Energy Efficiency (Hansard, 17 December 1996)

§ Mr. Robert B. Jones

The Government's energy efficiency record has improved by just over 14.5 per cent.; very close to the 15 per cent. target we set five years ago. This is an important achievement and reflects much effort and commitment by the staff concerned. I am particularly pleased to draw attention to the very good results achieved on the Ministry of Defence estate. Full details are shown in the following tables.

Energy management in individual Government Departments is a matter for those Departments. Comparisons between Departments need to be treated with care since their estates and activities vary considerably. There have been greater pressures on electricity use, resulting in particular from the growth in use of IT equipment: some very large increases in electricity usage are due to moving a dominant HQ building from naturally ventilated premises to air-conditioned ones. This is in line with trends in the economy as a whole as part of the process of improving productivity.

I am delighted my own Department has been able to exceed the 15 per cent. target, with even more impressive progress having been made towards reducing emissions of carbon dioxide, down by 26 per cent. since 1990–91.

Energy efficiency has been an important consideration in the design of the Department's new headquarters buildings, both of which are expected to be classified as "very good" under the Building Research Establishment environment assessment method—BREEAM.

While these figures are encouraging, we must build on this success. Green Ministers have now agreed a further energy saving target of 20 per cent. by 2000, on the 1990–91 base year, and my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has given this his personal support. Further savings will be challenging, but I remain determined that the Government should set an example and contribute to the reductions we need in meeting our climate change commitments.

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Table 1: Government estate—energy efficiency performance¹
Civil Departments, including Agencies	Energy expenditure² £	Own investment in energy efficiency² £	Percentage reduction relative to 1990–91³ (positive figures represent per cent. improvement) Total cost at standard prices adjusted for estate and weather changes
	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1991–92	1992–93	1993–94	1994–95	1995–96
MAFF⁴	2,401,478	2,316,723	300,000	500,000	-1	3	-4	-2	1
MAFF—Laboratories	1,443,570	1,346,279	350,000	330,000	-12	-19	-24	-29	-24
Cabinet Office	501,068	499,165	5,000	325,000	-14	0	5	9	15
Customs and Excise	2,939,700	3,046,638	400,000	300,000	2	14	10	14	20
Education and⁵	507,707	536,235	12,000	45,700	-20	-82	-95	-96	-85
Employment⁵	10,169,274	8,840,211	1,227,318	1,132,524	-1	-4	-2	8	4
Environment	1,536,159	1,375,987	150,335	87,116	8	13	9	14	16
Environment—QEIICC⁶	457,126	464,473	0	0	-17	-16	-14	-8	-6
FCO	959,281	834,208	117,402	30,000	-3	7	-9	-10	-14
Health⁷	1,037,544	801,192	20,000	117,000	-13	0	-98	-83	-54
Home Office	2,262,665	2,012,161	0	0	-8	-8	-8	-7	-2
Home Office—Prisons	26,950,553	18,141,743	1,500,000	1,200,000	2	-4	-3	-8	0
Inland Revenue	11,251,064	9,054,230	363,500	567,744	1	2	6	12	16
Lord Chancellor's Department²	5,848,176	5,889,680	2,050,500	0	-1	2	8	8	11
ODA⁸	428,999	372,396	0	158,000	—	-4	0	3	11
National Heritage⁹	78,667	75,414	0	1,000	—	—	—	—	-7
National Savings	1,350,214	1,043,471	933,182	951,717	3	8	12	17	19
Northern Ireland	9,306,333	11,107,276	838,500	870,000	1	2	5	9	13
Scottish Office⁸	1,101,890	1,139,914	37,400	60,000	—	-6	-8	-12	-18
Scottish Court Service⁸	913,405	755,401	150,000	80,000	—	2	5	18	33
Scottish Prison Service	2,780,847	2,424,377	0	372,690	-1	0	4	7	7
Social Security¹⁰	15,226,030	14,236,000	1,234,700	1,000,000	-1	-1	-4	-1	3
Trade and Industry	4,599,088	4,130,682	0	0	5	5	0	5	14
Transport¹¹	2,983,437	2,940,057	313,300	235,205	7	8	12	17	15
Treasury	286,227	233,199	2,689	1,855	8	4	-9	0	5
Welsh Office	513,711	543,700	27,693	11,933	1	2	2	4	3
Total	107,834,213	94,160,812	10,033,519	8,377,484	0.5	-0.3	-0.4	1.3	5.9

Table 2: Government estate—energy efficiency performance¹
Civil Departments, including Agencies	Performance against energy and cost indicators, relative to 1990–91 (positive figures represent per cent. progress)
	Adjusted for estate and weather changes	Adjusted for weather changes only
	Fossil fuel	Electricity	Total kWh	Total cost	CO₂	Total CO₂
	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96
FF	17	29	-14	-15	9	17	-2	1	0	4	1	2
MAFF-Laboratories	-9	7	-41	-44	-17	-6	-29	-24	-23	-9	-36	-21
Cabinet Office	6	39	10	-1	7	29	9	15	10	20	-8	-6
Customs and Excise	25	48	12	13	19	32	14	20	17	25	-24	-12
Education and	-15	-29	-122	-104	-57	-58	-96	-85	-78	-69	-21	-16
Employment	21	19	1	0	15	12	8	4	9	5	-8	-2
Environment	31	40	2	0	24	31	14	16	23	26	21	25
Environment—QEII CC	-76	-52	0	-1	-28	-19	-8	-6	-10	-7	-10	-7
FCO	20	23	-19	-26	4	3	-10	-14	-8	-10	0	-1
Health	4	33	-112	-84	-40	-11	-83	-54	-67	-40	-73	-21
Home Office	-2	5	-9	-5	-4	2	-7	-2	-5	0	-6	3
Home Office—Prisons	2	12	-24	-18	-1	9	-8	0	1	10	-12	-2
Inland Revenue	17	23	10	13	14	19	12	16	14	18	19	23
Lord Chancellor's Department	24	29	0	2	17	21	8	11	11	14	-3	-2
ODA²	-16	-8	9	17	-7	I	3	11	2	10	1	9
National Heritage²	—	-11	—	-6	—	-9	—	-7	—	-7	—	—7
National Savings	21	18	17	19	19	19	17	19	18	19	18	21
Northern Ireland	14	18	8	11	12	15	9	13	10	24	-4	12
Scottish Office²	7	18	-23	-39	-1	3	-12	-18	-8	-8	0	-7
Scottish Courts²	20	39	16	30	19	36	18	33	18	34	-3	14
Scottish Prison Service	12	15	-2	-6	10	13	7	7	10	10	5	5
Social Security	23	26	-15	-9	12	16	-1	3	2	7	-15	-9
Trade and Industry	34	47	-6	1	20	31	5	14	10	19	32	39
Transport	30	32	13	10	24	24	17	15	20	18	41	39
Treasury	-2	16	1	0	-1	11	0	5	4	10	22	30
Welsh Office	17	38	1	-6	10	18	4	3	7	7	23	17
Total	12.1	19.7	-5.6	-2.9	7.8	14.1	1.3	5.9	5.6	11.8	-1.8	5.7

^* Base year is not 1990–91. Agreed base year therefore used for the purposes of these calculations.

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Table 3: Government estate—energy efficiency performance^12, ¹³
Ministry of Defence	Performance against energy and cost indicators, relative to 1990–91 (positive figures represent per cent. progress)
	Adjusted for estate and weather changes	Adjusted for weather changes only
	Fossil fuel	Electricity	Total kWh	Total cost	CO₂	Total CO₂
	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96
Civil	15	25	11	1	13	17	12	8	12	11	-7	-8
Navy	14	25	33	36	18	28	25	32	26	34	13	21
Army	11	17	18	20	13	17	15	18	16	21	16	25
RAF	13	23	10	9	12	20	11	15	12	17	21	25
Procurement Executive	n/a	23	n/a	21	n/a	22	n/a	22	n/a	22	n/a	22
DERA	10	17	0	3	7	10	5	6	6	7	6	7
Total	12.4	20.3	16.6	17.9	13.3	19.8	14.7	18.9	15.9	21.1	16.0	23.0

Table 4: Government estate-energy efficiency performance
Entire Government estate	Performance against energy and cost indicators, relative to 1990–91 (positive figures represent per cent. progress)
	Adjusted for estate and weather changes	Adjusted for weather changes only
	Fossil fuel	Electricity	Total kWh	Total cost	CO₂	Total CO₂
	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96	1994–95	1995–96
Civil Departments	12.1	19.7	-5.6	-2.9	7.8	14.1	1.3	5.9	5.6	11.8	-1.8	5.7
MOD	12.4	20.3	16.6	17.9	13.3	19.8	14.7	18.9	15.9	21.1	16.0	23.0
Total	12.3	20.1	9.4	11.1	11.6	18.1	10.4	4.8	12.7	18.2	10.4	17.6

^*Some Departments have a different base year to 1990–91. The agreed base year has been used for the purposes of this table, where appropriate.

Table 5: Government estate—energy and cost indicators
Civil Departments including Agencies	Energy indicator	Cost indicator
	Fossil fuel k Wh/m2	Electricity k Wh/m2	Fossil fuel £/m2	Electricity £/m2
	1990–91	1994–95	1995–96	1990–91	1994–95	1995–96	1990–91	1994–95	1995–96	1990–91	1994–95	1995–96
MAFF	292	244	209	103	117	119	3.65	3.05	2.61	6.17	7.02	7.12
MAFF—Laboratories	715	779	665	237	335	340	8.94	9.74	8.32	14.21	20.08	20.42
Cabinet Office	290	271	176	94	85	95	3.62	3.39	2.20	5.65	5.07	5.68
Customs and Excise	161	121	84	130	115	113	2.01	1.51	1.05	7.80	6.90	6.78
Education and	149	171	192	96	214	196	1.86	2.14	2.40	5.76	12.81	11.73
Employment	210	166	169	91	89	94	2.62	2.08	2.24	5.44	5.36	5.67
Environment	282	194	169	87	86	88	3.53	2.43	2.11	5.23	5.13	5.25
Environment—QEII CC	153	269	233	270	271	272	1.91	3.37	2.91	16.21	16.28	16.30
FCO	217	173	167	145	173	183	2.71	2.16	2.09	8.71	10.41	10.97
Health	174	167	116	107	227	197	2.17	2.08	1.45	6.42	13.60	11.82
Home Office	312	318	297	136	149	143	3.90	3.98	3.71	8.18	8.91	8.58
Home Office Prisons	508	497	446	69	86	82	6.36	6.21	5.57	4.15	5.15	4.89
Inland Revenue	166	138	127	105	95	92	2.08	1.72	1.59	6.33	5.68	5.51
Lord Chancellor's Department	255	195	181	107	107	105	3.19	2.44	2.26	6.42	6.42	6.31
ODA¹	381	444	411	220	200	182	4.77	5.55	5.14	13.23	11.98	10.92
National Heritage¹	156	156	174	141	141	150	1.96	1.96	2.18	8.48	8.48	8.99
National Savings	191	151	156	208	173	168	2.39	1.88	1.96	12.49	10.40	10.10
Northern Ireland	234	202	193	109	101	97	2.92	2.52	2.41	6.53	6.04	5.84
Scottish Office¹	258	239	211	91	112	126	3.22	2.99	2.63	5.45	6.71	7.57
Scottish Courts¹	163	130	100	64	54	45	2.03	1.62	1.25	3.86	3.24	2.70
Scottish Prison Service	533	470	451	67	68	72	6.67	5.87	5.64	4.04	4.10	4.29
Social Security	278	215	207	103	119	113	3.48	2.69	2.59	6.20	7.12	6.76
Trade and Industry	372	246	198	196	208	194	4.65	3.07	2.47	11.77	12.48	11.63
Transport	196	137	134	114	100	103	2.45	1.72	1.68	6.84	5.98	6.18
Treasury	246	250	207	107	105	107	3.08	3.12	2.59	6.40	6.32	6.40
Welsh Office	158	131	98	126	125	133	1.97	1.64	1.22	7.55	7.48	8.00
Total	311	274	250	101	107	104	3.89	3.42	3.13	6.07	6.41	6.25
* Base year is not 1990–91. Agreed base year therefore used for the purposes of these calculations.
¹ Progress is expressed as a percentage relative to the 1990–91 base year value of the performance indicator in question. Positive figures represent improvement. The standard indicator, against which the target to improve energy efficiency by 15 per cent. by 31 March 1996 is measured, is obtained by weather-correcting energy consumption and converting to costs using "standard prices" for fuel (6p/kWh for electricity and 1.25p/kWh for all fossil fuels) then dividing by floor area. Conversion to money both reflects the relative costs of electricity and fossil fuel and their environmental impact, and the use of fixed prices eliminates the effects of tariff changes which distort the comparison of fuel bills. In August 1995 a report was provided for the Environment Select Committee which gave more detailed background on the energy efficiency initiative and on the indicators used.

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² Although figures have been prepared on a consistent basis, caution should be exercised in comparing the energy use of different Departments and Agencies because of differences in their estate and the nature of their work. For example, the operational needs of prisons and the QEII Conference Centre mean that they have a pattern of energy use which is different from that of a Department which has predominantly office accommodation. Expenditure on energy and investment figures are included for information only. Investment figures relate to clearly identifiable energy efficiency measures undertaken by Departments. Energy efficiency is an integral part of all major construction projects, including building refurbishment and plant replacement; for example, the investment figure for the Lord Chancellor's Department is an estimate, a large proportion of which is accounted for by works justified on operational grounds and does not reflect specifically the proportion of works attributed to energy efficiency.

³ The average performance figure for the civil estate cannot be derived by simply adding together the individual Departmental progress and dividing by the number of Departments because this does not allow for the large variations in consumption. The correct figure is obtained by calculating the value of the performance indicator for the year in question and the base year, for the civil estate as a whole, and calculating the reduction relative to the base year.

⁴Energy performance is improving despite the addition of new buildings, major refurbishment of specialised buildings, continued growth in the use of information technology, the business led demands of Agencies and longer working hours. Depots have been removed from the reporting mechanism.

⁵ For consistency with earlier years of the energy efficiency initiative, the Departments of Education and Employment have been reported separately, in the format prior to the formation of the DFEE. Figures for ACAS (now part of DTI) and HSE (now part of DOE) have been included with those for Employment Department and Employment Service.

⁶ QEII Conference Centre is reported separately because of its business led demands.

⁷ Since the beginning of the initiative the Department of Health estate has reduced from a large number of naturally ventilated buildings to five densely occupied, mainly air-conditioned, buildings with consequent substantial savings of rent and CILOR. Only 17 per cent. of the Department's 1990–91 estate remains on the current portfolio and comparisons between the 1990 data and current performance are therefore unreliable and do not reflect the real improvements achieved.

⁸ Base year is 1991–92.

⁹ Base year is 1994–95 by which time energy efficient lighting and other improvements already installed. Increased Information Technology, and also constant air conditioning during 1995's hot summer months.

¹⁰ Workload is increasing, affecting occupancy and requiring offices to be occupied for longer, increasing the use of energy. Greater use of information technology, expansion of the use of air conditioning and the upgrading of lighting levels has increased electricity consumption.

¹¹ Figures exclude the Vehicle Inspectorate Agency. Own investment in energy efficiency advised as 8 per cent.

¹² The Ministry of Defence (MOD) estate is different from the rest of the Government estate, and has been undergoing more radical changes. It is therefore treated in a slightly different way. In common with the civil estate, it has greatly increased its use of information technology. Full data for the years between 1990–91 and 1993–94 are not available, so the table shows the results for 1994–95 and 1995–96.

¹³ Floor area cannot be calculated for the majority of the MOD estate. However, to enable comparisons with data for the civil estate which is adjusted for changes in floor area, a proxy has been used. Changes in consumption arising from estate changes have been estimated as a result of estate adjustments, with appropriate adjustments made to the gross data for the years following the change. In common with other Departments, the MOD has a target to achieve a 15 per cent. improvement by 31 March 1996. Positive figures represent improvement.