by Brianna Crandall — January 9, 2013—Hundreds of public buildings across London — including schools, libraries, National Health Service (NHS) Hospitals and courts —are expected to benefit from the mayor of London’s award-winning RE:FIT program to save costs and reduce energy bills by retrofitting them with energy conservation features. Energy conservation measures are already complete or near completion in 111 public buildings in London under this program that could stir up similar measures in other large cities around the world.
The pipeline shows that 400 buildings could benefit from the mayor’s high-impact program, saving the public purse around £7 million each year by guaranteeing reduced energy bills with simple measures such as improved lighting and efficient heating controls as well as more intensive improvements such as on-site energy generation. These figures represent more than £40million of investment into the buildings using RE:FIT. Estimates based on previous international studies show that energy efficiency activity at this scale could represent the creation of up to 700 jobs.
The mayor of London has set a target to reduce London’s carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 60 percent of 1990 levels by 2025. Considering that approximately 80 percent of London buildings will still be standing in 2050, retrofitting public buildings is crucial if carbon emissions are to be reduced, notes the mayor’s office.
Organizations that have recently signed up to RE:FIT include the Ministry of Justice, which is looking to implement carbon saving measures on its London estate. The Ministry joins 60 public sector organizations, including Transport for London, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, University of London and Ealing Council.
The estimated economic value for London by 2025 coming from low-carbon goods and services equates to £40 billion of investment into the capital, which could create 200,000 jobs. Building retrofitting accounts for 41 percent of the overall investment the city requires to achieve the mayor’s 60 percent carbon cut by 2025. Investment in retrofitting could deliver up to 80 percent of the 14,000 low carbon jobs that could be created per year and two-thirds of the £721 million of low-carbon economic activity per year up until 2025.
The RE:FIT program uses an Energy Service Company (ESCo) to implement energy efficiency measures that enable organizations to cut running costs, energy consumption and carbon emissions. The ESCo guarantees the level of energy savings, thus offering a secure financial saving over the period of the agreement. ESCos are appointed through the RE:FIT Framework, with pre-negotiated, EU-regulation-compliant contracts. The RE:FIT Programme Delivery Unit provides individualized support to organizations throughout the process.
The 13 suppliers appointed to deliver the new RE:FIT Framework are: Balfour Beatty Workplace, British Gas Trading, COFELY, E.ON Energy Solutions, EDF Energy Customers, ETDE FM, Honeywell Control Systems, Imtech Technical Services, MCW Custom Energy Solutions, MITIE TFM, Norland Managed Services, Skanska Construction UK, and Willmott Dixon Energy Services.
