July 12, 2004—The UKs BRE (The Building Research Establishment) and CABE (Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment) have joined forces to produce Budgeting for Sustainability, a Web site that provides comprehensive information on assessing whole life values for public-sector funding and procurement decisions.
The scale of the ongoing public-sector construction program presents a unique opportunity to create high-quality public buildings and spaces that provide best value to the tax payer.
But whilst sustainability and design issues are included in the Treasury’s definition of ‘best value’, the difficulty of accounting for the environmental, social and economic benefits of an early investment in design quality often means that whole life values are not properly considered when budgets for construction projects are being set.
The Budgeting for Sustainability Web site is designed to help address this issue. It will help public-sector clients, their advisers and contractors to develop a whole-life-value approach to public procurement.
The Web site focuses on the budget-setting stage of the procurement process. It:
- covers all forms of public-sector construction procurement, including PFI
- provides definitions of sustainability
- explores the overarching issues with regard to delivering sustainability
- gives details on setting and meeting targets and complying with statutory requirements
- contains a comprehensive list of sustainability issues at various stages of the budget-setting process
- provides a searchable database of tools, processes, guidance and background documents of relevance to the public sector procurement process.
Budgeting for Sustainability is a joint CABE/BRE project, funded by the DTI’s Partners in Innovation programme.
For further information, contact Geoff Hardwick at 01923 664561.
