Public Procurement and Property
Sustainable Procurement Tools – New case studies and videos
May 2, 2024 by Teigan Kelly No Comments | Category Procurement news, Scottish Procurement, Sustainability
We have added two new case studies and a number of ‘how to’ videos to the Sustainable Procurement Tools website.
These case studies outline the sustainable procurement approach taken with two significant procurements and the benefits that have been, and will be, achieved as a result:
Case Study 1
The City of Edinburgh Council’s Hard Facilities Management contract covers approximately 700 council buildings including schools, care homes and offices. Demonstrating their vision for reducing the environmental impact of their Facilities Management services and aided by the Interreg ProCirc programme, the Council created a specification that included requirements for promoting a circular economy and transitioning to net zero.
Case Study 2
Scottish Government’s Heat in Buildings National Scheme was one of the first invitation to tenders to use the new Single Procurement Document question 4C.7, requiring tenderers to include a climate change plan as part of the selection process.
These videos are included on the Case Studies section of the Sustainable Procurement Tools website, which can be accessed by registered and unregistered users of the Tools.
‘How to’ videos
New instructional videos are available on how to use:
- Prioritisation Tool
- Life Cycle Impact Mapping
- Sustainability Test
These videos explain the aims and benefits of each tool, when to use them, the outputs of using them, and provide a walkthrough of how to use each tool.
Users will need to be registered on the website, and login to access these videos, which can be found on the User Guides and Videos section.
These new products complement the existing materials already available on the Sustainable Procurement Tools:
For further information on public procurement in Scotland please visit www.gov.scot/procurement
Please email enquiries to scottishprocurement@gov.scot
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Edinburgh City Council case study – Single speaker transcript
Kelly – Our seven year Hard FM services contract went live in October 2022. It covers a full range of planned and reactive repair and maintenance services and approximately 700 council buildings, including schools, care homes and offices.
We wanted to create a lasting legacy in the city through the highest level of customer satisfaction, workmanship, partnership and social and environmental benefits.
Aided by the EU ProCirc programme via Zero Waste Scotland. Our specification set out the needs to transition to a circular economy and net zero. We set out specific targets
and best practice in climate change emission reductions and the management of materials, equipment, plant and waste.
It was vital that the council contracted with organisations who had similar aspirations to us and to ensure we aligned these, we undertook extensive market engagement through a Prior Information Notice and several bidders days.
This allowed us to discuss with the market and understand more about what our role would be in the monitoring and reporting of the environmental benefits.
There was a three month mobilisation period within the contracts in which our successful contractors, Mitie and Skanska, developed environmental and sustainability management plans.
These plans were signed off by the council prior to the contract commencement and focused on three key areas infrastructure, resources and waste and emissions.
Specific measures included the use of smart building technologies to maximise our energy efficiency and to undertake works remotely, which would minimise call outs to our sites.
It covered a focus on eliminating single use plastics and the reduction of waste through reuse, repair, redeploy or remanufacture items which would have otherwise went to landfill.
We also secured the use of electric vehicles and a contractual commitment for the contractor to deliver the works closest to the site.
As part of our procurement strategy, we identified the targets that we hope to achieve in relation to environmental performance. We have managed to exceed these by 1.5 tonnes of waste and 60 tonnes of CO2 emissions. There are two key lessons learned from this procurement.
The importance of utilising all the resources available to the council and engaging with the market at the earliest possible opportunity. Utilising the sustainable procurement tools and the experts available to the council, we were able to identify our net zero and carbon emissions commitments up front.
This early market engagement, well before the supplier selection process, allowed the contractors to focus on how they could achieve our aspirations.
Heat in Buildings Scottish National Scheme case study – Single speaker transcript
Emma – Launched in October 2023,the Heat In Buildings Scottish National Scheme seeks to improve the energy efficiency of Scottish housing through the installation of low and zero emissions heating technologies to support those in or at risk of fuel poverty and to the development of a supply chain and green skills capacity across Scotland. The contract was awarded in June 2023 to Warmworks Scotland and as the managing agent, they are responsible for appointing their own network of installation subcontractors.
The key new requirements of the scheme included the incorporation of the enhanced PAS2035 retrofit standards to contractually prioritise the installation of zero emission heating technologies where this was not detrimental to fuel poverty objectives and to future proof the contract to enable new and emerging technologies and installation techniques to be brought online during the contract term.
We prioritised working with colleagues across the Scottish Government to identify relevant lifecycle impacts and to secure specialist input on PAS2035. These both fed into completion of the sustainability test.
This resulted in a specification and an invitation to tender, which reflected a focus on fair work and equality, community benefits, SME supply chain opportunities and support for net zero and the circular economy through the management of materials, products, equipment, waste, energy and vehicle use.
As this requirement was identified as a climate change priority contract. This was one of the first invitation to tenders to use the new Single Procurement Document question 4C.7, which required suppliers and tenderers to include a climate change plan as part of the selection process.
Key climate outcomes, which have been delivered by the procurement, include Warmworks commitment to become an accredited net zero carbon business by the end of 2025 through measures such as a fully electric fleet and zero waste to landfill.
Warmworks have also committed to support their installation supply chain to become net zero businesses by the end of the contract term, and they’ve also committed to community benefits outcomes such as the creation of 600 new green jobs, 210 work placements and 110 modern apprenticeships.
The delivery against these commitments will be monitored through their monthly performance review process.
A key success factor in this procurement was our collaboration with key stakeholders from across the Scottish Government, including subject matter experts, in the completion of the sustainability test and the focus on community benefits will help to drive national green skills capacity across Scotland, but particularly in under-resourced geographical locations.
Tags: Scottish Procurement, sustainable procurement
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