Our energy use
A record of initiatives to reduce energy consumption in Cabinet Office and by the central government estate.
10% carbon reduction commitment
On 14 May 2010 the Prime Minister announced that the Coalition Agreement made a commitment to reduce the carbon emission from the central government estate by 10% between 14 May 2010 and 13 May 2011. To this end, Cabinet Office is continuing to bring about significant reductions in its energy use and associated carbon emissions and costs. The department has been given a target carbon reduction of 11% which equates to 942 tonnes of carbon.
Real-time energy data
The Cabinet Office publishes live information on the energy consumption at its headquarters building.
Inter-departmental energy reduction commitment
On the 30 September 2010, the Prime Minister announced an inter-departmental competition to reduce energy consumption, the winner being the department who has made the biggest month-on-month carbon reduction at their main building. The competition has its own page on data.gov.uk.
Energy saving on the Cabinet Office estate
We’ve recently undertaken a number of projects aimed at reducing our energy consumption. Some of the projects include:
- fitting wall and roof insulation to some of our historic buildings
- installing more efficient heating pumps
- ensuring that vacant areas of the estate aren’t being heated or lit
- installing more energy efficient lighting - T5 lamps or LED equivalents
- extending lighting controls for atrium areas, including detectors, area controllers, electronic ballast luminaries capable of on/off on presence detection and daylight dimming
- installing new energy efficient light fittings and lighting controls within the South Basement areas and controls to exterior lighting
- installing a Lighting Management Control System
- installing data loggers to 32 billing meters for gas, electric and water - allows download of day plus one utility consumption data and provides reliable energy usage profiles used for monitoring our carbon dioxide consumption
- fitting voltage optimisation technology in a number of buildings
- turning off all lighting not required to maintain adequate lighting levels, as well as decorative lighting