With enthusiasm, the UK public health decarbonisation market has been sized in the billions. These potential clean technology procurements however will remain unrealised without a step change in the support offered to public sector organisations to make and succeed in funding applications and private sector funding alternatives. The public sector needs more than just a route to market – it needs new ways of financing and delivering on net zero.
For those interested, this means engaging more deeply with the clean technology procurements themselves – procurements of sustainable and energy-efficient solutions, such as LED lighting and solar PV. We need to go beyond mere target setting for climate mitigation to be able to effectively serve the NHS and the public sector.
Over £100 million of green technology transactions have been processed for UK public bodies since 2021, and procurement frameworks have enabled access to fundamental clean technology upgrades. These include implementing smart LED lightning systems that adjust brightness based on the time of the day and occupancy as well as building upgrades for energy efficiency. Engaging early with procurement frameworks is a key action for estates and facilities teams to focus on, as this will significantly reduce the time and effort required to identify, evaluate, and implement green technologies.
The public sector and NHS deal with increasingly complex projects. From £20million solar farm installations through to national LED deployments, these complex projects require specialised skills and funding. This is where procurement frameworks provide much needed structure for sourcing green technologies and act as a springboard to accelerate delivery, for example, public bodies can move from piloting LED rollout to scaling-up through a direct award.
Estate and facilities managers can also seek support with contract development and agreement to ensure the project meets the requirements set within the direct award parameters defined as part of the framework. This will also help a project to be processed promptly as well as deliver savings. According to London Borough of Waltham Forest for instance, “the energy saving LED lightbulbs use less electricity than traditional incandescent light bulbs, with the improvements expected to shave off around 7% off the Council’s annual energy bills.”
Looking beyond strategic clean technology procurements, addressing the current challenges of capability, capacity and efficiency will require workforce development, skills building and careful fiscal management. Through framework procurement we can unite supply chain experts with NHS client teams, for example, to jointly execute on clean technology projects. Only through a well thought-out and collaborative approach can we ensure the continued delivery of high-quality healthcare services while advancing sustainability objectives.
With the Budget expected October 30th and the new Procurement Act set to come into force in February 2025, it is a time of change for the public sector, its capital works programme and procurement processes. Amidst the change, we must not take our eye off the prize. Namely, in the UK, the public sector provides the size and scale of energy and climate projects that are needed to boost British supply chains to make every UK home net zero. Better hospital, school and local authority buildings will mean better outcomes for us all.
Clean technology procurements are different from procuring stationery or purchasing digital and telecoms solutions. With informed procurement support from clean technology experts, our public health system can be focused on doing what it does best – delivering high-quality healthcare services. Working together in this way, we can procure effectively for net zero.
And finally, the transition to net zero in the public sector also presents an opportunity for innovation and collaboration between various stakeholders. By fostering partnerships between public bodies, private sector companies, and research institutions, we can accelerate the development and implementation of novel clean technologies. These collaborations could lead to the creation of pilot projects that test cutting-edge solutions in real world settings, such as energy-positive buildings or advanced waste-to-energy systems.
Moreover, such initiatives could serve as valuable case studies, providing insights and best practices that can be scaled across the entire public sector. This approach not only supports the UK’s decarbonisation goals but also positions the country as a global leader in sustainable public infrastructure, potentially opening up new export opportunities for green tech firms.
About the author
Olivia Matei is a Procurement and Framework Coordinator at Lexica. Her focus in coordinating the Lexica Frameworks is on managing these strategic clean technology procurements with compliance and a keen eye for detail.