www.sustainable-development.gov.uk - The Government's sustainable development website, providing guidance and thought provoking ideas on pursuing a more sustainable path  
Home | Contact Us | A-Z | Help

Mandate Information

 

 

Carbon Trust’s Carbon Management Programme

Carbon Management provides a systematic approach to managing the risks and realising the opportunities that climate change presents. It looks at both the revenue and cost sides of business and involves areas outside the scope of a normal energy or operational efficiency review.

The Carbon Trust has developed an overall approach to help managers identify the risks and opportunities relating to climate change mitigation.

The use of a systematic approach, supported by specialist climate change expertise, has highlighted climate change as a strategic issue for many companies and identified practical emission reduction initiatives.

The comprehensive nature of carbon management means that it can have a positive effect on all of an organisation's operations, from research & development, procurement and logistics through to cost management, branding and investor, employee or local community relations. It also addresses the possibilities offered by renewable energy, waste reduction and the use of recycled raw materials.

Further information on the programme can be found on the Carbon Trust’s website: http://www.carbontrust.co.uk/default.ct


BRE’s Environmental Assessment Method

For over a decade, BRE's Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) has been used to assess the environmental performance of both new and existing buildings. It is regarded by the UK's construction and property sectors as the measure of best practice in environmental design and management. In some cases, Departments have setup bespoke systems using BREEAM’s methodology.  In such cases, Departments will apply the equivalent excellent standard to all new buildings and major refurbishments.
Further information on the standard can be found at the following link : http://www.breeam.org/



Office for Government Commerce’s Property Benchmarking Scheme

The scheme aims to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of corporate estate management.

Measuring efficiency and effectiveness of property and facilities management is a critical component of better asset management and provides opportunities for increased productivity and delivery of savings.  Additionally, measuring efficiency and effectiveness allows organisations to benchmark property against industry best practice informing strategic decisions about buildings and their impact on delivery.

Benchmarking the Civil Estate
A key element of the Government’s ambitious and wide-ranging programme to transform public sector asset management is the need to improve asset management on its Civil Estate. Critical to this is the need for departments to have information that is accurate, complete, readily accessible and well presented. OGC is taking forward a project designed to initiate property benchmarking across the central government estate.

A pilot for a property benchmarking service produced the methodology and systems for measuring both efficiency and effectiveness performance, including the selection of appropriate key performance indicators and their data requirements. In summary the pilot has:

  • Introduced a standardised framework to enable departments to measure and manage their own estate performance.
  • Defined efficiency and effectiveness consistently for use by all departments.
  • Tested the performance framework on 130 buildings from four departments.
  • Created a consistent, cross-departmental database, which allows performance to be tracked over time and to be compared with other departments in the IPD Occupiers Dataset.
  • Delivered reports to participating departments providing both overall results and detailed efficiency and effectiveness analysis for individual buildings.

The effectiveness analysis incorporates essential underpinning data to deliver some of the key environmental sustainability targets on the Government Estate, as part of meeting the Government’s sustainable development commitments.

OGC Property Benchmarking Service
A phased “roll-out” of a Property Benchmarking Service across central government is planned. Development of the service is being overseen by a project board, supported by a user group and a technical committee.

http://www.ogc.gov.uk/
Report by the National Audit Office: Getting the best from public sector office accommodation

http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/nao_reports/05-06/Off_Accom_Rept.pdf



Environmental Management Systems (EMS)

Environmental Management Systems have a valuable role to play in supporting delivery of improvements in performance, particularly in key areas such as energy, water and waste. They can help Departments to improve existing management systems and efficiency, reduce costs and ensure compliance with environmental regulations. They may be particularly useful in helping to ensure that data collection and monitoring is systematic and robust and in generally improving the efficiency of management processes.

Environmental management systems can be used by organisations in both the private and public sectors to help them reduce their environmental impacts, comply with relevant legislation, and demonstrate that they are managing their environmental risks and liabilities responsibly.



Volunteering


Volunteering across government
The government designated 2005 the “Year of the Volunteer” – a campaign that promoted volunteering opportunities and celebrated the valuable contribution that volunteers make to society every day.

As part of the Year of the Volunteer, the Home Office commissioned Community Service Volunteers (CSV) to run a campaign to promote volunteering amongst Civil Servants across Government

Volunteering: the benefits
Volunteering is one of the best ways individuals can gain experience while giving something back to your community. As ever increasing numbers find out, it’s not just about helping others – you can also help yourself!  
The Home Office suggests that over 70% of employers would hire a candidate with volunteering experience over someone who has never volunteered. A couple of hours a week can significantly enhance job prospects, help to plug gaps in work experience and help develop a range of skills.

Employee volunteering
To become a volunteer look for volunteering opportunities from the 'Becoming a Volunteer' page (see link to Home Office site below).
The next question is ‘How will I make the time to get involved’ – we all live such hectic lives that it can seem difficult to fit something else in.
Did you know your employer supports volunteering, either in work time or outside of work hours?  So for people that don’t get any spare time, you can do some volunteering in work hours.

Facts and figures
  • In 2001, in England and Wales, 7% of the population volunteered through employer supported schemes

(Source: 2003 Home Office Citizenship Survey: People, Families and Communities)

Further information on volunteering can be found at the following sites:

Sustainability appraisals


Definition
‘Sustainability appraisal’ can be defined as a single appraisal tool that provides for the systematic identification and evaluation of the economic, social and environmental impacts of a proposal. In the UK, Sustainability Appraisal evolved in the 1990s from the environmental appraisal of development plans by local planning authorities and, while its application is now expanding, in the past it has principally been applied in the fields of local and regional planning.

Legislatory requirements
A European Union directive (2001/42/EC) requires Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) to be completed on certain plans and programmes to assess their effects on the environment. This does not replace the requirement for certain plans to also undergo a Sustainability Appraisal.

Under UK legislation (mandatory under the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004), a Sustainability Appraisal must be prepared for regional and local development plans. It is similar to a SEA, but includes assessment of social and economic inputs, in addition to environmental inputs. A Sustainability Appraisal is used by planning authorities to assess whether proposed plans and policies meet sustainable development objectives.

While the requirement to carry out a Sustainability Appraisal and SEA are distinct, it is expected that in the future both can be satisifed in one single appraisal process.

Sustainability Appraisals should:
  • Take a long term view of the expected social, economic and environmental effects of a proposed plan
  • Check that sustainability objectives are turned into sustainable planning policies
  • Reflect global, national, regional and local concerns, and
  • Form an integral part of all stages of plan preparation.

Sustainability and Environmental Appraisals are processes that allow some or all Sustainable Development objectives to be integrated into policies, programmes, projects, activities and decision making at an early stage. They are designed to help identify potential environmental, social and economic effects and issues as early as possible, allowing alternative solutions or mitigation measures to be explored. Alternatively, positive effects and opportunities for performance enhancement can also be identified and promoted. These methods allow sustainability and environmental issues to be considered in a systematic, transparent and auditable way.

Carrying Out Sustainability Appraisals
The MoD’s Sustainability Appraisal Handbook contains the toolkit to assist their project managers, decision-makers and contractors to enable the integration of potential environmental, social and economic issues into their activities, and to specify the further assessment of the identified impacts and
subsequent re-design or mitigation measures. It will also be a useful tool for other Departments when they perform sustainability appraisals on their offices moves.

Although the MOD policy commitment to appraisal applies across the whole department, the Handbook is designed primarily for programmes, projects, activities and decisions that could effect the built estate.

It is also available in both electronic or paper form from the Defence Estates ES&P Team, Room 14, K Block, Foxhill, Bath BA1 5AB Tel: 01225 883523

http://www.contracts.mod.uk/dc/pdfs/SustainabilityHandbk.pdf

 

Useful Links

Green guide for buyers
Timber Procurement Guidance
 

Updated: 18 September 2006

 
© Crown copyright 2005 | Terms & Conditions | Privacy | Directgov