Carbon Matters

University of Exeter Business SchoolRennes DriveExeterDevonEX4 4PUUNITED KINGDOM

Tel: +44 (0)1392 723200Fax: +44 (0)1392 723242Email: [email protected]: www.exeter.ac.uk/businessschoolProject website: www.clearaboutcarbon.com

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Carbon MattersExplorations in Low Carbon Procurement

Carbon M

atters – Explorations in Low C

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University of Exeter Business School

An original painting of the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden, St. Ives, Cornwall

About the Project 2

Low Carbon Procurement 6

The University of Exeter Business School Approach 9

Case 1: Cornwall College Group 13

Case 2: Devon and Cornwall Constabulary 23

Case 3: NHS-PPSA 33

Case 4: Eden Project 41

Promoting Private Sector Engagement and Learning 48

Other Outputs of the Project 50

Project Legacy – ongoing available resources for organisations 53

Appendix 54

COnTEnTS

2 |

ABOUT ThE PrOjECTFinanced by the European Social Fund (ESF) Convergence Programme for delivery in Cornwall, Clear About Carbon was a four-year project which aimed to find new ways of increasing carbon awareness within businesses and the public sector. Working closely with a number of public organisations and Cornish SMEs, the project strove to develop, test and deliver innovative approaches to:

• raise carbon literacy amongst procurement and purchasing professionals in the public and private sectors

• promote the development of leadership and management skills for carbon mitigation

• support the building of effective low carbon policies and practices

Although being targeted at Cornish businesses and organisations, thus placing the region at the vanguard of such initiatives, the project also hoped to have an impact at a national and European level through mainstreaming and dissemination activities.

Amongst its major outputs, the project was successful in delivering an e-learning package in conjunction with the Department of Health and Defra (as a part of its National Sustainable Public Procurement Programme), and won several awards for its innovation and mainstreaming.

Delivery of the Clear About Carbon project was carried out by a quartet of local organisations that specialised in communicating green issues and delivering business training and development:

• Cornwall Development Company

• University of Exeter Business School

• Duchy College Rural Business School

• Eden Project

This report attempts to summarise the activities of the University of Exeter Business School over the duration of the Clear About Carbon project, to provide an account of the work that took place and to leave a legacy that might provide thought and stimulus for the future.

The Clear About Carbon team, Perranporth beach, 2012

About the project | 3

KEy PrOjECT InfOrmATIOnThe Clear About Carbon project was launched in April 2009 and was originally due to last for three years. However in March 2012, and due to the project’s success, an extension period for a further twelve months was granted by the ESF.

Target region: Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly

Objective: Convergence

Priority area: 5: Improving the skills of the local workforce

Themes: Climate change

Co-financer: ITM

Lead partner: Cornwall Development Company

Partner organisations: Duchy College, Eden Project, University of Exeter Business School

Key sectors: Across sectors

Activities: Modernisation of labour market institutions

Key target groups: Workers and employees; Sustainable development; Small and medium-sized enterprise; Skills for climate change; Public administration and service workers; Management and managers; Environment or environmental sustainability

funding: ESF £799,581, Match £266,527

Start date: 01/04/2009

End date: 31/03/2013

Project web site: www.clearaboutcarbon.com

PrOjECT AwArdS And ACCOLAdES• Winner at the ESF-ITM Final Awards for Best Mainstreaming Project (2013)*

• Shortlisted for General ‘Best project’ Award at ESF-ITM Final Awards (2013)**

• Winner of the Innovation Group category at Cornwall Works WISE Awards (2012)

• Winner of ESF Sustainable Development Specialist Project Leader Award (2011)

• Shortlisted for the Exeter University Impact Awards, Regional Impact category (2011)

*This award celebrates the project that has reached the pinnacle of achievement by ensuring a legacy post-funding. It will have had an impact on policy, plus will have been transferred beyond its original context or at least have demonstrated the potential for transferability.

**The project demonstrating an outstanding contribution to all of the categories – Innovation, Transnational Working and Mainstreaming.

4 | About the project

ThE rOLE Of ThE UnIvErSITy Of ExETEr BUSInESS SChOOLWithin the Clear About Carbon project, the University of Exeter Business School’s Centre for Leadership Studies was responsible for the work package ‘Leadership and Procurement Management Skills for Climate Change’, aimed at board and executive level management within both the public and private sector. This initiative brought a special focus on the overlaps between public procurement, low carbon economy and sustainability promotion.

Leadership had already been identified by the academic literature and several government reports as simultaneously one of the most important barriers and drivers to the implementation of any sustainable procurement policy. The UK government had produced a comprehensive Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) National Action Plan, published several toolkits and guidelines as well as committing to ambitious international targets and benchmarking in terms of SPP and carbon reduction. However, little had been done in terms of providing managers either in the public or private sectors with the understanding, skills or necessary urgency to implement any of the government’s guidelines or policies on these issues.

The objectives of the project, and the role of the Business School’s work in particular, aimed to pilot approaches which might address those identified shortfalls. The Business School set up a Leadership and Procurement Management Skills for the Low Carbon Economy development programme to:

• raise understanding and awareness levels of low carbon and procurement issues at senior management level

• promote leadership skills development through peer support under facilitated Action Learning Sets

• promote the development of a regional low carbon economy in Cornwall driven by changes in public sector procurement policy and practices

At the same time, support was provided to help private sector suppliers address these challenges and raise their carbon skills and capacity through strategic multi-level interventions via the enlarged project partnership. Cornwall Development Company’s work on carbon literacy complemented the leadership work developed by the Business School, equipping personnel to engage with and interpret low carbon concepts and policy agenda. In parallel, information obtained from the Action Learning sets over the adaptation challenges of private sector suppliers was used to inform Duchy College’s and Eden’s work on business development.

The Clear About Carbon team from the University of Exeter Business School comprised a multi-disciplinary research team from the Centre for Leadership Studies and Supply Chain Management:

Professor Annie Pye – Director of Research

Professor mickey howard – Associate Professor in Purchasing & Supply Chain Management

dr. Beverley hawkins – Lecturer in Leadership Studies

dr. fernando Correia – Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Simon ramsay – Associate Research Fellow

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Building:One at the University of Exeter Business School has a BREEAM rating of “excellent”

6 | Low Carbon Procurement

LOw CArBOn PrOCUrEmEnT

why Procurement? Public procurement is a key financial mechanism available to governments to drive policy change and, as a result of its scale, can be also one of the most effective. Indeed, the ‘EUROPE 2020’ strategy for sustainable growth highlights procurement as one of the key instruments to support Europe’s shift towards a low carbon economy. Each year European public authorities spend the equivalent of 16% of the EU’s GDP on the purchase of goods and services. The UK government alone spends around £220 billion annually in procurement. It is estimated that through the integration of energy efficiency considerations in procurement, public administrations across EU member states could save up to 20% of their energy use by 2020, with corresponding carbon reductions.

The potential of procurement as a means of addressing climate change mitigation has also been recognised by the private sector which has seen a wave of initiatives in corporate responsibility with direct impact on the supply chain. Major UK retailers are now piloting low carbon approaches in their value chains, from carbon footprinting initiatives to changes in logistics, support for supplier

development and research. Multinational corporations are introducing requirements for energy conservation, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions monitoring and reductions via their own supplier assessment tools and standards.

In the UK, carbon reduction through procurement received the status of a national policy objective in 2009, when the expression ‘low carbon procurement’ (LCP) officially appeared for the first time in UK policy documents. One of the first organisations to create an LCP targeted plan was the National Health Service with its ‘Procuring for Carbon Reduction (P4CR)’ programme.

Low Carbon Procurement | 7

Understanding Low Carbon ProcurementImplementing LCP in practice will require a minimum level of ‘carbon literacy’ skills from procurers, senior managers and policy-makers. This implies having a working understanding of carbon1 management, including deciding on measurement boundaries, identifying emissions sources, selecting methodologies, setting targets, defining priorities and developing appropriate management systems and procedures.

A key concept in carbon management is the carbon footprint (CF), which represents “the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly and indirectly by an individual, organisation, event or product” (Carbon Trust, 2010). The importance of carbon footprinting results in a requirement that procurers and their organisations have an understanding of the sources of their direct and indirect emissions. The most commonly accepted emissions categorisation considers three different categories:

• Scope 1 (direct emissions): emissions from sources that are directly owned or controlled by the organisation (e.g. from combustion of own boilers, furnaces or turbines for the generation of heat, steam or electricity; own transportation of materials, employees, products and waste).

• Scope 2 (indirect energy emissions): emissions from the generation of electricity, heat, steam or cooling that are used by the organisation but have been brought in from a third party.

• Scope 3 (other indirect emissions): any other indirect upstream or downstream emissions that are a consequence of the organisation’s actions, but are originated by sources that the organisation does not own or control (and not classed as Scope 2 emissions).

Naturally, procurement can have an important role on the management of Scope 1 and 2 emissions, whilst Scope 3 emissions are particularly relevant as they relate directly to the supply chain. As an example, in 2009 the NHS estimated that 60% of its carbon footprint lay in its procured goods and services, not including its travel (Scope 1) and bought energy (Scope 2). Thus, if public procurement is to have an effective role on climate change mitigation, procurers require a better understanding on how their activity influences their organisation’s carbon footprint, as procurement can be the single most important contributor to it.

1The greenhouse gases (GHG) considered to contribute the most to climate change and included in the Kyoto Protocol are Carbon dioxide (CO2); Methane (CH4); nitrous oxide (N2O); sulphur hexafluoride (SF6); hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs). However, for its ubiquity and relative proportion in the atmosphere, carbon is usually used as shorthand for the remaining GHG. Throughout this report, when the expression ‘carbon’ is used, the general GHG are implied.

Low Carbon Procurement can be defined as the process whereby organisations seek to procure goods, services, works and utilities with a reduced carbon footprint throughout their life cycle and/or leading to the reduction of the overall organisational carbon footprint when considering its direct and indirect emissions.

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Thermal efficiency, passive (natural) ventilation and natural daylight are features of the Business School’s Building:One

The University of Exeter Business School Approach| 9

ThE UnIvErSITy Of ExETEr BUSInESS SChOOL APPrOAChLeadership and Procurement management development for the Low Carbon EconomyBased on the principles of the Action Learning methodology, the University of Exeter Business School’s Centre for Leadership Studies established a leadership development programme designed to support the embedding of low carbon operations within the participant organisations, in particular through procurement and supply chain management practices.

Action Learning is a peer-supported, educational and personal development process in which participants work and learn together experientially by tackling real issues and reflecting on their actions. Learners acquire knowledge through reflection on actual actions and practice rather than through traditional instruction. Learning groups, or ‘sets’, meet regularly to explore solutions to real problems and decide on the action to take. Stages typically include:

1 Describing the problem

2 Receiving contributions from others in the form of questions

3 Reflecting on the discussion and deciding what action to take

4 Reporting back on what happened when action was taken

5 Reflecting on the problem-solving process and results

Action Learning thus enables each person to reflect on and review the action they have taken and the learning points arising, thus guiding future action and improving performance. As a method, it is particularly suitable for issues where no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answers exist, but where problems need to be gradually explored through experiential learning.

During the project over forty senior managers participated in the Business School’s programme from the following organisations:

• NHS-Peninsula Purchasing and Supply Alliance

• Devon and Cornwall Constabulary

• Cornwall College Group

• Tremough Campus Services

• Eden Project

• Local SMEs

Participant organisations had access to six half-day workshops or ‘Action Learning Sets’, spread over a 6-8 month period, which effectively created a ‘safe’ learning environment in which managers could work on the identification of low carbon problems, listen and learn from each others’ questioning and develop possible solutions, select appropriate actions and discuss progress with their peers. During this process managers improved their knowledge, skills, awareness, leadership commitment, attitudes and behaviours for carbon management.

10 | The University of Exeter Business School Approach

Lean Process mapping The Lean Mapping workshop concept was conceived during the early phases of the ‘Clear About Carbon’ project, as a complement to the Action Learning Sets, providing a practical means of revealing the value of revisiting an organisation’s ‘current state’ order fulfilment processes with a view to their improvement. By recording all internal and external process-based activity in a systematic manner, using input from staff in a group setting, the true cost of ownership of goods and services can be recognised as well as highlighting departmental idiosyncrasies such as ‘maverick’ spending.

Not only can mapping workshops highlight areas of wasteful activity (which can be addressed during a follow-up ‘future state’ workshop session) but the systematic technique of recording processes, information, systems and movement/delivery of products and services lends itself to adaptation where all activity is converted to a carbon value in order to create a map of the firm’s footprint. By working independently with customers and suppliers, a holistic picture emerges of the total supply chain and the major areas of concern or ‘hotspots’ in terms of carbon generation within and between each partner.

An example of the ‘before’ (Current State) and ‘after’ (Future) states of a typical workshop, showing the potential rationalisation of the procurement networks:

The University of Exeter Business School Approach | 11

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Cornwall College Group | 13

CASE 1: COrnwALL COLLEgE grOUPThE BACKgrOUndLocated over seven sites throughout the county, Cornwall College is a further education college and a member of the 157 Group (a collection of high performing and influential FE colleges). It is part of the Combined Universities association in Cornwall, and also offers higher education courses under franchise from the University of Plymouth.

Originally established in 1929 to meet the training needs of local industry, in August 2001 the College (then located in Camborne) merged with St. Austell College, as well as with the specialist establishments of Saltash College, Duchy College and Falmouth Marine School.

KEy fACTS• Cornwall College is one of the largest further education

colleges in the country

• It has 45,000 students of whom 10% are full-time and 90% are part-time

• Nearly 1,700 students are studying university level courses

• There are 2,800 staff

• The average age of a typical Cornwall College student is 36

• The annual budget is £68 million

• There are seven main campus sites and a number of other smaller venues

• The college is one of the largest employers in the county

• 2008 carbon emissions: 6,700 tonnes of CO2

• 2008 energy spend: £1.2m

• Investment since 2008 in energy reduction: £143k, in Salix Finance Grant, plus £113k in interest-free energy loans

14 | Cornwall College Group

Cornwall College initially came into contact with the Clear About Carbon team as a result of a desire to increase their emphasis on, and visibility of, sustainability within the College. Already working with the Carbon Trust’s Higher Education Carbon Management Programme, the College was keen to develop a clear and strategic sustainability plan which would make an impact not only on the more measurable elements – renewable energy use, transport miles, etc – but also by embedding a more subtle element of environmental ethos and responsibility into each member of the College’s staff and students.

One of the results of the College’s work with the Carbon Trust’s was the publication of the College’s Carbon Management Plan in April 2011, which outlined the targets for carbon reduction throughout the College and identified the projects which would serve to achieve them. The main drivers for the Carbon Management Plan for the College were:

• To reduce the College’s carbon emissions. HEFCE requires a sector cut in emissions of 43% against a 2005/6 baseline by 2020 and is linking capital funding to

carbon reduction performance. As a partner of the University of Plymouth, Cornwall College needs to be a participant in carbon reduction.

• To safeguard against future legislation. Cornwall College is a mandatory participant in the government Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). Expectation is that costs associated with this form of taxation will rise and that participation will be widened. Projects that, at present, reduce carbon but do not have an adequate financial return may become financially viable once this carbon tax takes full effect.

• To contain rising costs related to utilities. Spend for 2008 was approx £1.2 million, and this is predicted to rise to £2 million by the end of 2013. The likely impact of the CRC will be a tax payment in the order of £60K during 2012

• To enhance the reputation of Cornwall College. In a competitive market for students, green credentials are a valuable selling point. Sustainability is a growing theme in the Ofsted inspection regime.

• To improve staff and student satisfaction levels. Ensuring that buildings are operating in an energy efficient manner whilst meeting comfort levels expected by users will contribute to overall levels of satisfaction.

To support all of the aims above required a deep level of engagement with the College’s senior management team to jointly explore the pathways available to achieve them. The Action Learning Sets were then seen by the organisation’s Deputy Chief Executive as a perfect complement to the implementation of the Carbon Management Plan, by providing a space and a method for the development and testing of new carbon reduction strategies.

ThE STOry

Could I have achieved that without the Clear About Carbon process? Probably, but what I enjoyed – but is always counterintuitive to people who want to do things – is spending a bit more time properly listening to different people and giving them equity in their voice and seeing that that resulted in some better quality decisions. But also, it did enable them to feel part of something, and by feeling part of something, what we have now got is a team where we are all going in one direction.

rAOUL hUmPhrEyS, dEPUTy ChIEf ExECUTIvE

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The Trelawney Building at Cornwall College has passive ventilation, solar control glazing, brise-soleil and a double skin roof


ChAngES In PrOCUrEmEnT STrUCTUrE

One of the topics which emerged from the Project’s work with the College via its Action Learning Sets surrounded changes to the processes involved in the review of the organisation’s procurement policy. The project team was joined in the Action Learning Sets by the College’s Deputy Chief Executive, Human Resources Director, Estates Manager, Head of IT & Systems and Procurement Officer. A proposal to develop a more rigid procurement structure had been successfully viewed by the College’s senior management team after evidence had been gathered showing where

improvements could be made – not just in terms of cost savings, but in carbon savings, reputation, legal issues and other areas.

The procurement officer was keen to not only develop a style of looking at whole-life costs when it came to procurement, but also to tackle each commodity area (transport, catering goods, car hire, food, etc.) separately in order to understand the spend profile of the College and to be able to examine where savings could be made. This, in turn, required buy-in from the heads of departments at the College, for them to understand the processes involved and to start to

learn that cost was not the only, nor arguably the most important, factor when procuring goods or services.

The process, however, proved to be labour intensive, and added resources were sought in order to carry out the task of overhauling the procurement process to a more contract-managed structure. Aided by the discussion during the Action Learning Sets, one of the initiatives agreed was that the department could better achieve this goal if a new fully qualified procurement officer could be hired to provide additional, dedicated support to the buyers within the various commodity areas.

Low Carbon Purchasing – consideration of energy and carbon in use will be given to the selection of IT equipment, white goods, vehicles and similar products. It is recognised that cost will always feature strongly in purchasing decisions but consumption in use will become an important selection criteria.

frOm ThE COLLEgE’S CArBOn mAnAgEmEnT PLAn


The College was able to demonstrate that the efficiencies and savings achieved from this extra support would cover the new person’s salary. As a result, the new officer started work in the autumn of 2011, and has been instrumental in improving staff awareness of, and engagement to, low carbon procurement, as well as beginning to implement contract management campus-wide.

A second initiative, aided by the use of the Lean Process Mapping and Action Learning workshops, was the decision to invest in a new centralised e-procurement system, which had the potential to help the organisation eliminate wasteful processes and unnecessary buying. The collaborative Lean Process Mapping approach was instrumental in raising the awareness of the staff for the need to move to a new more efficient purchasing

system and, through the discussion in the Action Learning Sets, senior management involvement was secured for the investment decisions.

Clear About Carbon has raised the importance of procurement within the College the project has helped to provide direction to the procurement strategy which will the enable the College procure in a more low carbon way and achieve its carbon reduction target.

The process has enabled us to actually draw together some analysis and, through that discussion and the Action Learning Sets, get the view where you have got complete buy-in from the finance director to actually help set up a system in which compliance becomes easier to enact.

jOhn wArd, PrOCUrEmEnT OffICEr


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Cornwall College’s newly-facelifted Tamar Building


SAvIngS In IT

The IT department at the College became involved at an early stage of the Clear About Carbon project, as it was clear that there was a good opportunity to make some large energy savings in this area – not only in infrastructure but also in server virtualisation. As a result, the department was able to reduce energy consumption from £62K to around £4K based on a reduction in the number of servers from 80 to just eight in the main data centre (using a cost of 11p per kWh for electricity). In addition, the department worked on five of the other campuses within the college group, disposing of two further servers at each site and thus making a total reduction of a further ten servers.

The department challenged the use of IT within the College – examining the equipment held, the actual usage and how that use was timetabled – and was consequently successful in formulating a new strategic overview

of how IT was used within the College. As a result, the College was able to reduce its computer fleet by 10% – from 5,000 machines to 4,500 – equating to a saving of roughly £13.5k in energy.

A new contract for replacement equipment was created which took into consideration whole-life costs and which specified low energy power supply (machines which consumed 80% of the normal power supplied). These measures were consequently estimated to reduce the annual energy bill for each machine from £36.15 to £27.11. This produced a saving of £9k per annum in the first two years based upon 1000 computers being purchased in 2010 and no additional purchases in 2011. The replacement programme was continued in 2012 and, by year end, added a further £9k saving – so it could be said that historic and projected savings are as shown in the table below.

In terms of the department’s print management project, the following savings were achieved:

• A 60% reduction in the number of devices

• An increase of duplex printing from 5% to 67%, saving £40K and four million sheets of paper

• A reduction of colour printing from 25% to 8%

• A reduction of waste through the deletion of non-collected print jobs, saving £70K and two million sheets of paper

• As a result of all of the above, an estimated energy saving of £20K per annum.

Technology in IT Hardware – technology improvement within our server rooms and desktop equipment has already seen investment in server virtualisation, power management of PCs and similar technologies. There is still scope to make more savings in these areas both from expanding on improvements already made and further new technology as it is introduced.

frOm ThE COLLEgE’S CArBOn mAnAgEmEnT PLAn

COrnwALL COLLEgE SAvIngS ThrOUgh nEw rEPLACEmEnT POLICy, 2010 – 2014 (£ ‘000)

year Saving (£ ‘000)

2010 9

2011 9

2012 18

2013 27

2014 36

Source: Cornwall College


As well as changes in the overall procurement structure and in the IT purchasing strategy, the discussions in the Action Learning Sets also served to advance seven other areas identified in the College’s Carbon Management Plan where carbon savings could be made.

Space Efficiency effective space utilisation is a strategic means of not only reducing energy consumption and carbon footprint but also reducing other property costs such as cleaning. Room utilisation at the College showed the efficiency of room use at its worst to be 22% occupancy and at best 52% occupancy. This statistic did not include times outside core hours where evening classes and other activities occupied only a very small proportion of buildings. The College set a 5% reduction in carbon saving from improvements in utilisation, although stated that this could be significantly higher with greater engagement of course managers.

Efficient use of Building management Systems building management systems (BMS) are the second strategic theme directly linked with effective space utilisation. BMS allows ease of adjustment of occupation hours to match requirements. An effective mechanism to inform of changes in operating hours, along with sufficient staff time was required to gain the benefit from BMS.

Travel Efficiency Cornwall is a rural location with a poor public transport infrastructure, with commuting by car for many a necessity rather than a luxury. Initiatives were introduced within the College and subsequently enforced and expanded to reduce business travel by greater use of video and telephone conferencing along with other technology solutions such as desktop video conferencing. Scope 3 emissions from travel to work were not included in the College’s baseline but were within the focus of ongoing

efforts to reduce single occupancy car travel. As car travel will remain a part of the College’s footprint, the use of fuel-efficient or electric vehicles was also considered.

Technology in Building Services technological improvement is a broad theme that encompasses work already started with the installation of lighting controls, boiler upgrades, insulation improvements and similar projects. These projects are to be continued with a comprehensive approach across all campuses to gain the best energy efficiency from buildings within the constraints of their construction and available finance.

renewables the College has a significant land and property holding with opportunities for investment in renewable energy both in simple commercial terms as well as research and development opportunities. These are being explored in a number of ways, for example the

The first thing is measuring the baseline. And it became apparent that we only knew the information on gas, water and electricity. So if you take car mileage for an example, when we gathered all the data together from the dozens of people who have an involvement in minibuses or pool cars or student transport, I think it was a real shock revelation – I think we did three million miles in a year, this is travel, and non-one had ever put that data together. It was an astonishing amount and suddenly we said: “Flippin’ heck, look how much that’s costing us!

mALCOLm PALIn, ESTATES mAnAgEr

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“OThEr InITIATIvES

...the project certainly had an impact on me personally, in the way I think about some of the things I am doing. And I would use that methodology where I am trying to look at a better quality way of making some decisions.


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proposal for a new dairy unit at Duchy College in Stoke Climsland includes a significant roof area of photovoltaic panels as well as an anaerobic digestion hub for research into emerging technologies. Real life full scale installations on College sites will support student training and research.

Staff Communication and Education embedding carbon awareness within all College activity by the education of staff through the “clear about carbon” project. As a learning establishment Cornwall College has a social responsibility to be a force for good

by bringing knowledge about carbon into the thinking of all involved.

Student Communication and Education In November 2010 new guidelines were published committing the College to a system of learning and teaching which “celebrates fairness, diversity and our shared responsibility for where we live.” This commitment reflects the national conviction that “a sustainable society is one that is just and equitable and takes account of the environmental limits of our planet, both now and in the future, at local and global level”; a position set out by Ofsted in its

report ‘To sustainability and beyond: inspecting and reporting on progress in sustainable development’. In the College’s own words: “We know we need to find new and better ways of protecting our environment, and we know that helping students understand the need for sustainable development is a vital part of what we do. It’s clear that future inspections will make increasingly frank judgments about the college’s contribution to a sustainable future. We take pride in our commitments in this area and we’re keen to highlight the importance of this work.”

We did a rainscreen cladding scheme on that because it is a building that looked terrible... As part of that scheme we did all double-glazing and an insulation wrap of the building, so we made a really good physical improvement to the infrastructure of that building and so the energy saving that goes with that – that’s obviously made a big improvement on our gas consumption on that site. Plus we’ve spent a lot more time in managing our building management systems, so that we match our operational hours to the times that we heat and light the buildings, which means getting more efficiency out of the buildings themselves.

We’ve invested £300,000 on photovoltaic installations which are on our three new skills centres so that we have got both a demonstration facility if you like and obviously you have the physical generation of electricity from those three 50Kw schemes.

There were some real opportunities to make some savings, particularly around the virtualisation of servers. And I think it then spawned other questions and challenges – where else could we seek to save or make energy savings? I think also it was quite timely as well because it forced us to start looking really at where our energy costs were.



STEvE CAnT, hEAd Of IT And SySTEmS

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Devon and Cornwall Constabulary | 23

CASE 2: dEvOn And COrnwALL COnSTABULAryThE BACKgrOUndDevon and Cornwall Constabulary covers the largest geographical police area in England, extending 180 miles from the Dorset/Somerset border in the east to the Isles of Scilly in the west, and including the cities of Exeter and Plymouth, popular seaside resorts such as Torquay and Newquay, and a large rural population. The region’s population is around 1½ million, rising to eight million in the summer months with the influx of visitors.

The Force maintains 161 buildings on 127 sites, with the average age of property being 49 years. The cost of maintaining these buildings amounts to £11.7 million, which includes utility costs, maintenance and cleaning.

Devon and Cornwall Constabulary has faced significant funding reductions recently, as the Force attempts to tackle a reduction in central government funding. In order to reduce expenditure, the Force is currently undergoing extensive reorganisation, with plans currently underway to save £49.6m by 2015. A reduction the number of staff is one area which will see dramatic change over the next few years, with the Force expected to lose over 1000 staff (about 18%) of its workforce between 2011 and 2015.

The Clear About Carbon team were very good – very good on focussing you on what you needed to do – and they just brought that little bit of discipline to the process. Would I have got here? Maybe. Would I have got here as quickly? Probably not.

jOhn ShEPhErd, BUSInESS And SUSTAInABILITy mAnAgEr

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24 | Devon and Cornwall Constabulary

ThE STOry

Devon & Cornwall Police first became aware of the Clear About Carbon project at a dissemination event held at the Business School in 2010 organised in collaboration with the Devon & Cornwall branch of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS). With a desire to reduce their carbon emissions, the Force was immediately interested in learning about the aims of the Project and, in particular, the University’s Action Learning Sets programme. Having worked with a form of ALS previously, the Force was interested in developing a series of discussions based on carbon reduction and sustainability, and a working group was soon set up to take action on this, including the Energy Manager, the Procurement Manager for Estates, the Contracts and Procurement Manager and the Business and Sustainability Manager.

Several initiatives were discussed at the initial meeting, with each member of the group leading their own personal project, which included:

• Exploring how to embed low carbon and energy efficiency criteria in a new strategy for estates tendering and building contracts

• Setting a new tender for healthy and organic catering, where low carbon and sustainability criteria could be considered;

• Development of a Sustainability Recognition Scheme to implement across the Forces’ stations, aimed at driving sustainability practices and energy efficiency savings across the Force.

Over a period of months, the group discussions developed the thoughts and ideas behind these initiatives. In most cases, these initiatives has already begun but, with confidence gained from discussing with like-minded colleagues, and with guidance from the peer-supported format of the Action Learning Sets, the managers were able to explore a series of alternative strategies that could lead the projects to fruition.

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The Operational Strategic Policing Hub in Bodmin, completed in 2009, features several sustainable features and achieved a BREEAM rating of “very good”


ThE rESULTS

new Catering Contract During the period of involvement with Clear About Carbon, the Force was looking at tendering for a new catering contract. Working in line with the Government’s Public Sector Food Procurement Initiative (PSFPI), which encourages public bodies to procure food in a manner that considers the principles of sustainable development, the Police were keen to use this opportunity to consider the wider implications of carbon reduction within their procurement process, as well as making sure that the products offered were more healthy and could offer more support to the local economy than had previously been the case.

Leading from the Action Learning Set sessions with Clear About Carbon, the Police examined the issues and viability of attempting to provide healthy, organic, locally-produced, low-in-food-miles, and lower carbon produce, and were able to write a tender document that included their chosen criteria, in accordance with government guidance and legislation which was already in place.

The successful result was a provider who matched up with all of their requirements, almost exactly as they had hoped:

Do we want to reduce carbon or do we want to help promote local business or are we going down a sort of organic route? And I kind of wanted to do all of it... KAThryn PArKEr, COnTrACTS & PrOCUrEmEnT mAnAgEr

...we wanted a proportion of the food to be organic because in actual fact, if you farm organically, it’s less likely to be intensive/factory farming. It’s less likely to use petro-chemicals and so on and then therefore you are reducing carbon that way.

KAThryn PArKEr, COnTrACTS & PrOCUrEmEnT mAnAgEr

Has it ticked all the boxes that I was looking for? Definitely, yes definitely. We have ended up with a local company that is really local. It’s a local businessman, an entrepreneur, and he employs local people. He uses Fair Trade, organic in some areas, and locally produced, Farm-Assured, all of the things that, say, the local schools and colleges have been promoting, and that’s what he does...and everybody was saying, ‘This bacon is really lovely,’ because it is proper, local, fresh stuff. You could tell as soon as you started eating it. The eggs were proper orangey-yellow yolks because they are free range and they are local. To me, what more can you ask for?


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Promoting Knowledge Transfer with European Best Practice Following up from the discussions in the Action Learnins Sets on how to best integrate low carbon and energy efficiency in building contracts, in October 2011 the Business School’s Clear About Carbon team decided to take the Force’s estates manager to a specialist conference in Germany entitled ‘Green Buildings and the Future of Sustainable Urban Development’. The two-day conference, run by ICLEI (an international association of local government organisations committed to sustainable development), examined the evolving role of renewable energy in sustainable buildings and addressed the issue of energy efficiency, both from a technological and city development point of view.

The estates manager was impressed by what he saw at the ICLEI conference, and offered his own viewpoints on the contractual approach he had been using to encourage sustainable solutions in construction projects. From this conference, a greater knowledge of the possibilities of energy efficient

building was gathered for the Force, good contacts were made with similar organisations and those assisting in the area, and a greater confidence was instilled, stemming from an assurance that the work they were doing was along the right lines. Back in Cornwall, this has given the Force the ability to concentrate its thinking when creating tenders, to ask the right questions of its contractors when out to tender for a contract and to embed a sustainability theme within its construction frameworks at an early (or at the initial) stage of the process. With the Police Authority being replaced by a Police Commissioner later in 2012, the knowledge and confidence of the Force gained in this area will now provide a greater leverage to claim further, or continuing, progress be made.

Since the event, the Force’s estate manager has been in regular contact with ICLEI and has provided ongoing feedback and advice to the organisation on the subject of sustainable procurement within the construction sector. He is now regarded as somewhat of an expert in this field and has been invited to attend and speak at future events.

Clear About Carbon opened up the opportunity to look at the big wide picture, not just about carbon but about how wasteful we are. Our trip to Germany reinforced that.

nEIL wILLmOTT, fOrCE PrOCUrEmEnT mAnAgEr fOr ESTATES

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Improving the Overall Sustainability Performance of the force With the support of discussions from the Action Learning Sets, the Force’s business manager for Cornwall established a number of schemes to improve sustainability within the organisation, as well as making the initiative more visible both internally and externally. An idea of his efforts can be viewed in the table on pages 26/27, which lists all the sustainability schemes run during 20011/12.

One example of a successful initiative was the aim to place a ‘sustainability champion’ in every organisational building in the region, who would take responsibility for the various carbon-reducing measures listed. In March 2012, the organisation held its first Sustainability Champion’s Day – to celebrate and promote the work achieved by these Champions.

Another successful initiative that stemmed from the Action Learning discussion was the setting of a Gold/Silver/Bronze scheme to recognise sustainability achievements at every building within the Force.

As a consequence of all their efforts in this area, Devon & Cornwall Police would end up winning the award of “Most Sustainable Public Sector Organisation in Emergency Services” at the Public Sector Sustainability Awards 2012.

Sustainability champions from across the Force were brought together at Launceston police station last month to recognise the group’s successes over the past 12 months. The event highlighted various achievements which have saved the Force thousands of pounds and stamped a green foot on the environment. Led by ACC Sharon Taylor, the day was split into two sessions and all Force sustainability champions were encouraged to attend.

“It was a great opportunity for the group to bring the champions together where ideas could be discussed and we could share some of the initiatives which have been put in place, such as the battery recycling scheme and the roll out of multi-functional devices which commences this month,” said ACC Taylor.

“Last year we reduced the temperature of the heating across the Force by two degrees, which saved the Force £150,000 per annum. We also saw the introduction of solar heating panels at some sites, Billboard is now electronic, a contract has been put in place for scrap

metal recycling and there are many other schemes in place now, which weren’t a year ago. The Force really has come a long way and every penny saved goes towards the savings we need to make across the Force.”

Cornwall business manager John Shepherd used the event to launch a new bronze, silver and gold sustainability scheme he initiated, which is hoped to be rolled out across the Force this year.

“This scheme encourages everyone to consider how they can reduce the Force’s carbon footprint as well as save money and resources,” he said. “Points will be awarded to each building/department for various markers. The scheme aims to prove that across the Force we can make a real difference.”

Awards were presented to Neil Hayman, stores manager, for the extensive work he has put in place, such as the battery recycling and toner cartridge recycling schemes, and also to Julia Wordley and John Shepherd for their work within the group.

LEAP Of AChIEvEmEnT fOr SUSTAInABILITy grOUP

(Article from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary internal magazine, Billboard, March 2012)

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Bodmin’s Policing Hub is a highly efficient building encompassing sustainable construction techniques and materials


dEvOn & COrnwALL COnSTABULAry SUSTAInABILITy InITIATIvES, 2011/12

Initiative Status

Battery recycling first lift took place february 2012

Toner cartridge recycling Contract in place – 1496 cartridges recycled in 2011

Paper recycling Contract in place

Electronic wage advice Paperless system introduced 2011

Policy to reduce white goods managed by Purchasing hub and Business Advisors

Confidential paper waste reduction Contract in place

mobile phone recycling Contract in place for use by property stores

waste disposal Contract In place, includes recycling requirement

heating level policy reduced from 21°C to 19°C

driving force/Pathfinder Scheme In place but being updated

Cycle to work Scheme In place and funded by devon County Council & force

networked mfd contract Commences march 2012

night watchman installed on PC’s Log off requirement re publicised

Low energy T5 lighting programme replacement project run by Building & Estates

hot water boilers at most sites more energy efficient than kettles

grey water recycling Considered for all capital projects

PCSO cycle provision Cycles available to all PCSOs

Paper forms replaced with e-templates move towards electronic provision

Scrap metal recycled Contract in place for use by property stores

Billboard and weekly Orders electronic Paper saving measure

hQ Bicycle user group Promotes cycling to work

Annual bus and rail tickets through salary Scheme to encourage use of public transport

waterless urinals Limited introduction

Teleconferencing facilities Limited introduction

forcewide Strategic Travel plan Under consideration for all major capital schemes

ground source heat pumps Limited introduction

Shared accommodation Being progressed with partners

Pv’s / Solar Panels Limited introduction

withdrawal of Air Con units Policy in place

Uniform recycling (non badged) Clothing Banks in place

furniture/Equipment recycling managed by Purchasing hub and facilities Officers

Cuffs/Batons/high vis kit recycling Scheme in place to send to ghanaian Police Service

E Learning package Under development

gold/Silver/Bronze Scheme Under development

IT reduction & recycling programme Being progressed by Business Advisory Service and ICT dept

recycling of vehicle flashing Lights Blue – St john AmbulanceAmber – sold remainder – free disposal

recycling of out of date 1st Aid kit Sent to developing countries via devon CC Scheme

Space Squeeze 2 x pilot sites being progressed

Sustainability Champion network force aim to have a champion at every site

dedicated Sustainability budget now built into annual force budget

Intranet site Quick link on force site

regular Billboard articles Promotes and celebrates our successes

Police Authority buy in Strategy document completed

Sustainability ‘credit cards’ Issued to champions and others

Action Learning Set Completed with Exeter University

force Sustainability Event 2012 29/02/2012Source: Devon & Cornwall Constabulary


I think it has been really positive. I think we have done everything that we set out to do. It wasn’t completely as a result of the ALS but the ALS certainly supported me in doing it, and helped me ask the right questions of the officer who was doing the process. I think it is due to the ALS that we have ended up with the contract for the catering that we have done.


The Gold Silver Bronze scheme we are implementing was discussed at the Force Group for Sustainability on the 13th July and, to quote the minutes, ‘Exeter University currently run a Bronze, Silver, Gold standard incentive scheme, which we could borrow with pride’. As I have stated previously we would not have been able to progress this far, this quickly, without the assistance of Clear About Carbon via the Action Learning process.

jOhn ShEPhErd, BUSInESS mAnAgEr fOr COrnwALL

In 2012 it was announced that most of the 1,500 laser and ink jet printers used around the Devon & Cornwall force would be replaced by multi-functional devices (MFDs) in a bid to reduce the annual £1.2m print bill. The full rollout started in late March 2012 and all MFDs were due to be in place by the end of May.

Current predictions indicate that the new fleet of MFDs will save the Force £300,000 a year, which is around £1.5m over the five year life of the contract, according to reprographics manager Roger Morley.

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NHS-PPSA | 33

CASE 3: nhS-PPSAThE BACKgrOUndThe Peninsula Purchasing and Supply Alliance (PPSA) was established in 2002. It was one of six pilot organisations formed as part of the NHS Purchasing and Supply Agency pilot confederation programme to determine the benefits that could be accrued from formalised collaborative working across a number of organisations. It undertakes strategic procurement projects on behalf all NHS organisations in Devon and Cornwall.

Sustainable development is a journey. The long-term future of the healthcare system depends on health and sustainability outcomes being integrated into its structures, core to its services and championed by public, patients and staff.

SOnIA rOSChnIK, OPErATIOnAL dIrECTOr, nhS SUSTAInABLE dEvELOPmEnT UnIT

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34 | NHS-PPSA

ThE STOry

In 2010, the PPSA were invited to join the Clear About Carbon project with a view to embed low carbon procurement across the PPSA and its seventeen NHS member trusts. The opportunity had come about as the PPSA looked to form a pre-emptive strategy on carbon reduction. A low carbon procurement strategy was subsequently developed and a number of strands were agreed with which to target to low carbon procurement including:

• The development of carbon literacy and awareness workshops to ensure staff had a basic understanding of carbon.

• A pilot workshop was developed and implemented for staff to incorporate the recently published Procuring for Carbon Reduction (P4CR) guidance developed by the NHS Sustainable Development Unit to help organisations to reduce carbon emissions when procuring NHS goods and services.

• Action Learning Sets were held with category buyers, facilitated by researchers of the Centre for Leadership Studies of the

University of Exeter Business School. These were used to share procurement projects and discuss how low carbon initiatives could be embedded into current processes to improve low carbon procurement and improve supply chain management.

• Regular meetings with the Business School project team

• The development of a benefits calculator tool to measure and calculate both financial and carbon benefits across a procurement project.

• The development of a supplier management strategy to develop key relationships, both strategically and operationally..

As part of the Action Learning Sets (which included Category Managers from the procurement department, the Procurement Director and the Finance and Performance Manager), a number of low carbon case studies were carried out and progress updated at each meeting with the Business School team.

NHS-PPSA | 35

reducing distribution miles – the case of the Incontinence Pads The contract management of a large incontinence pad contract supplying these medical products to 20,000 patients within Devon and Cornwall – has included carbon reduction as a main focus of the project. Ongoing management has resulted in the reduction of both vehicle usage and fuel reduction with patient deliveries being self controlled by product recipients. In excess of 120,000 vehicle miles have been saved each year together with associated carbon emissions. The chosen supplier is already the second greenest manufacturer in the world and is committed to reducing carbon emissions still further, both in product manufacturer and service delivery. Both the supplier and distributor have been proactive in supporting the PPSA in the drive to reduce carbon use. This has resulted in cost savings calculated at £750,000 per annum. Additional areas are now being investigated as to further work which can be undertaken.

Promoting Innovation – the case of the reusable nappies Another aspect of the work was to develop a reusable nappy for use with disabled children which the market had yet to address sufficiently. A target group of parents and carers was assembled with the specific aim of producing a low carbon product, in the sense that it would reduce the need for the current disposable alternative. This had the backing of some additional EU funding and is now in the pre-production stage awaiting further funding streams. It has been a real success to see members of the public supporting NHS staff in the joint aim of giving their children a product that has positive effects upon their environment whilst simultaneously meeting their clinical needs.

The contract wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t had those workshops, I don’t think, and I think it was vital in enthusing people who don’t necessarily routinely think about it. The carbon workshops certainly were helpful in bringing that together.

Our senior management recognise the changing policy arena around low carbon issues and see the benefits of showing leadership in this area. Clear About Carbon has delivered a number of workshops to staff at NHS Peninsula Purchasing and Supply Alliance (PPSA) and their member trusts.

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AndrEw STILLIArd, CATEgOry mAnAgEr

LynnE BLAndfOrd, fInAnCE And PErfOrmAnCE mAnAgEr

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The Project escorted members of the NHS-PPSA to the CleanMed Europe conference in Malmö, Sweden, in 2012

NHS-PPSA | 37

The Benefits Tracker Tool The development of the benefits tracker tool was unique and particularly innovative.

The tool lists and calculates all the benefits that could result from the lifecycle of a procurement project, from the scoping stage through to contract management, including cash releasing and cost avoidance savings, internal process optimisation, product/technology innovation, waste reduction, travel reduction, energy reduction and carbon savings. It was developed with non financial managers in mind and with a user-friendly format to encourage use, with minimal input required from the user in order to calculate the project benefits.

By inserting the volumes and prices for the present position and the future state, the benefits tracker calculates

the financial and carbon efficiency for each benefit as well as a total benefit for each project.

It also separates direct and indirect NHS benefits in order that the tool can clearly distinguish the benefits that can be associated with the organisation. This enables individual trusts to be able to identify the different types of benefits as well as enabling the trusts to be able to deduct the realised savings from relevant budgets where required.

The tool can be updated at each key procurement stage so that benefits are identified and updated as and when they arise. The completion of the benefits calculator from the start of the project ensures that the procurement buyer is thinking about the different types of benefits at the outset and throughout the entirety of the project.

38 | NHS-PPSA

Understanding both the direct and indirect benefits for the NHS at all stages throughout the life cycle of the project allows the procurement buyer to understand supplier benefits of agreed changes and can form a key part of the negotiations – therefore leading to potentially reduced pricing within the NHS. The tool also allows for the capture of indirect patient and community benefits.

The tool has been fully tested on four different types of procurement projects across the PPSA and was launched across the whole Peninsula in April 2012. The benefits tracker has provided a way in which to measure benefits all of the financial

and carbon efficiencies of an individual project. The benefits can be easily aggregated and incorporated into reporting processes. This in turn ensures that all of the benefits of a project are reported, not just cash releasing and cost avoidance savings, and thereby heightens the profile of procurement.

What I look to see is that the benefits tracker tool is embedded. I’m a great believer in not having a tool which is just there and not used. So the benefits calculator has to become completely second nature and used for every project, and that that really is demonstrating that we are capturing the carbon agenda as a suite and it is not just seen that we are only doing this for carbon. So it has to be as part of the whole package. I see that carbon as a currency is going to develop over the next couple of years. Is it going to be the next two to three years? I don’t know. I think the focus is on more of getting the books balanced. This is a tool to help those books get balanced and the more that industry starts to come on board with it, the more it will seep through. So I see this not just as a twelve month project but twelve months of embedding and getting it recognised, it will be the next five to ten years.

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fAyE rOBInSOn, PrOCUrEmEnT dIrECTOr

NHS-PPSA | 39

Informing national Programmes Initial workshops with the NHS-PPSA took the form of a two-day structure, the first focusing on raising the carbon literacy levels of its staff (with training provided by Cornwall Development Company), and the second run in conjunction with the Department of Health, piloting the national initiative Procuring for Carbon Reduction (P4CR). These workshops were well received and led to a group partaking in the Business School’s leadership and procurement management skills action learning sets.

This learning has now been mainstreamed at national level through a Carbon Literacy E-Learning

package that become part of Defra’s National Sustainable Public Procurement Programme (NSPPP). The contents of the Carbon Literacy E-Learning have been strongly informed by the piloting training work completed with the PPSA by the Department of Health and the Clear About Carbon project, which includes carbon reduction case studies from the PPSA (such as the incontinence pad example).

The PPSA’s supplier management strategy will ensure that key suppliers are aware of the organisation’s progress and commitment in this area to reduce both supplier and NHS carbon footprint.

The PPSA has demonstrated great foresight in identifying the need in the NHS to raise awareness and build capability around carbon and how this can be addressed through procurement. Their work with the Clear About Carbon project and the Procuring for Carbon Reduction project has been invaluable in helping to inform and develop materials which are now available to NHS organisations nationally.

I don’t think there have been any lows. I’ve not had a part on the project where I have just thought, where are we going here? Because it has all just been new and I think it’s been the enthusiasm of the people that have been involved in it to really want to make the change. And it has been new. I suppose the only difficulties have been more on have we been able to move quickly enough?

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dAvId wAThEy, hEAd Of SUSTAInABLE PrOCUrEmEnT, dEPArTmEnT Of hEALTh

fAyE rOBInSOn, PrOCUrEmEnT dIrECTOr

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Eden Project | 41

CASE 4: EdEn PrOjECTThE BACKgrOUndThe Eden Project is a visitor attraction, educational facility and botanical centre; a venue for arts and live music; an important local business; a charity and social enterprise, and the result of a vision to create a centre to communicate the themes of sustainability and environmental responsibility in Cornwall. The Eden Project is located in the south-east of the region, near to the town of St Austell.

The complex, located in a reclaimed quarry pit, is dominated by two large enclosures – consisting of adjoining domes that house thousands of plant species collected from around the world – which emulate tropical and Mediterranean environments. The project took 2½ years to construct and opened to the public on 17 March 2001.

As an organisation that strives to promote sustainability, Eden has several main themes running through its business, including:

• Cutting Energy and Carbon

• Tackling Waste

• Sustainable Construction

• Reducing Water Use

• Ethical Buying

42 | Eden Project

ThE STOry

The SuppliersThe Eden Project was in the process of re-evaluating its operational sustainability when it was first introduced to the Business School’s leadership and procurement development programme, and it was following discussions with the Clear About Carbon team that the Eden operational group decided to focus its strategy on its supply chain as having the biggest potential to reduce carbon. Via the Action Learning Sets, a group comprising various heads of department (hospitality, logistics, procurement, waste management, estates, etc.) met to discuss ways in which they could improve – or re-ignite – their carbon reduction processes.

One of the first issues to tackle within the ALS sessions was to agree on the definition of a ‘key supplier’ to Eden and to identify who these suppliers were. By starting with this process, Eden was then able to communicate their requirements, including their requirements in terms of sustainability, and draw up some longer-term relationships with suppliers that matched their ethos. Following on from this, Eden decided to start working with its suppliers in order to improve their carbon efficiency and surpass the levels of sustainability required.

Eden’s ‘Meet the Buyer’ event, organised in 2011, was a big success in terms of relationship building.

The key supplier is actually the guy down the road who provides us with a very specialist part of our operations. It supports our operation, and it’s just down the road so has a carbon benefit. That’s been the tangible bit.

So we identified key suppliers, we said that we wanted to enter into a long term relationship with them, we’ve held a launch event and we’ve got an agreement in place with them about what we expect from them being a supplier, one of our key suppliers, and what we will give them in return...

Meet the Buyer was a huge success. For a lot of our buyers, because it’s a very small part of their much wider remit, they only ever speak to people on the phone or via email. They have never seen them face to face, so it was fantastic to meet them. And buyers doing deals between themselves and linking up and the goodwill back from the suppliers, that they were valued and that we do actually care.

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“jULIA POOLE, OPErATIOnS COOrdInATOr

jULIA POOLE, OPErATIOnS COOrdInATOr


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The Eden Project is a charity, tourist attraction and a social enterprise

44 | Eden Project

The retail department and the start of the Procurement Strategy One of Eden’s ambitions was to develop its procurement process to better reflect the philosophy of the business – ie. that its products were responsibly sourced and sustainably–made wherever possible, and its procurement processes similarly rigorous. Also keen to offer Eden as a shop window for local businesses looking to advance to bigger markets, the Retail Department at Eden was the first to create a sustainable buying policy and to actively ensure that all of its products were procured using these criteria (see Box ‘Eden’s Shop Buying Guide’). Over several years, the Eden Shop had transformed itself into representing exactly what the Eden Project stood for in terms of buying responsibly and, as a result of its success, its manager

was promoted from being head of Eden’s retail procurement to being made Procurement Director – in charge of procurement for the whole organisation – a much larger issue, bearing in mind the variety and disparity in the departments.

Within the Clear About Carbon Action Learning Sets, the soon-to-be director was better able to discuss, with the other heads of departments, the need to consider their major suppliers and to germinate the idea of how an organisation-wide sustainable procurement policy might look. With more control over the organisation’s procurement strategy (there was formerly no head of procurement that covered the whole organisation), the new director is now able to bring more rigour to the buying process and add more credibility to the organisation as a result.

The things that I’ve learned in Clear About Carbon will be absolutely critical in pushing the boundaries with our supplier relationships going forward.

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AndrEw hOLdEn, PrOCUrEmEnT dIrECTOr

Eden Project | 45

Staff empowerment At an early stage of this process, the procurement department lost a member of its staff who had been playing a key role in sustainable procurement. This staff member was, ironically, seconded onto the Clear About Carbon project and, for the last four years, has represented Eden within this project. Whilst the loss of such a key member of staff was considered a disadvantage at the time, in retrospect, the new procurement director considers it to be an important benefit for the organisation. The basis for this optimism is explained by the procurement director:

“Getting over that initial disappointment of losing Paul, when you then re-engage with him again after three or so years away of him being away immersing himself in carbon literacy, you actually receive back a much more informed and a much more empowered Paul. He comes back pre-programmed now with lots

more information and authority on a matter that’s going to be of the utmost importance. So Paul is a positive outcome. Now, when he lands back in Eden Project, it means that with my push to get sustainability programmed into all of our buying teams here, Paul’s a great person for knocking down some of those barriers and for the education which is really important, to just get people thinking in the right way.”

The return of their newly-informed member of staff would thus benefit Eden in several ways – not only internally, in bringing new-found knowledge and authority to internal processes and staff, but also externally, as a result of having worked alongside Cornish businesses for four years and having developed a network of like-minded businesses; having listened and worked with a variety of Eden suppliers in his capacity as Clear About Carbon spokesman; having been trained in carbon literacy and now being able to communicate that through Eden’s educational elements.

Our involvement in the Clear About Carbon project has provided us with valuable new perspectives. We have worked to hone our practices so we can be clearer about what we do, the reasons why we do it and the way we communicate it to others.

...the wider part I think is in awareness and education – that managers at Eden now have a much wider view on what we are talking about, the sustainability and carbon. They are now more carbon literate.

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IAn wILLIAmS, OPErATIOnS dIrECTOr


46 | Eden Project

Our products are a bit like the Eden Project itself, beautiful, educational, inspiring – painting the bigger picture, helping make a difference where we can.

Our buying team has taken the worry out of shopping, by making all those tricky ethical choices for you. Everything you see in our shop is either recycled, fairly traded, made of plants, locally sourced, or helps promote sustainable living. And everything has a story to tell.

Things made of plantsAt Eden we like to reconnect people with nature and remind them how much we all rely on plants. So it seems only right that we should showcase the amazing things they are used for. If manufactured in a sustainable way, natural products can have a lower environmental impact than stuff created from virgin plastic or metal. Our kitchenware range is made of bamboo, a fast-growing, endlessly renewable resource. It thrives naturally without using any pesticides or fertilisers, absorbing greenhouse gases as it grows.

fairly traded goodsEden looks for goods where workers are treated with respect, fairly paid, properly equipped and given access to education and medical care. Fairly traded products also mean minimum environmental standards are adhered to. While not every company we buy from has yet achieved fairtrade status, we are happy to work with them on the journey there.

recycled productsBuying recycled means that fewer minerals have to be extracted from the ground, fewer ancient forests are in danger of being chopped down and there are fewer precious materials deteriorating in a landfill site. It also helps boost the market for this type of thing – because there’s no point in everyone recycling if no one’s buying the stuff!

Products that promote sustainable livingWe like to sell things that help people live happier, greener, more active lifestyles. For example, our reusable jute bags encourage people to refuse plastic bags when they’re out shopping; the hard-wearing flasks we sell are designed to be used again and again in place of plastic mineral water bottles; wind-up torches remind people how precious energy is.

Local goodsOur commitment to local sourcing helps to reduce carbon emissions from transport, boost local livelihoods and is a way of sharing our own success with the local community. For example, we worked with Cornish brewery Sharp’s to come up with a flagship beer for Eden, using British hops. Since working with the company they’ve developed a sustainable policy for their operations.

EdEn ShOP’S BUyIng gUIdE

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Eden is committed to reducing impact on the environment, using resources efficiently and being self-sufficient in soil, water and energy

48 | Promoting Private Sector Engagement and Learning

Following from the work supporting low carbon procurement development in the public sector, the next logical step was to explore ways to support Cornish companies in their low carbon journey, so they could be better positioned to respond to tenders where carbon was considered.

The Business School’s work with the private sector followed two separate strategies and streams of engagement. A variation of the Action Learning Sets – called Roundtables for Carbon Leadership – was created with a shorter format aimed at better engaging SMEs. These provided safe, confidential spaces where businesses could receive advice and support from their peers on how best to achieve their specific carbon reduction goals. Two Roundtables were piloted, one for the tourism sector with the support of CoaST (Cornwall Sustainable Tourism Project ) network and one for the agri-food sector, supported by Duchy College Rural Business School (partners in the project). These were meant to act as ‘proof of concept’, to inform practice and ESF policy on innovative ways to promote SMEs’ skills development for the low carbon economy. The feedback from the two Roundables was favourable, and their success led to partners Duchy College committing to continue them for the agri-food sector.

In parallel, selected private organisations were contacted to participate in a longer format of engagement which involved discussions with senior managers and the organisation of lean process mapping workshops to identify opportunities for process improvements and carbon reductions.

PrOmOTIng PrIvATE SECTOr EngAgEmEnT And LEArnIng

It’s been very inspiring. It’s just amazing to hear the work other companies are doing. And also I like the concept of doing the coaching session. I’m going away now with something I can work on, and that’s really good.

I find that the day has been incredible. Finding out about things that other companies are doing, that I was totally unaware of. To know that industry is going on with it has really made my day, and it was worth coming just for that.

At Chaffins Foodservice we have been very happy with the work the Business School team are doing with us under the Clear About Carbon project, assisting us to find and use the correct tools to measure and control our carbon footprint and looking at ways we can improve our sustainability and reduce our CO2 emissions. The recent process mapping workshop identified areas where we can improve our procedures to the benefit of the business and the environment.

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mArjA vAn LOEf, COAST OnE PLAnET TOUrISm nETwOrK mAnAgEr

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mArK hArvEy, BUSInESS SUPPOrT mAnAgEr

Promoting Private Sector Engagement and Learning | 49

Samples of a flyer for the Roundtables for Carbon Leadership workshop

50 | Other Outputs of the Project

Throughout the life of the project, the University of Exeter Business School team has presented the results of the project and its research at relevant conferences, as well as published its results in academic and practitioners’ publications. The presentations and publications produced include the following:

OThEr OUTPUTS Of ThE PrOjECT

PrESEnTATIOnS AT COnfErEnCES:• 2010 Annual Conference of the British Academy of

Management. Sheffield, September 2010. Presentation “Clumsy Ethics: Leading change for sustainable procurement”, by Dr. Beverley Hawkins.

• IPSERA 2011 Conference (International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association), Maastricht, April 2011. Presentation ‘Low carbon procurement: An emerging agenda’ by Prof. Mickey Howard.

• International Studying Leadership Conference, Bristol, December 2011. Presentation ‘Ethical complexities in low carbon leadership’ by Prof. Annie Pye.

• ‘Clear About Carbon – it’s no longer business as usual’ project conference at Eden Project. October 2011. Project presentation by Dr. Fernando Correia to the Cornish business community.

• 2012 Annual Conference of the British Academy of Management. Cardiff, September 2012. Presentation by Dr. Mickey Howard “Clear About Carbon? Using Lean in Low Carbon Supply Chain Implementation”.

• Joint Business School/Environment and Sustainability Institute event “Building resilient business through sustainable management practices”. Bedruthan Steps, June 2012. Project presentations by Prof. Annie Pye and Dr. Fernando Correia to Cornish SMEs.

• EcoProcura 2012, “Delivering Sustainable Procurement & Innovation”. Malmö, Sweden, September 2013. Presentations run by Dr. Fernando Correia to international procurers and policy-makers.

PUBLICATIOnS:• Correia, F, Howard M,, Hawkins B, Pye A, and

Lamming R. ‘Low Carbon Procurement: An Emerging Agenda’. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management. (in press at time of writing, but available online at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pursup.2012.11.004)

• ‘Clear About Carbon: Leading Change in Procurement for Cornish Supply Chains’, published in the January 2012 edition of the European Financial Review

• ‘Climate Change Revolution’, published in February 2012 in the CIPS Supply Management magazine and website

• ‘Getting down to business on carbon cuts’, published in the March 2011 Big Green Guide supplement of Western Morning News newspaper

Additional papers about leading change and the nature of change processes in complex adaptive systems are currently ‘under review’ for publication in academic journals, and will be added to the University of Exeter’s Open Access repository for public download in due course: www.eric.exeter.ac.uk/repository

Other Outputs of the Project | 51

Informing management EducationThe innovative element of this project (i.e. use of Action Learning Sets), and its focus on the very current and timely subject of carbon reductions, made its activities and learning outcomes recognised as valuable for a series of stakeholders and areas behind those initially considered in the project. An example of this was the potential to inform the content of Higher Education modules at the University of Exeter Business School. The outcomes of the project have subsequently been used within a range of Business School programmes, from the One Planet MBA to undergraduate modules on Leadership and Supply Chain Management.

Modules on which Clear About Carbon outcomes have been integrated include:

One Planet MBASustainable Supply Chain Management

MSc in International Management Sustainable Enterprise Economy Leadership and Global Challenges

Undergraduate modulesLeadership Challenges and PracticesThe Business of Climate ChangeThe Creative Organisation Purchasing and Supply Chain Management

Transnational Knowledge TransferSeveral international partnerships and transnational visits were made with the purpose of identifying best practices in other European regions that could inform practice in the UK and support Cornish procurers develop carbon management skills. Not only has the Business School team participated directly and presented in several of these initiatives, but also provided the opportunity for a range of Cornish managers to participate and learn first-hand from their peers in Europe on how they approached sustainable and low carbon procurement in their own organisations. Examples of these transnational initiatives included:

• Study Visit to Barcelona (September 2011), co-organised with our partners at EcoInstitut Barcelona, in which a party of Cornish procurers were shown examples of best practice from peers from the Catalan Interior Department, Barcelona City Council and Polytechnic University of Catalunya.

• ICLEI’s Local Renewables Conference in Freiburg, Germany (October 2011), with the participation of the Estates Procurement Manager of Devon and Cornwall Constabulary.

• EcoProcura conference, Malmö, Sweden (September, 2012), with the participation of procurers from Cornwall College Group and University of Exeter.

• CleanMed Europe 2012 conference, Malmö, Sweden (September 2012), with the participation of Cornish NHS delegates.

52 |

The Business School became carbon neutral in 2012, signing up to PAS 2060, the first independent standard for carbon neutrality, in the process

Project Legacy – ongoing available resources for organisations | 53

Clear About Carbon has produced a series of helpful resources for managers and organisations that will remain freely available online after the formal end of the project in the website: www.clearaboutcarbon.com/resources

These include:

Carbon literacy e-learning for procurersA free carbon literacy e-learning resource to help public and private sector employees understand climate change and carbon reduction in the context of procurement. This learning resource is now also part of the Defra-led National Sustainable Public Procurement Programme, and was produced in collaboration with the Clear About Carbon team and the Department of Health.

green gauge, the Carbon Calculator for businessesDeveloped in collaboration with Superfast Cornwall in partnership with Visit Cornwall and CoaST, this online tool helps businesses manage and minimise their carbon footprint. The tool measures the carbon impact from business activities associated with electricity, heating, travel (cars, flights, etc) and waste.

Carbon jargon BusterDo you know your carbon offsets from your carbon footprint? Cut through the jargon with our beginner’s guide to the words and phrases that every leading business should know.

‘Show me the Carbon’ toolA quick, easy and visually intuitive online tool designed to provide an understanding of how everyday choices, from the emails you send to the transport you take, affect your carbon footprint – and find out how you can make a difference. The tool was inspired by, and developed in collaboration with, Mike Berners-Lee, author of the book “How bad are bananas? The carbon footprint of everything”.

Case StudiesA series of downloadable teaching cases produced by the University of Exeter Business School, based on real life examples of carbon management problems, that can be used in a range of learning contexts, from professional development programmes to further and higher education settings. Additionally, a series of short case studies with examples of success stories from Cornish organisations is also available, produced by Cornwall Development Company.

Carbon management coursesIn addition to the resources above, Cornwall College will also continue to provide accredited courses on carbon management. Aimed at managers and organisations wanting to gain an appreciation of the legal, business and ethical imperatives for carbon management, it also provides practical skills on how to measure, monitor and reduce carbon emissions.

PrOjECT LEgACy – OngOIng AvAILABLE rESOUrCES fOr OrgAnISATIOnS

54 | Appendix – List of Participating Organisations

Organisations and Staff participating in the University of Exeter Business School programmes throughout the project.

APPEndIx – LIST Of PArTICIPATIng OrgAnISATIOnS

Organisation Participants job title

Action Learning Sets

nhS PPSA Andrew mcminn head of Procurement & Logistics

Kathleen dennis Senior Category manager

gary Turner Category manager

Andrew Stilliard Category manager

Lynne Blanford finance and Performance manager,

michael roach Contracts manager

mark gronow Senior Category manager

Cornwall College group raoul humphreys deputy Chief Executive

Kath frankland PA

Stephen Cant IT & Information Services

michael Pope director of finance

john ward Procurement Officer

malcolm Palin head of Estates

Steve Burgess hr director (Strategic Lead on Sustainability)

devon & Cornwall Constabulary john Shepherd finance/Business manager for Cornwall

glen newson Energy manager

Kathryn Parker Procurement director

neil willmott Estates Procurement manager

Barry johns Business manager

Eden Project Caroline digby Sustainability director

justine Quinn Interpretation manager

julia Poole Operations Coordinator

Alistair griffiths horticultural Science Curator

david moore maintenance manager

Andrew holden head of retail Procurement

Kathryn Sanders Logistics manager

nick darnborough Catering & hospitality manager

Andy Bruton Project manager

Ian williams Operations director

Appendix – List of Participating Organisations | 55

Organisation Participants job title

mapping workshops

Cornwall College group Charlotte Brown n/a

julie Brooks Site Supervisor

Patricia Kearney n/a

Caroline rickarby Bursar

Christine gosling finance Systems manager

michael Lister head of College

Clive Brookes n/a

Chaffins Ian daly Transport manager

Andrew Brown Buyer

Cathy Tregear n/a

Stephen Brown managing director

mark harvey Business Support manager

Brian gannaway n/a

Eden Project Caroline digby Sustainability director

justine Quinn Interpretation manager

julia Poole Operations Coordinator

Alistair griffiths horticultural Science Curator

david moore maintenance manager

Andrew holden head of retail Procurement

Kathryn Sanders Logistics manager

Andy Bruton Project manager

Ian williams Operations director

56 | Appendix – List of Participating Organisations

roundtables for Carbon Leadership

rodda’s Chris Quelch Operations manager

CoaST marja van Loef One Planet Tourism manager

CoaST john james Administration Officer

headland view Cottages magie jordan director

doble foods Ian doble manager/md

may gurney gareth Bourton Strategic development director

Carley Organics john Carley manager/owner

roskilly’s Olly godfrey national Sales manager

County Confectionery Chris Brian director

w. C. rowe david Bodinar manager

Lynher dairies dane hopkins dairy manager

doble foods Ian doble manager/md

moomaid of Zennor Ellie Tennant n/a

Teaching Case Studies

St Austell Brewery robin freight Compliance Officer

newquay Zoo ruth grant Sustainability manager

newquay Zoo john wilson head of maintenance

newquay Zoo Adrian hare Project manager

Cornish Orchards Andy Atkinson managing director

Cornish Orchards Catie Parrott Communications Executive

Benjamin Stedman design yorick Benjamin director

Cornwall Council Steve Kelleher Eco-communities Principal Engineer

Cornwall Council mike Shillaber Corporate Procurement

Cornwall Council david morgan Procurement Officer

CO2-Prestatieladder gijs Termeer Project manager

Prorail ger van der wal head of Purchasing

Prorail johan van dalen Advisor Sustainable development

CO2-Prestatieladder roy voorend Tenders and Contracts manager

Almere City Council martijn vos Advisor for Purchasing and Contracts

An original painting of the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden, St. Ives, Cornwall

University of Exeter Business SchoolRennes DriveExeterDevonEX4 4PUUNITED KINGDOM

Tel: +44 (0)1392 723200Fax: +44 (0)1392 723242Email: [email protected]: www.exeter.ac.uk/businessschoolProject website: www.clearaboutcarbon.com

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Carbon MattersExplorations in Low Carbon Procurement

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University of Exeter Business School

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Carbon Matters