Mayor's office tackles energy efficiency bids
by Antony Barton
SupplyManagement.com

A procurement director for the Mayor of London is leading a tender process to improve energy efficiency in buildings, taking the capital the world's first city to address an international climate pledge. The aim is to increase energy efficiency in up to 100 buildings by 25 per cent and the first contract or pair of contracts will be worth a total of between £5 and £10 million over their 10-year duration. The Mayor's office says energy savings will recoup the investment.The buildings are owned by the Greater London Authority Group (GLA), which includes Transport for London, the Metropolitan Police Authority, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and the London Development Agency (LDA).

The 900 buildings run by the GLA could save up to 50,000 tonnes of carbon emissions and £1 million in lower energy bills each year. The scheme follows a deal made by 16 cities at the New York Large Cities Climate Summit in May, to cut carbon emissions by making existing buildings more energy efficient. Roger Simpson-Jones, LDA director of procurement and procurement head for the project, told SM: "For bidders, good financial standing will be vital. We need to see they can honour those energy savings guarantees for up to 10 years."

The winning bidders must survey and audit each building to assess which are the best energy efficiency measures. They will then need to plan, project manage and implement these changes. The contracts are expected to be awarded in January. Simpson-Jones says the pilot project should pave the way for a nationwide framework agreement, whereby public sector bodies would 'bundle up' a number of buildings for mini competitions.

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