Sustainability

Sustainability within St Albans District Council

St Albans City and District Council is committed to sustainable development. Back in 1998 the Council began implementing a range of projects to improve the sustainability of the District via the Agenda 21 Action Plan.

With the growing challenge of climate change, the Council signed the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change, a national pledge to systematically tackle climate change both within the Council and across the District.  As a signatory to this pledge, the Council set itself a target of a 3% year on year reduction in carbon dioxide emissions along with a plan of action to achieve it.

In 2007, the Council took part in the Carbon Trust Local Authority Carbon Management Programme to tackle its own emissions. Through this specialist programme of support and consultancy we were able to develop a Carbon Management Strategy and Implementation Plan. This plan should enable us to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions by 25% by 2013 (from a baseline year of 2006/07) and underpins potential financial savings to the Council of around £1.16 million.

In 2009, the Council were successful in winning a place on the Energy Saving Trust one-to-one support programme for local authorities. Through this two year package, the Energy Saving Trust provide consultancy, training and support to enable us to consolidate our previous efforts and further reduce carbon emissions across the whole District.  This will culminate in the production of a Climate Change Strategy for St Albans.

• St Albans District Council Nottingham Declaration Action Plan 2008 (PDF - 287 kb)
• St Albans District Council Carbon Management Plan 2008 (PDF - 982 kb)

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report

The Council has recently updated its approach to measuring and calculating the greenhouse gas emissions arising from our services and operations. The full Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report for 2008-2011 can be downloaded below.  

• St Albans City and District Council Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report 2008-11 (DOC - 299 kb)

What actions we've already taken

Energy

• Solar Pholtovoltaic Panels installed to the Civic Centre Council offices.

• Energy saving lighting installed across the Council offices. 

• Solar thermal panels (hot water) installed to the 'Inn on the Park'. 

• Solar Pholtovoltaic Panels installed at Jersey Farm Community Centre. 

• Wide-scale programme to insulate all lofts and cavity walls within Council-owned residential properties 

• Energy efficient boilers installed in the Council offices.

• Voltage Optimiser installed to Council Offices

• Energy audits undertaken of key Council premesis.

• The initial effects of the works to the Council Offices are promising, with overall energy use reducing by 97 MWh in 2009/10 compared to 2008/09. This has saved 47 tonnes of CO2 and has reduced the Councils energy bill by £11,000.

Waste

• Full recycling system in place at Council offices for paper, card, plastic bottles, cans, tins, plastic vending cups, tissue and food waste.

• Staff encouraged to reduce the amount of waste produced by not printing emails, using scrap paper and thinking carefully about what items are purchased. 

• Charity reuse boxes provided for staff to encourage reuse of unwanted items.

• As a result of the above schemes the Council has reduced the amount of waste it sends to landfil from the District Offices by approximately 50%.

• Construction waste from housing projects is recycled.

Transport

• The Green Travel Plan is currently being updated to ensure that the Council takes all the steps it can to reduce the amount of car travel by employees either when commuting or on business related visits.

• Bicycles are available for staff to use during working hours for business or leisure - including electric bikes.

• Car sharing database is available to match people commuting from the same areas. 

• Interest free loans are available to employees for the purchase of a bicycle to encourage cycling. 

• Interest free loans are available to employees for the purchase of rail season tickets to encourage travel by rail.

• Company cars are limited to emission levels of 180g carbon dioxide per km.

Other Measures

• A Sustainable Purchasing Policy has been developed to ensure that the Council minimises the impact of its purchases. 

• The Councils larger contractors are required to report annually on the greenhouse gas emissions from energy use and transport during the delivery of their services. They are also expected to implement plans for the ongoing reduction of these emissions. 

• The Council runs ongoing programme of awareness raising for staff. These include regular campaigns and newsletters reminding employees about the importance of saving resources and reducing their environmental impacts both at work and at home.