Environmental sustainability

Environmental sustainability is development which meets the needs of the present, without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

We're working on a host of projects aimed at reducing our carbon emissions, together with helping schools "go green" with our Salix energy efficiency loan.

Greenhouse gas emissions report 2009-10 and 2010-11

The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has asked that each local authority publishes a Greenhouse Gas report annually. The report summarises our progress in monitoring, reporting and reducing our corporate CO2 emissions.

We are committed to ensuring that the impacts associated with delivering our services are managed to maximise our positive contribution to sustainable development and minimise any negative effects. We recognise that all of our activities create an impact on both the natural and built environment and that we have a responsibility to improve the way we manage these impacts and in doing so seek to provide internal leadership across our own organisation and external leadership across the county. 

Display Energy Certificate (DEC)

Larger schools (over 1,000 sqm gross internal floor area) need to display a DEC (Display Energy Certificate) in their entrance area.  Please see the link below for further details.

CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme

This scheme is a new, mandatory, energy saving and carbon emissions reduction scheme for the UK. It is an incentive to improve energy efficiency and help large private and public sector organisations generate cost savings through reduced energy bills.

We are eligible for CRC and monitor our emissions and will need to purchase allowances to emit carbon dioxide (CO2). The more CO2 an organisation emits, the more allowances it will need to purchase, so there is a direct incentive to reduce emissions.

Read the report below.

Biomass Action Plan

As part of our commitment to the reduction of CO2 and the sustainable use of local resources, Buckinghamshire County Council has aided the development of a Biomass Action Plan.  The plan aim to increase the uptake of biomass energy across the County and it presents a framework in which biomass energy provides a local, sustainable, cost-effective and secure source of energy.

The document has been produced by the TIMBER project, a partnership set up under the European initiative “POWER Programme: Low Carbon Economies (INTERREG IVC)”. In Buckinghamshire a strong stakeholder group of both policy makers and practitioners has shaped the plan.

Read the report below.