by Rebecca Walker — August 9, 2010—The U.K.’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) is promising a greater degree of sustainability in the the next generation of facilities management and construction contracts for the MoD estate.
“It is vital that the defence estate, which includes military training facilities across the U.K. and beyond, is managed in a way that combines statutory compliance with appropriate stewardship, cost savings and long-term value for money,” MoD said in a statement.
The MoD has begun planning a “sustainability agenda” for future suppliers as part of its Next Generation Estate Contracts (NGEC). The estate currently is worth £15.3bn and covers 240,000 hectares. It has 45,000 buildings, including barracks, airfields, naval establishments, military training estate, workshops, offices, messes, family housing, 1,300 scheduled monuments and 289 “sites of special scientific interest.”
NGEC covers all new commercial arrangements for defence facilities management, new-build projects and the management of training estate and military housing.
Many of the sustainability ideas to implemented came from focus groups held with more than 60 companies beginning May. These include encouraging MoD suppliers to deliver low-carbon measures and achieve other sustainability targets for water, waste, heritage and biodiversity.
A regular sustainability review of suppliers could be part of the new contracts, according to the report on the focus groups with industry. Contractors may also be encouraged to dedicate one in every 100 hours worked to community projects.
