Government data reveals public buildings' poor carbon performance

The UK public sector is failing to lead by example in reducing the amount of greenhouse gases emitted by its buildings, according to government figures which show that public buildings are responsible for about one third of emissions from the UK's non-domestic properties.

An audit, undertaken by the Communities and Local Government Department, has revealed that the 28,000 public buildings in England and Wales emit almost 14 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

The figure equates to about £4bn per annum in energy bills, according to the Carbon Trust, and is 27 per cent higher than some previous estimates of the scale the public sector plays in greenhouse gas emissions.

According to the Guardian newspaper, which obtained the data following a Freedom of Information request, 5,000 public buildings have received the lowest-band G rating under the government's energy performance certificate scheme. Only 151 buildings have received the top A rating.

Eight of the 10 worst polluting buildings were hospitals, while the prison sector was labelled as the second-worst offender after the NHS.

The worst-performing hospital was the Royal London in Whitechapel, which emitted 46,128 tonnes of CO2 last year, the equivalent of pollution from 7,700 homes.

The worst performers in the prison sector were The Grove young offenders institution in Portland, Dorset and Pentonville Prison in North London, which jointly emitted more than 16,500 tonnes of CO2 each year.

The Prison Service indicated, however, that it planned to spend £4.5m on schemes such as automatic meter reading, insulation and more efficient boilers as part of efforts to cut its emissions by three per cent each year for the next five years.

The revelation comes just weeks after the government released a report suggesting that central government departments were on track to meet its target of cutting emissions 12.5 per cent on 1999 levels by next year, and will raise questions over its ability to cut emissions across the wider public sector in order to meet its target of cutting emissions 30 per cent by 2020.