91% of new Government buildings fall short of environmental standards

Only 9% of government building projects are meeting sustainable building standards, according to a report from the Public Accounts Committee.

The House of Commons committee of MPs said the government should be leading the way by setting an example in the environmental standards of its projects.

£3 billion is spent every year on new buildings and major refurbishments by government departments - and sustainability standards have been set for this construction work.

However, the committee found that in 2005-2006, only 35% of new builds and 18% of refurbishments were given mandatory environmental assessments. Only 9% of projects met the required sustainability standards. They also found that departments are failing to assess the benefits of sustainable design on a long-term basis, due to pressure to reduce initial costs.

In addition, the report noted that government departments’ are making little progress in meeting targets for reductions in water consumption and carbon emissions. It was noted that “the poor performance against sustainability standards reflects the low priority accorded to this agenda within individual departments.”

Recommendations from the committee included better leadership systems, better monitoring of building projects, more guidance from Defra to government departments, and help from the Treasury in purchasing sustainably designed buildings.