Public sector leadership on the global climate emergency: guidance

9. Reducing Emissions; Expectation and Best Practice

a. Buildings

Emissions from heating buildings and building electricity use are the largest reported aspects of public sector emissions.

Emissions from Scotland’s public sector buildings (mainly the use of natural gas for heating) have been relatively flat over the past few years at around 1.1 MtCO2e annually between 2015 and 2019, following a fall of 0.6 MtCO2e (35%) between 1990 and 2019.

Decarbonising public sector buildings rapidly will make a significant contribution to Scotland meeting its national climate change targets.

Policy position and Government commitments

The Scottish Government and Scottish Green Party shared policy programme published on 20 August 2021 commits to developing and agreeing through consultation a series of phased targets starting in 2024, with the most difficult buildings like hospitals being decarbonised by 2038, and for all publicly-owned buildings to meet zero emission heating requirements, with a backstop of 2038.

The Programme for Government 2020 to 2021 committed at least £200 million in capital support over 5 years to aid decarbonisation of Scotland’s public sector estate and to contribute towards wider climate change and net zero targets.

The Scottish Green Public Sector Estate Decarbonisation Scheme provides a number of support mechanisms for heat decarbonisation and improving energy efficiency across buildings owned by the public sector in Scotland. The Scheme will distribute the £200 million of capital support pledged over the next 5 year period to aid the decarbonisation of Scotland’s public sector estates.

To ensure that new buildings are fit for the future and do not require retrofitting to achieve zero emissions, we are currently developing regulations that will require new buildings consented from 2024 to use zero emissions heating (and cooling) – both housing and non-domestic. In parallel, we are reviewing the energy efficiency standards set by building regulations to ensure that Scotland’s future buildings are highly energy efficient, in line with our wider net zero ambitions.

The Scottish Government’s voluntary Net Zero Public Sector Buildings Standard establishes current good practice for design and construction of new buildings.

Action

For larger public sector estates a whole estate assessment of costs and timescales to develop a pathway to meet net zero targets is needed. This should highlight options for integrating net-zero carbon and adaptation measures at an estate and individual building level, drawing on metering, Building Management System data/trends, any building conditions/ energy surveys and knowledge and experience of colleagues and contractors concerning maintenance and operational issues.

It should include an assessment of the current and future heat and power demands and adopt a fabric first approach to reduce the heat demand across the estate with particular focus on the buildings with the highest heat demand and suitability for deep energy retrofitting. For older buildings or non-standard constructions this is less feasible, however, emerging standards acknowledge the challenges and constraints posed by working within the parameters of an existing build which has lower airtightness.

Public bodies’ estates strategies must include their plans for decarbonising buildings.

The decarbonisation plan may consider:

• Improved energy efficiency in owned and rented estate, improved insulation and upgraded energy management systems.
• Replacing fossil fuel heating with low carbon or renewables e.g. biomass boilers, heat pumps, combined heat and power.
• Investigating scope for connection to local heat networks.
• Adopting net zero standards for new buildings and refurbishments, including a fabric first approach.
• Installation of onsite renewable energy generation – solar and wind power.
• Refurbishing and repurposing existing buildings.
• Co-locating with partner organisations. Ħ Carrying out building energy surveys to assess energy abatement potential

Targets

• Decarbonise estate by 2038 at the latest, with zero carbon direct emissions from all buildings.
• All new builds could be built to the net zero building standard.

Spotlight

NHS Orkney Balfour Hospital is unique, operating as an all-electric acute services healthcare facility. Heating and hot water needs are provided by twin air source heat pumps with a high efficiency oil-fired boiler plant for emergency backup and to ease operational spikes. Other measures include an array of solar photovoltaic cells, low energy LED lighting and high frequency low loss fluorescent sources for clinical areas. Lighting control software manages demand according to occupancy levels. The building fabric and components all contribute to reduced energy demand due to insulation properties, high construction standards and thermal efficiencies.

i. Heat in buildings/stationary combustion – direct emissions scope 1

Direct emissions from buildings are from space and water heating, typically from gas boilers on the organisation’s site. Emissions from heat/stationary combustion are classed as direct emissions, and therefore organisations must plan to reduce these to absolute zero as quickly as possible.

Energy sources are fossil fuels, biogenic fuels or renewable energy technologies, mainly micro-renewables suitable for typical public sector estate, such as wind turbines and heat pumps, but this will vary.

Policy position and Government commitments:

The strengthened Public Bodies Reporting Duties (2020) place a requirement for public bodies, where possible, to report a target date for achieving zero direct emissions, of which emissions from heat in buildings is the largest.

The Heat in Buildings Strategy, published on 7 October 2021, outlines a commitment to invest £1.8 billion in capital funding over the next five years for energy efficiency and zero carbon heating to make Scotland’s buildings warmer, greener and more efficient. The Strategy updates both the Energy Efficient Scotland Route Map and the Heat Policy Statement and seeks evidence and views on proposed actions to meet our climate change targets, whilst maximising economic opportunities, ensuring a just transition and addressing fuel poverty.

To go alongside the Heat in Buildings Strategy, we will publish a monitoring and evaluation framework, setting out:

• a comprehensive framework for monitoring progress against the objectives set in this draft Strategy covering homes, workplaces, public sector buildings and other non-domestic buildings; and
• a range of output and outcome indicators, linked to our outcomes (Chapter 2), to inform an annual statement of progress, taking account of the Climate Change Plan monitoring framework, as well as the monitoring and evaluation requirements for fuel poverty within the Fuel Poverty (Targets, Definition and Strategy) Act 2019.

Action

The public sector must take a zero emissions-first approach with new or replacement heating systems.

ii. Electricity use in Buildings – Indirect emissions scope 2

Most of the electricity supply for buildings is provided by the UK national grid which has been progressively decarbonising since 1990. Emissions from electricity are indirect emissions and therefore public bodies must have a target to reduce these as much as possible, as quickly as possible, in line with Scotland’s net zero commitments.

Policy position and Government commitments:

The Climate Change Plan sets a target of 2032 for Scotland’s electricity system to be powered largely from renewable sources. As a minimum, public bodies must aim to reduce emissions from electricity consumption in accordance with national targets.

Public sector bodies can purchase electricity through Scottish Procurement’s National Framework Agreement. This offers a range of benefits, however, the purchase of optional Renewable Energy Guarantee of Origin (REGO) certificates through this or other third party contracts does not mean that emissions from electricity consumption can be assumed to be zero, as renewables contributed less than 30% of the UK grid supply in 2019. For the purposes of public sector emissions reporting REGO certificates cannot be used as a substitute for reducing electricity demand and consumption.

Public sector bodies may wish to report the procurement of REGO certificates in response to question 5b of their Public Bodies Climate Change Duty Report: ‘How has procurement activity contributed to compliance with climate change duties?’

The only occasion where the UK grid emission factor does not apply for reporting and target setting purposes is where renewable electricity generation is on site or connected via direct wire.

Actions

Consumption reductions are achieved by reducing demand, e.g. through behaviour change interventions, by improving energy efficiency e.g. converting all lighting to LEDS, and by generating renewable electricity on-site.

Spotlight

The Scottish Government Learning Estate Strategy has seven guiding principles, one of which is that learning environments should be greener and more sustainable, contributing to Scotland’s net zero greenhouse gas emissions commitment. Our energy efficiency target for schools replaced or upgraded through the £1 billion Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP) is highly ambitious at 67 kWh per square meter, per year. This target is not just ambitious on paper, we will be following up with local authorities to ensure that the targets are achieved in practice, once the schools are in use.

iii. Heat Networks – Indirect emissions scope 2

Heat networks are technically complex infrastructure projects requiring a range of specialist expertise. In order to drive projects forward, the Heat Networks Partnership is being re-established to help identify and nurture opportunities for new heat networks and to explore options for decarbonising existing fossil fuel powered networks.

Emissions from heat networks are indirect emissions and therefore public bodies must have a target to reduce these as quickly as possible in line with Scotland’s net zero commitments.

Policy position and Government commitments:

Future regulations, enacted under The Heat Networks (Scotland) Act 2021, will place a duty on public sector bodies to undertake a Building Assessment Report for buildings within their estate. Provisions will include:

• the potential for the non-domestic building to be supplied with thermal energy by means of a heat network; and
• the period for which any system providing thermal energy to the non-domestic building is expected to continue to operate effectively and efficiently.

Actions

Where possible public bodies should connect to heat networks and engage with local stakeholders to help support development of heat networks.

b. Transport

Transport is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland, accounting for nearly 36% of national emissions in 2018. Cutting transport emissions is crucial to achieving Scotland’s national climate change targets, by reducing vehicle journeys where they are non-essential, moving journeys to active travel or public transport, or changing the kind of vehicles we use.

For all types of transport a reduction first approach should be taken to minimise unnecessary journeys.

Policy position and Government commitments:

The 2019-20 Programme for Government included a commitment for the public sector to lead the way in decarbonising transport by committing to phase out petrol and diesel cars from the public sector fleet, and phase out the need for any new petrol and diesel light commercial vehicles by 2025. The Programme for Government also committed to creating conditions to phase out the need for all new petrol and diesel vehicles in Scotland’s public sector fleet by 2030; whilst applying flexibility and pragmatism for front line, emergency service and specialist vehicles.

The National Transport Strategy Delivery Plan 2020-22 sets out the Scottish Government’s commitment to working with the Scottish Future’s Trust and Scottish Procurement to leverage commercial investment, in expanding zero emission vehicles and infrastructure at scale across the public sector.

The Committee on Climate Change (CCC) has also recommended that we reduce the demand for less sustainable transport modes and therefore, following the sustainable travel hierarchy, we will continue to promote active travel and a shift to more sustainable modes, while deprioritising single-occupancy car use.

Public Bodies should produce a Sustainable Travel Strategy that covers all aspects of travel across their organisation. It should outline steps to tackle behaviour change, and promote the adoption of the National Transport Strategy’s Sustainable Travel Hierarchy.

i. Fleet – Direct scope 1

Fleet vehicles are those owned or leased by the organisation. Emissions from fleet are classed as direct emissions, and therefore organisations must plan to reduce these to absolute zero as quickly as possible.

Policy position and Government commitments:

Transport Scotland’s Switched on Fleets programme is working with public bodies to assist delivery of the 2019- 20 Programme for Government Fleet commitment, in-turn supporting the transition of the public sector to zero emission vehicles.

All public bodies with fleet must have a fleet decarbonisation plan as part of their fleet management.

This decarbonisation plan may consider:

• Can the fleet be consolidated/reduced?
• Can miles travelled/fuel used be reduced?
• How will the fleet vehicles be converted to zero tail pipe emissions vehicles?
• How many of the fleet vehicles have market available zero emission alternatives?
• Could any vehicle types that don’t have market available zero emission options be replaced by a different vehicle type that has zero emission alternatives?
• Identify remaining fleet that does not have current market available zero emissions options, identify and record replacement timescales.
• Engage with Transport Scotland / other partners to see how trials or market engagement can be carried out to decarbonise fleet vehicles.

Other things to consider with regard to fleet decarbonisation:

• Vehicle utilisation and duty cycles
• Vehicle location overnight / when not in use
• Charging infrastructure requirements
• Vehicles ranges and chargepoint locations
• Asset replacement cycles
• Total Cost of Ownership modelling (ICE vs EV)
• Procurement methods such as lease versus purchase options

Fleet Targets

Set target date for zero tailpipe emissions from fleet (where possible). Have all new cars as zero emission by 2025, and all new light commercial vehicles as zero emission by 2025; replacing all larger new vehicles in the fleet with zero emission alternatives, no later than 2030.

ii. Business Travel – Indirect scope 3

Business travel is all travel required for business purposes that is taken on vehicles that are not owned or leased by the organisation. For example, use of private cars, trains or air travel.

Emissions from business travel are indirect emissions and therefore public bodies must have a target to reduce these as quickly as possible in line with any transport mode dependant policies and in keeping with Scotland’s net zero commitments.

Action

Organisations should first question if travel is necessary or if work could be done as effectively using remote solutions.

If travel is necessary then the sustainable travel hierarchy should be promoted, and staff encouraged to use more sustainable modes of transport:

Organisational policy over business travel should be strengthened to make public transport the default for all journeys unless it is demonstrated that there is a sufficient requirement to use a private/ rental car.

Air travel should be minimised wherever possible, and top-level senior management sign-off for flights could be introduced to disincentivise staff choosing to fly where other transport options, such as rail, are available. Mainland UK air travel should be eliminated. Where air travel is unavoidable, the passenger ‘class’ should be the most carbon efficient for the nature of journey, e.g. first class passenger air travel should be strongly discouraged.

Example Business Miles Targets

• Reduce business related travel emissions by 80% by 2030 (against 2018-19 baseline), with an interim target of 45% by 2025. The remaining carbon emissions will be offset.
• Ban all mainland domestic flights.
• Introduce organisational policy whereby Director level approval is required for all remaining air travel.

iii. Commuting – Indirect scope 3

Emissions from employee travel from home to their contracted base are commuting emissions. These are indirect emissions and therefore public bodies must have a target to reduce these as quickly as possible in line with Scotland’s 2045 net zero target.

Commuting emissions can be difficult to measure, therefore estimated emissions from organisational or regional survey data is appropriate.

Action on Commuting:

Commuting emissions can be challenging to influence however public bodies should:

• Promote sustainable transport and ensure adequate facilities and policies that make active travel a viable option for staff.
• Promote public transport use, and where possible offer special rewards or perks for staff who commute sustainably e.g. lighter IT equipment that is easier to carry, season ticket loans, priority lockers/storage.
• Where high level of single use car travel is seen for commuting, survey staff to understand the blockers to alternative travel types and then address these areas of concern.
• Consider charging for single occupancy internal combustion engine cars on any onsite parking facilities.
• Set up staff networks that promote greener travel.

Example Commuting Targets:

• Improve cycling infrastructure for our staff and visitors to increase the number of sustainable journeys made.
• Increase levels of homeworking.

iv. Homeworking (telecommuting) Indirect scope 3

Emissions from homeworking are classified as telecommuting, these are indirect emissions and should be reduced where possible, however it is recognised that homework emissions may be one area of emissions to increase as other areas, such as commuting, decrease. Overall emissions across interlinked categories should reduce.

Policy position and Government commitments:

Scottish Government are adopting a hybrid working system for staff that promotes a flexible approach to allow a balance of homeworking and office working so long as business need is met.

Action on Homeworking:

If homeworking is allowed at scale within an organisation and seen as a way to reduce emissions then homework emissions must be accounted for. SSN have further guidance on how home working emissions can be estimated.

Behaviour change initiatives and campaigns can be used to engage employees on how to minimise the impacts of working from home.

c) Other Direct Emissions

This section covers other areas of direct emissions that are not covered in buildings or transport. These emissions will not be relevant for all public bodies however should be considered when setting the organisational boundary to ensure they are included where relevant.

i. Process Emissions

These are emissions from physical, chemical or biological processes that are part of the organisation’s operation such as water and waste water treatment
processes.

Process emissions may not be able to be reduced to absolute zero by 2045 however they should be reduced wherever possible by considering:

• Any process improvements or changes to the existing assets and their operation that may result in lower emissions.
• If any form of carbon capture could be used with the process to prevent the emissions being released to atmosphere.
• If any alternative process could be undertaken that is lower/zero emissions.
• Research innovations that will reduce emissions.

Any residual process emissions should be considered for offsetting or natural sequestration to allow the public body to achieve a net zero position for overall direct emissions.

ii. Fugitive Emissions

These are intentional and unintentional releases such as equipment leaks from joints, seals, packing, gaskets, as well as refrigerant emissions.

Any fugitive emissions that can be reduced to absolute zero must be, however some areas of fugitive emissions may not be able to be reduced to absolute zero by 2045 however they should be reduced wherever possible by considering:

• Where possible any source of fugitive emissions should be replaced with an alternative lower/zero carbon option.
• Equipment must be maintained to manufacturers standards to prevent unnecessary leakage.
• Any best practice to reduce specific fugitive emissions must be taken.
• Research innovations that will reduce emissions.

Any residual fugitive emissions should be considered for offsetting or natural sequestration to allow the public body to achieve a net zero position for overall direct emissions.

d) Other Indirect Emissions

This section covers other areas of indirect emissions that are not covered in buildings or transport. Some of these emissions may not have been previously reported by public bodies, however action to reduce emissions is encouraged across all areas even if it is not necessarily quantified.

By beginning to report more areas of indirect emissions public bodies may identify new carbon hotspots they were previously unaware of. If carbon hotspots are identified then if possible the data quality should be improved e.g. moving from an estimate to a measurement. Action plans for these areas of indirect emissions should be developed and aligned with wider policy, for example sustainable procurement.

In general good carbon management principles should be followed in all areas, these include:

• Can resource use be eliminated?
• Can it be made more efficient?
• Can alternative lower carbon options be used instead?

Organisations should consider carbon across their value chain and use their influence with value chain members to reduce emissions.

i. Circular Economy & waste – Indirect scope 3

Scotland’s emissions from waste and resources are 1.9 megatonnes per year; the sector aim is to reduce these to 0.8 megatonnes by 2030. Achieving sector milestones will require meeting ambitious waste reduction and recycling targets, including: ending landfilling of biodegradable municipal waste and significantly reducing food waste; accelerating efforts to address legacy emissions from closed landfill sites; and ensuring a more rapid transition to a fully circular economy in Scotland.

In our existing economy, we “take, make and dispose”. We take resources from the ground, air and water; we make them into products and structures; then we dispose of them. We need to move to a circular economy where we reduce the demand for raw material in products; encourage reuse and repairs through responsible production; and recycle waste and energy to maximise the value of any waste that is generated.

Policy position and Government commitments:

We aim to make Scotland a zero waste society with a circular economy. This means minimising the population’s demand on primary resources and maximising the reuse, recycling and recovery of resources, rather than treating them as waste.

We have ambitious targets for reducing waste and increasing recycling by 2025.

Actions

Procure goods and services that support the circular economy and have clearly defined routes to reusing or recycling.

Public bodies may find it helpful to have a waste management plan, outlining targets and actions to reduce waste produced and to increase recycling rates while diverting waste from landfill.

Waste is an important area to focus on as it touches almost everyone who works at public sector sites. Public sector staff and visitors will interact with some sort of waste during the day and throw something in a bin. The work attributed to waste reduction will play a vital role in the environmental behaviour change programs within the public sector.

Public bodies must to follow the waste hierarchy in their approach to waste management.

Example Targets

• Send no waste to landfill by 2030.
• Recycle or compost 70% of waste by 2025.

ii. Water – Indirect scope 3

The carbon attributed to water is sometimes very small (e.g. at under 1% for Scottish Government estate), but collectively across the public sector this can represent a significant amount of water and emissions. Reducing water use has dual benefits – it conserves a vital natural resource (critical for climate change adaptation) and it contributes to reduced emissions. Additionally, the way we use water, for example in heating can be many times more carbon intense than the emissions embodied within the water itself. It is therefore important that we use the resource wisely, conserve water (especially heated water) and use water efficient fittings in all our buildings. Monitoring and targeting should be used to identify high water use and potential leaks. Public bodies may also have opportunities to support water efficiency in the discharge of their duties, for example in planning.

iii. Supply Chain & Capital Goods – Indirect scope 3

Most public bodies have not previously reported supply chain or capital emissions. Data and reporting in this area is not as mature as in other areas of emissions and it may take public bodies time to set up appropriate processes to allow for reporting in these areas.

Greenhouse gas reporting in these areas may be based on estimates, not actual measurement. While this means quantitative targets may not be able to be set, this will still allow organisations to identify potential hotspot areas and then prioritise actions against these areas.

Key carbon hotspots linked to procurement spend can be fed into the Procurement Prioritisation Tool, to help assist early stage strategic planning, and bring a standard, structured approach to the assessment of spend categories.For capital projects considering carbon in the design, procurement and construction of the project can see significant carbon reductions.