Press Release - Building for the future: Sustainable
construction and refurbishment on the government estate
20 April 2007
The majority of government departments and agencies are failing
to meet targets to make their new buildings and major
refurbishments sustainable, according to a report published today
by the National Audit Office. As a result, value for money may be
lost from the £3billion which departments and agencies spend each
year on this activity.
A defining feature of a sustainable building is its ability to
reduce significantly environmental impacts. This can include
measures to reduce energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions;
minimise the use of resources such as water; reduce the release of
pollutants; maximise the use of reclaimed and recycled materials;
and promote sustainable travel choices such as public transport and
cycling.
The report found that most departments have started to consider
sustainability in construction and refurbishment projects. But
departments are not consistently carrying out the required
environmental assessments on new projects. In 2005-06 only 35 per
cent (37 of 106) of new builds and 18 per cent (61 of 335) of major
refurbishment projects had carried out, or planned to carry out,
these environmental assessments.
The report also found that, of the projects that did carry out
an assessment, the majority failed to meet the required target of
‘excellent’ for new builds and ‘very good’ for refurbishments. Only
38 per cent (14 of 37) of new builds scored ‘excellent’ and 44 per
cent (27 of 61) of refurbishment projects scored ‘very good’. For
all 2005-06 projects, only nine per cent (41 of 441) achieved the
required standards.
The NAO, with the assistance of specialist consultants, examined
a sample of projects that had not been assessed. Of these, 80 per
cent would have failed to meet the required assessment standards.
But the report also identifies some examples of good practice,
including the refurbishment of offices by the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the refurbishment of the
Treasury’s headquarters and Defence Estates’ construction of
Welbeck Defence Sixth Form College.
In today’s report, the NAO has identified a number of barriers
to progress towards more sustainable buildings on the government
estate including:
- a fragmentation of policy responsibility among
government bodies for improving sustainable construction
and refurbishment and an absence of a coherent approach to
monitoring progress and ensuring compliance;
- a widespread perception of conflict between
sustainability and value for money, partly because project
teams are failing to assess the long-term costs and benefits of
more sustainable approaches;
- a lack of sufficient knowledge and expertise
in sustainable procurement among those departmental staff
responsible for construction and refurbishment; and
- a failure to specify expected benefits and undertake
rigorous post-occupancy reviews to evaluate performance
against them, and the consequent lack of robust data to inform
business appraisals for new projects.
Among the NAO’s recommendations are that the bodies with central
responsibility for sustainability in construction – including
Defra, OGC and possibly DTI – should establish a source of
expertise available to all departments; promote low cost approaches
for use in smaller construction and refurbishment projects; and
advise departments on when it is appropriate to undertake
environmental assessments of different types, for example on
smaller projects or minor refurbishments.
Much remains to be done by individual departments, for example
by specifying their requirements for environmental performance in
terms of outcomes, including carbon emissions and energy and water
consumption; and taking full account of the government’s
sustainable operations targets when assessing value for money in
business cases and project appraisals.
Sir John Bourn, head of the NAO, said
today:
“When I last reported on construction in 2005, I
emphasised the need to consider both the costs and benefits over
the whole life of a building, not just the initial capital
required. Despite this, today’s report highlights a continuing
failure by departments to consider the long-term value of
sustainability in their new builds and refurbishments. This is
particularly disappointing given the importance of sustainability
in promoting a deeper understanding of value for
money.
“Government departments and agencies spend in the region
of £3 billion each year on new builds and major refurbishments. If
sustainability is well handled, and addressed at the very beginning
of construction projects, it can and should provide better value
for money in the long term.”
Notes for Editors:
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Under the Office of Government Commerce’s
Common Minimum Standards for the procurement of built environments
in the public sector, a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment’s
Environmental Assessment Method) assessment or equivalent is
required.
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Press notices and reports are available from
the date of publication on the NAO website, which is at
www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from The Stationery
Office on 0845 702 3474.
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The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John
Bourn, is the head of the National Audit Office which employs some
850 staff. He and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He
certifies the accounts of all Government departments and a wide
range of other public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority
to report to Parliament on the economy, efficiency and
effectiveness with which departments and other bodies have used
their resources.
Press Notice 22/07
All enquiries to Donna Watson, NAO Press Office: Tel: 020 7798
7038
Mobile: 07917 555 388