October 13, 2004—The British Government has set itself new, stricter “green” buying and building management targets. From now on, all central government departments and their executive agencies in England must:
- draw up, by 1 December 2005, an environmental purchasing policy and properly integrate that with departmental procurement activities, and set up mechanisms for measuring and reporting on progress;
- work with suppliers to find sustainable solutions to the provision of goods, works, and services, helping them to implement environmental supply chain management programmes where appropriate;
- include “environmental consideration” clauses into all contracts for goods, works, and services (including PPPs and PFIs);
- incorporate sustainable development considerations into all new build and major refurbishment construction projects (where design commences on or after December 1, 2005); and
- plan to replace or modify ozone-depleting fixed refrigeration, air-conditioning and fire protection equipment as it reaches the end of its life, and ensure hydro fluorocarbons (HFCs) and other greenhouse gases are not used where safe, cost-effective, and feasible alternatives are available.
The new targets develop and strengthen existing guidance on sustainable procurement and estates management and are the final “green responsibilities” to be formally quantified in a publication, Framework for Sustainable Development on the Government.
The Office of Government Commerce has prepared a downloadable list of environmentally friendly products that are available from its GCat and Portfolio catalogues to help identify products that meet the following Quick Win Specifications:
- Energy saving
- Recycled content
- Carbon emissions
- Energy consumption in use
- Volatile organic compounds
- Organic ingredients
- Biodegradability.
