Key considerations
- What are the benefits of sustainable land and buildings management?
- Are there any externally-set targets that this organisation has to meet?
- How can we measure our sustainability performance in relation to land and building management?
- What mechanisms can we use to reduce energy consumption?
- What can we do to encourage staff to be more aware of their energy use?
- What mechanisms can we use to manage our waste more sustainably?
- What mechanisms can we use to reduce water consumption?
- What can we do to manage our impact on biodiversity?
1. What are the benefits of sustainable land and buildings management?
There are a number of benefits to be derived from sustainable land and buildings management. These include:
- reducing energy and water use can make a significant contribution to meeting sustainability targets;
- it can help organisations to achieve cost savings and efficiency targets;
- it enables organisations to future-proof themselves against a possible introduction of mandatory energy and water-saving targets or adapt to the expected impacts of climate change; and
- in a society where sustainability is increasingly important, it helps organisations to manage risks and reputational issues.
2. Are there any externally-set targets that this organisation has to meet?
In June 2006, the Prime Minister launched new targets for sustainable operations on the Government estate, replacing those in the Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government Estate. These include a target for the Government office estate to be carbon neutral by 2012, and to reduce carbon emissions from its office based estate by 30% by 2020.
For local public bodies the new Comprehensive Area Assessment, more specifically the Use of Resources judgement, will examine the extent to which bodies such as councils, Primary Care Trusts, fire and police authorities have managed their estate in ways that reduce their consumption of natural resources.
3. How can we measure our sustainability performance in relation to land and building management?
The guidance produced to accompany the targets for Sustainable Operations on the Government Estate include information on how to measure performance, what data to collect and a large number of useful links to related websites. Specifically in relation to biodiversity, Defra has produced a paper entitled "Valuing The Benefits of Biodiversity" which goes into considerable detail.
4. What mechanisms can we use to reduce energy consumption?
There are a number of things that organisations can do to reduce their energy consumption, ranging from very simple measures to more advanced activities. These may include:
- replacing standard light bulbs with energy efficient ones , which use up to 80% less energy than standard light bulbs;
- procuring more energy-efficient office equipment. OGC Buying Solutions specifies certain mandatory standards that office supplies must meet. For more information about sustainability and procurement, see the Procurement, supply chain & logistics module; and
- when the opportunity arises (for example in the construction of a new building or the refurbishment of an existing one), installing energy-efficient technologies such as motion-activated lighting, biomass boilers or a ground heat exchange mechanism. For example, the Welsh Assembly Government have incorporated natural ventilation techniques, a ground heat exchange mechanism and a biomass boiler to reduce energy consumption in the new Welsh Parliament building. A further case study explores how the Department for Children, Schools and Families is using the opportunity of building new schools to ensure that sustainability is a core part of the construction process.
For more information see the Carbon Trust’s Top Tips for energy saving, starting with very simple activities.
The Carbon Trust website has a large number of useful resources to help organisations save energy. This includes:
- "Starter Packs";
- an Action Plan tool to help identify the key actions that you can undertake at your site to save energy and reduce carbon emissions;
- benchmarking tools to enable organisations to compare their performance against others with a similar estate;
- guidance about making the most of energy saving opportunities on your estate; and
- a Local Authority Carbon Management Programme, which provides councils with technical and change management support and guidance to enable them to realise carbon emissions savings.
Alternatively, local authorities can use the Sustainable Energy Benchmark and Toolkit developed by the seven ‘sustainable energy’ beacon authorities. This enables councils to assess current practice, identify priority areas for action and learn from others to improve service delivery in key areas of energy management. The benchmarking tool allows a council to rate its performance against each benchmark activity.
NHS organisations can use a variety of tools and guidance available on the Good Corporate Citizen website.
EnergySavingWales’ website provides links to advice, information and training for businesses and public sector organisations in Wales looking to become more energy efficient or increase the renewable energy they purchase.
5. What can we do to encourage staff to be more aware of their energy use?
Staff can be of the view that they can make only a minimal contribution towards energy efficiency targets and therefore may ignore simple steps such as switching off lights, or computers and so on. Although each of these failures to act may have a small impact, together they can add up to a significant proportion of the total energy or water use of the organisation.
It is important to make the issue accessible to people. The Carbon Trust suggests putting posters around the office with facts such as: “Switching off a PC monitor rather than leaving it on standby overnight saves enough energy to microwave six dinners” or “lighting an office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for 1000 cups of tea”.
The Carbon Trust has also produced a staff awareness leaflet that explains the importance of saving energy both in the workplace and at home.
6. What mechanisms can we use to manage our waste more sustainably?
Defra’s Waste Strategy for England sets out the Government’s vision for sustainable waste management, including the aims to prevent waste being created where possible, diverting landfill and increasing reuse and recycling.
The Envirowise website provides information on waste management, while the WRAP website contains guidance and information about recycling.
The Environment Agency provide useful advice to both the public and private sectors on how to manage waste more sustainably whilst complying with existing regulations.
The Waste Online "Waste In The Workplace" page includes practical steps and a fact sheet to help organisations manage their waste more sustainably. Their "Office Recycling in London" page includes contact details for recycling collectors in the capital.
Defra also provide a large body of useful information regarding recycling and waste management.
7. What mechanisms can we use to reduce water consumption?
The Envirowise website contains tools that will help an organisation to analyse and reduce its water consumption. You should start by calculating a water balance to show current water use and to help identify areas for improvement. You can then put water minimisation into practice with the help of guidance showing best practice in water minimisation. Their Water Account tool then allows you to benchmark your water use against other organisations in your sector.
Some organisations are now starting to use rainwater capture mechanisms to meet some of their water needs, such as to flush toilets or water gardens. This can be explored further in the Construction module, where sustainable content in design is discussed.
The Environment Agency holds annual Water Efficiency Awards to recognise organisations who successfully reduce the amount of water they use. The winners, commended entries and finalists are written up as case studies, and can be explored on the Environment Agency website .
8. What can we do to manage our impact on biodiversity?
Biodiversity encompasses the whole variety of life on Earth, including all species of plants and animals. It is not restricted to rare or threatened species but includes the whole of the natural world from the commonplace to the critically endangered.
A new framework called "Conserving Biodiversity – The UK Approach", calls for joined up working across the public, voluntary and business sectors in the UK on a variety of agreed goals and priorities for the greater good of biodiversity. It sets out ways in which individuals can help promote biodiversity.
The framework has been agreed by the UK Government and the devolved administrations. Shared priorities for action will include developing data, taking targeted action for priority species and habitats, engaging people and encouraging behaviour change. Biodiversity requirements will need to continue to be embedded into all relevant sectors of policy. Achievement of this vision will require a more holistic or ecosystems approach, where we recognise the interconnections between living things, their environment, and the services they provide.
As of 1st October 2006, s40 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act places all public bodies under a duty to consider biodiversity in the work that they do. Also see Guidance for Local and Public Authorities on implementing the biodiversity duty.
To explore a Defra paper examining the benefits of valuing biodiversity follow the link.