Innovative firms are taking part in a £2.75 million retrofit project to deliver the "low carbon office of the future".
The
green office makeover competition, which is being jointly funded by the
Technology Strategy Board (TSB) and the
Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), will test innovative
energy efficient solutions across a number of
Whitehall buildings with a view to adopting them at other Government departments and in the private office sector.
The competition, which is being run through the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRS), aims to open up opportunities to UK businesses to pitch for Government contracts to retrofit
buildings to improve their energy performance, cut energy bills and reduce
carbon emissions.
Some 18 per cent of the UK’s carbon emissions come from commercial buildings with many challenges to improve energy efficiency being found in Government buildings due to their age, heritage and high profile locations.
The pilot retrofit office projects
Businesses of all sizes and types are invited to apply with their designs in the nine pilot projects, which range from phase-changing ceiling tiles to address local overheating in meeting rooms, to a solution to change behaviour among management and users.
"Through this
investment, we are supporting and stimulating
innovations that help to address the key challenges of reducing energy usage and cutting carbon emissions," explained Iain Gray, chief executive of the TSB. "At the same time, we are helping to deliver long-term economic growth for the UK by creating the opportunity for innovative British companies to take advantage of the growing worldwide demand for
energy efficient technology."
Whitehall buildings
Whitehall buildings taking part in the retrofit competition include DECC at 3 Whitehall Place, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills at 1 Victoria Street, the Department of Communities and Local Government at Eland House, Bressenden Place and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office at King Charles Street.
"Government cannot ask people to reduce their emissions without cutting our own emissions," commented Climate Change Minister Greg Barker. "People can now see for themselves that we are doing just that. But I want to go further and start building the low carbon office of the future right here in DECC."
The competition, which is already open, will seek to start installing the winning designs by March 2011.
Monitoring will then be undertaken for 12 months to determine actual reductions in energy use and carbon emissions. The results will be published at the end of March 2012.
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