MOST SUSTAINABLE PUBLIC SECTOR ORGANISATION – LOCAL AUTHORITY
HIGHLY COMMENDED Luton Borough Council
L
uton Borough Council (LBC) is a Unitary Authority, covering all local authority functions over an area of 4300 hectares, with a population of around 200,000. A relatively small area with a large population makes it a vibrant urban environment. LBC’s contributions to the sustainability agenda occur at many different levels. We are a large corporate organisation with a portfolio of over 150 buildings1
and 4,500 employees spread
across town. We are landlord to over 8,000 council tenants. Finally, we are a community leader giving an example to and influencing, residents and businesses in the Borough. We have tried to focus on the corporate side for the benefit of this submission, however all the roles mentioned above are often interdependent and interconnected.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS LBC began developing its
environmental agenda back in 2004/5 when it published its first Environment and Procurement Strategies and reviewed waste and recycling services. As a result, office recycling has been introduced, supported by a network of Office Green Champions. The Green Champions scheme is still in operation. They receive regular updates on waste and recycling matters and energy efficiency. Further training on energy is planned extending the role of the existing Green Champions with new recruits always encouraged and welcomed.
THE BIG PUSH
A range of activities came about in 2008 during the development and following the adaptation of the Luton’s Sustainable Community Strategy 2008 – 2026. The strategy gave a bold vision for Luton with “mitigating and adapting to climate change, reducing consumption of water, energy, materials and minimising
1 Many Council buildings have a limited thermal improvement potential. A prime example is the grade II listed Art Deco Town Hall, which only allows very limited works to be implemented. Please
22| SUSTAINABLE FM AWARDS 2010
waste, including support for renewable energy generation” as key priorities both for the Council and the borough. Firstly, in January 2008 an Aerial Thermal Mapping survey was done of the whole of Luton and the results published on-line. All residents and businesses could see how much heat was escaping through their roofs, helping them decide whether to improve insulation. During the first three months after publication the survey attracted over 1,500 viewers and ever since has had a “steady traffic” of up to 200 hits per month.
In 2008, the Climate Change Manager commissioned Best Foot Forward to produce 2 Eco-Footprint reports, one on LBC as an organisation, the other on the area of the Luton borough. These helped the Council to establish the status quo and decide our priorities.2
The
findings have been published on-line and discussed at the Luton Climate Change Event, a major conference for Council departments and public and private sector organisations.
As a result, a Climate Change Team has been formed with responsibilities for coordination of reducing CO2
emissions
from Council operations, encouraging reduction of CO2
among businesses and
residents and facilitating borough wide adaptation to the effects of climate change.
The footprinting reports also recommended development of a corporate Energy Policy, which was approved in early 2009. It committed the Council to a 10% reduction in energy use and CO2
Picture 1. Thermal image of front of Luton Borough Council Town Hall, orange area indicates heat loss from Committee Room 2
Change Team and the Corporate Energy Manager have been working with the Carbon Trust to develop a Carbon Management Plan for the Council’s estate and with the Energy Saving Trust on a Local Area Carbon Emissions Reduction Action Plan to reduce energy usage within the community. The Carbon Reduction Commitment provided an additional financial (and legal) focus complementing the works already under way and drawing further financial investments for energy conservation measures.3
emissions, improvements in energy data quality and monitoring, considering life-cycle energy costs for all new projects and establishing a budget for investing in energy and water efficiency in non-domestic buildings.
CARBON REDUCTION COMMITMENT (CRC) ENERGY EFFICIENCY SCHEME Over the last two years the Climate
see Picture 1.
2 See
www.luton.gov.uk/media library/pdf/environment & regeneration/engineering & transportation /climate change/ecofootprint of luton
There are many ongoing corporate energy reduction projects, including lighting and lighting controls, Building Management Systems, insulation, draught proofing and cavity wall insulation. The BMS will enable tight control of heating systems which hitherto have been subject to control simply by virtue of a date on a calendar rather than the requirements of the building users. Lighting projects aim to make substantial carbon savings whilst providing improved working conditions through the use of LED light systems. Software has been rolled out recently which automatically closes down the council’s 2500 computers every evening. Initial figures report 5-10% of machines are being turned off by the system. Automatic metering of all gas and electricity meters across LBC sites by September 2010 will provide data to identify energy waste. Every site, especially
borough council, by best foot forward, may 2008.pdf
3 Councillors have agreed on an Invest to Save programme to improve buildings to reduce energy use - Para 17 of Report to
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