities deploy renewable energy technologies. It is only right that the government give some credibility to their green rhetoric and lead the way in cost-effective green transformation within their own organisations.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne said £10m would be pumped into a new Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF), while a further £20m would be allocated to the Salix scheme, which provides low interest loans to schools, hospitals, and public sector buildings. The money gives these organisations the financial flexibility to invest in energy efficiency projects and repay the loans through the resulting energy bill savings.

“The Government is making huge changes to the UK’s energy system,” said Climate Change Minister Greg Barker. “I want to make sure that local communities are at the heart of this energy revolution, and this funding will help make sure that can happen.”

The additional £20m of funding for the Salix loan scheme is expected to reduce public sector energy bills by up to £46m a year and cut carbon emissions by 210,000.

“Tight budgets are no longer an excuse for poor energy efficiency in the public sector,” said David Beer, director of IndustryRE Sustainability. “These loans give these organisations the capability to roll-out urgently needed green measures. However, the organisations must ensure the projects are managed effectively. True green transformation requires fundamental change at the heart of the organisation. Any energy efficiency measures must be allied with employee behaviour change, appropriate monitoring and senior level buy-in,” he added.