Attend EcoProcura 2006, 20-22 September 2006, Barcelona

DEEP - Dissemination of energy efficiency measures in public buildings

The European DEEP project aimed at promoting opportunities for increasing energy efficiency in the public buildings sector. The project was completed in June 2007.

>> Read the Final Results Leaflet

>>Read the Final Project Report

Background

Buildings are major consumers of energy, responsible for 40 per cent of final energy consumption in the European Community alone. EC research has indicated that by improving energy efficiency, carbon emissions from buildings and related energy costs could be reduced by 42 per cent. Given the significance of public procurement in Europe and that approximately 40 per cent of the procurement budgets of local authorities are spent on buildings, promoting energy efficiency of public buildings has an important role to play in contributing to this potential.

Public bodies also buy huge amounts of energy consuming equipment, such as computers, monitors and printers. Again here, buying energy efficient models can make major reductions in energy consumption.

Following liberalisation in the electricity sector, public bodies are also now able to choose their electricity supplier. With the public sector responsible for around 7 per cent European electricity consumption switching to green electricity can have a huge impact in reducing CO₂ emissions.

Project results

To contribute to increasing energy efficiency and green electricity purchases in the public sector the DEEP project has produced a number of tools:

>> Purchasing guidelines for:

energy efficient construction
green electricity
IT equipment

>> The DEEP Energy Efficient Toolkit containing:

Guidance on developing and implementing an energy efficient procurement policy
LCC Tool – for integrating life-cycle costing (LCC) into procurement
SASEATO tool – for carrying out a self-audit of energy consumption in public buildings

>> The Procura⁺ Manual – A guide to cost effective sustainable public procurement - available in several languages - English, French, German, Italian, Greek, Catalan and Croatian. Visit the Procura⁺ Campaign website to download your copy of the Manual

>> Policy recommendations aimed at national and European decision-makers on how best to support the promotion of sustainable construction and green electricity through public procurement

The sole responsibility for the content of this webpage lies with the authors. It does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the European Communities. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.