黑洞社区

More than half a billion pounds is to be spent on improving the energy efficiency of public buildings in England.

The government has announced 拢553m of investment in energy efficiency measures such as heat pumps and insulation fitted across 160 public sector organisations.

The third phase of the government鈥檚 Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which aims to cut emissions by 75% from 2017 to 2037, will see upgrades at institutions including Nottingham鈥檚 Queens Medical Centre, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and the National Football Museum in Manchester.

The West Midlands is to receive the largest portion of funding, 拢133.9m, followed by the East Midlands, which will receive 拢103.9m.

Energy efficiency measures to be rolled out include heat pumps, electric heating, wall and roof insulation, double glazing, LED lighting and renewables such as solar panels.

According to the government, the measures will save taxpayers an estimated average of 拢650m per year over the next 15 years.

The scheme will be delivered on behalf of the government by Salix Finance.

The first two phases of the decarbonisation scheme saw the government spend more than 拢1bn on energy efficiency measures in the public sector.

Gillian Charlesworth, chief executive of the 黑洞社区 Research Establishment, who earlier this year criticised the absence of retrofit initiatives in the government鈥檚 energy security strategy, welcomed the investment in energy efficiency measures.

She said: 鈥淭he UK has one of the oldest and least energy efficient building stocks in Europe, which unnecessarily inflates demand for natural gas.

鈥淎ccelerating the roll out of retrofit measures like insulation is a short-term solution that could address spiralling bills and significantly improve the energy efficiency of our public buildings.

鈥淗owever, without a clear plan and funding to upgrade the UK鈥檚 building stock, our energy security strategy cannot be driven forward effectively 鈥� and we will quickly lose momentum on the drive to net zero.鈥�

News of the government鈥檚 renewed investment comes as new research has revealed the private sector鈥檚 embrace of sustainability goals.

According to a new report by BDO, 66% of construction firms have carbon neutral targets in place.

In another recent survey by the accountancy firm, three in five real estate and construction companies said they had declined to work with clients because of their ESG credentials.

BDO partner Paul Fenner said: 鈥淲ith a raft of government regulations aimed specifically at construction, such as requirements to have a carbon reduction plan in place for any public sector contract over 拢5 million, the direction of travel is clear.

鈥淚t鈥檚 promising to see that the wave of adoption and acknowledgement of ESG is gaining real momentum and viewed as one of the biggest areas of change when it comes to business performance in 2022.鈥�