Hampshire County Council

Buildings Land and Procurement Panel Item 14

24 March 2004

Proposed Sustainability Initiatives 2004/05

Report by the Director of Property, Business and Regulatory Services

How the conclusion in this report fits with the Corporate Strategy

This scheme will impact on the delivery of the following Corporate Aims

Aim 2 - stewardship of the environment - by identifying and progressing sustainability initiatives that will provide a positive impact on the community.

Aim 5 - improving services - by developing sustainability initiatives that will enable improved servive delivery.

1

Summary

1.1

The County Council is working with the Carbon Management Trust as part of its Corporate Sustainability Initiatives which are being sponsored by the Director of Environment. This report informs Members about the Carbon Management Trust and proposes three key Landlord property/premises energy management projects for 2004/05 that fit with the work of the Trust and within the County Council's own Corporate Sustainability framework.

2

Background

2.1

The Government agreed at the Kyoto Meeting of Nations in 1997 to reduce the emission of `greenhouse' gases in the UK by 2012. The Carbon Management Trust is a business led, Government funded company appointed to provide a national lead for support of the UK climate change programme. The Trust has partnered with consultants Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to engage local authorities in a national carbon management reduction programme. Hampshire County Council is one of 16 authorities that have been selected to work with PwC to develop local carbon management reduction initiatives. This report proposes that we do this by means of the three project areas identified in section 4.

3

Local Authority Energy Financing Scheme (LAEF)

3.1

The Carbon Trust has established a scheme based on match funding to help local authorities kick start energy efficient programmes.

3.2

Consideration was given to submitting a tender for LAEF funding but was not pursued for the following reasons:

· "Payback": The energy conservation work already carried out over a number of years by the County Council means that it would not be able to sustain the Trust's requirements for schemes with short paybacks of between 1 to 5 years.

· "Financial Emphasis": The Trust's selection criteria appears to place a strong emphasis on financial considerations, ie low cost projects.

· "Self Sustaining Energy Fund": The Trust's proposals for a self sustaining energy fund were considered to be too rigid to allow effective application of the LAEF scheme in schools.

· "Number of Tenderers": The Trust has moved away from selecting a short list of Local Authorities to work with and have now invited tenderers for limited funds from some 70 Authorities.

· "Renewable Energy Sources" (wind solar): The Trust has specifically excluded these from this round of tenders. We would like to have seen renewable energy as a strong feature within the LAEF scheme but accept this would not fit well with short payback periods.

4

Landlords Key Sustainability Projects

4.1

Although the Carbon Management Trust's current funding criteria is not well suited to the County Council, it would be appropriate to `home grow' a series of key Landlord projects that support the work of the Trust and contribute to the Government's national agenda for UK climate change.

4.2

It is proposed to scope and create three projects in 2004/05 in the following areas:

· Social Services Older Persons' Home

· Offices

· Pilot a Wood Fired Boiler Scheme

All projects will entail making energy surveys, and the close involvement and support from departments and local managers. An initial desk top scoping for the three proposed projects is shown in Appendix 1. It is recommended that these proposals are worked up in more detail and a further report presented to the Panel on how the schemes are progressing.

5

Conclusion

5.1

The County Council has been investing in energy conservation measures for a number of years and has extracted many of the early paybacks. It will, as part of the normal good management of the Built Estate, continue to work with the Carbon Management Trust and support the Government's National agenda on climate change. To do this it is likely to have to develop schemes outside of the LAEF scheme at this stage.

Recommendation(s)

That the Panel advises the Executive Member for Policy and Resources that:

1

Hampshire's position regarding the LAEF scheme be noted.

2

The proposed energy management schemes for 2004/05 be agreed and a further report be presented to the Panel detailing how the schemes can be progressed.