Green Energy: A Guide for Local Authorities

A Green Party local elections briefing

April 2003

Lindi Maqhubela

With acknowledgements to Dave Toke and David Oliver

020 7561 0282

press@greenparty.org.uk

1. Introduction

1.1 This is a summary of some of the key recommendations for local authorities as proposed by the Green Party. Although these suggestions were all prepared with specific reference to local government, most of them are equally applicable to virtually any organisation in the public or private sector.

2. Energy Efficiency

2.1 All decisions to purchase energy using equipment and buildings must be screened in order to maximise energy efficiency and existing buildings and equipment need to be brought up to state-of-the art energy efficiency.

2.2 The number of people who know about energy efficiency must also be dramatically expanded and their contribution to building and equipment planning and procurement must be routine at all levels. In the 1980s the Audit Commission, in a rarely implemented recommendation, said that 10% of energy spending must be spent on energy efficiency measures and for every million pounds spent on energy, at least one person ought to be employed as energy efficiency managers. We believe there should be three persons for every million pounds, with all levels of procurement decision making having training and professional expertise.

A Local Authority can:

1. Procure more fuel-efficient vehicles for public sector fleets.
2. Improve existing public building energy use from ‘typical’ to ‘good practice’ by 2013 and set tighter standards still for new buildings.

c. Use the local authority funding input to ask Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) to set tighter energy performance standards on new housing than would otherwise be achieved.

d. Employ three energy efficiency managers for every (£) million pounds spent on energy.

3. Housing, Buildings and Planning

3.1 If councils own development land, they can force the developers of such land to meet much higher energy efficiency standards than the Building Regulations. They can also pressure, through the planning procedure, private housing develops to use district heating on housing estates which can be linked to combined heat and power systems.

3.1 Simple examples of ‘short payback’ best practice measures in existing buildings include:

1. Replace inefficient lighting systems. All systems over five years old are obsolete in these terms, as are some newer systems. Advanced lighting systems with electronic control gear, T5 tubes and efficient luminaires can run with 25–30% the power of ‘normal’ systems installed in the 1980s. The annual savings could reach £15,000 (100,000–150,000 tonnes of CO₂) in a medium-sized office block.
2. Install automatic lighting controls so that rooms are not lit when they are unoccupied or when daylight is available.
3. Install improved heating controls and condensing boilers.
4. Change from electric space or water heating to gas (or to LPG or oil).
5. Install CHP plant (on suitable sites).

A Local Authority can:

a. Procure its new buildings to higher energy efficiency standards. Use central government’s Design Advice scheme on all new buildings and refurbishments.

2. Improve its existing building stock to ‘best practice’ within a decade.
3. Impose similar energy efficiency requirements on any development land, which it sells.
4. Advise its police authority to do the same as 2.1–2.3.
5. Provide more support and encouragement in its own planning policy for self-builders.
6. Commission outstanding research; e.g., survey the true energy performance (utility bills) of a large random sample of modern housing.
7. Use the planning approval system to pressure developers of new housing estates and public buildings to install community-heating systems, which can be connected to combined heat and power plant.
8. Organise combined heat and power schemes covering existing buildings and local industry.

4. Vehicles

4.1 Public authorities today could procure the most fuel-efficient cars and vans on the market for their fleets. By agreeing to purchase sufficient volumes, they could possibly press German companies to make their ‘3 litre’ cars in RH drive, saving over 60% versus today's cars. It is reasonable to require a 45% reduction now in the fuel consumption of new cars and steady improvements thereafter.

A Local Authority can:

a. Buy energy-efficient cars and vans for its own fleet.

b. Ensure that its own travel expenses system does not favour [or penalises] ‘gas-guzzlers’.

c. Pressure taxi drivers to buy more fuel-efficient cars through the licensing system.

5. Computer and Electrical Equipment

5.5 One effective move is to give workers laptop PCs. They use around 90% less electricity than desktop PCs. If, for some special reason, laptops are not applicable, the best option is to implement commercially-available software packages which shut down systems when needed, even if the PCs are networked. These automatic ‘power down’ systems can be applied to all desktop PCs, but they are unlikely to save more electricity than Energy Star controls would have saved, had they been enabled.

A Local Authority can:

a. Buy energy-efficient electrical office equipment for its own buildings.

b. Advise its Police Authority to do the same.

6. Renewable Energy

A Local Authority can:

a. Develop renewable energy by agreeing long term supply contracts with renewable energy projects.

2. Stipulate areas where wind power schemes can be sited according to the local plan.
3. Through planning, encourage developers to offer significant proportions of the shares in the schemes to local investors, thus encouraging ‘community’ ownership of renewable energy schemes.
4. Insist through the planning procedure that all new buildings should have solar panels (either solar photovoltaics or solar thermal).
5. Insist that new buildings generate at least of ten per cent of their energy from renewable sources.