It’s no secret that the UK public sector has made great strides in reducing its carbon footprint over the past three decades. Since 1990 (and as of 2018) greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 42 percent. Despite that impressive progress, however, the public sector still accounts for 8.0 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent.

We know there are many improvements still to be made in terms of the way energy is supplied to the public sector and the way the sector’s buildings use that energy, but in order for any organisation to supply services to the government they need to be registered on Crown Commercial Service’s Dynamic Purchasing System: HELGA (Heat Networks and Electricity Generation Assets).

Crown Commercial Service (CCS) supports the public sector to achieve maximum commercial value when procuring common goods and services. In 2018/19, CCS helped the public sector to achieve commercial benefits worth £945m – supporting world-class public services that offer best value for taxpayers. Following a 3-month application process, Optimised Buildings now joins the CCS’ HELGA framework, enabling it and sister company Optimised Energy to tender for carbon/energy reduction contracts and renewable energy programmes within the public sector. 

Optimised Building’s Peter Chappell and Lewis Buxton from Optimised Energy have steered the companies on their journey to CCS supplier status and both are optimistic about the potential opportunities for clients. 

Lewis reflected on the journey to CCS supplier status: “To be a government contract supplier we needed to demonstrate that we are financially stable and technically capable of providing the services we advertise. Becoming part of the HELGA framework has been a rigorous and demanding process, but we are delighted to have completed it successfully and we’re very much looking forward to helping the sector continue making improvements – and savings - in reducing its carbon footprint.”