In February 2020 we decided to retrofit our main Cambourne Office, to reduce energy bills and carbon emissions for the building. This is vital to achieve our aim of being a Net Zero district by 2050.

Our office features: 

• a car park with electric vehicle chargers for staff and visitors, shaded by solar panels
• energy-saving LED lights in all areas of the building 
• a ground source heat pump, this is expected to cut the building’s use of gas by at least 79%. 

This project was funded using our ‘renewables reserve’, a fund that comes from business rates collected from renewable energy sites (for example, solar farms) in the district. The retrofit project will pay for itself in under 20 years of operation.  

The project will achieve the following goals: 

• the changes will almost halve the building's carbon emissions during the first year after completion  
• by 2030 the building's emissions should drop to a quarter of current levels, and by 2050 to 10% of 2019 levels. 

Procurement (buying) process  

We have changed our procurement process to incorporate the value of ‘lifecycle stewardship’ into our practices. When we buy goods or services, we must carry out a sustainable procurement assessment, and businesses must show that they have a plan to reduce their emissions.  

For our 2024/25 budget process we’ve included a climate and biodiversity impact assessment for bids and savings over £20,000. Where a proposal is not supported by a returned assessment, it will not be accepted. 

Training 

We’re creating resources for staff to make sure everyone is confident to carry out their roles in a way that helps to fight climate change. This includes giving training to refuse drivers, and a handbook for staff about the climate emergency.  

We’ve been certified as a Bronze Carbon Literate Organisation by the national charity, The Carbon Literacy Trust. This shows that as a council we’re better placed to look at the climate impact of delivering services and supporting residents. 

We achieved this by delivering Carbon Literacy training to staff at all levels. The training helps staff to act on climate change within their roles and empowers them to design and deliver projects which could cut down on our carbon footprint.