Energieeffiziente öffentliche Beschaffung Öffentliche Auftraggeber haben einen entscheidenden Einfluss auf die Steigerung der Energieeffizienz und können bei der Erreichung der Energieeinsparziele der Europäischen Union und Deutschlands einen relevanten Beitrag leisten. Neben den direkten Energieeinsparungen und damit verringerten klimaschädlichen Treibhausgasen durch einzelne Beschaffungsentscheidungen kann die Summe solcher Entscheidungen großen Einfluss auf zukünftige Produkt- und Marktentwicklungen ausüben. Mit einem Gesamtwert von etwa 300 Mrd. Euro im Jahr (rund 13 Prozent des Bruttoinlandsproduktes) ist die öffentliche Hand der größte Einkäufer beziehungsweise Nachfrager in Deutschland.

Madrid’s municipal transport company (EMT) currently operates a fleet of around 2000 buses. In response to emissions targets set by the City of Madrid, EMT carried out an open tender procedure for 165 buses stipulating that they must be; Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), CNG- hybrid or electric models EMT applied the second of three methodologies available under the clean vehicles directive (2009/33/EC), using award criteria to give preference to clean, energy efficient vehicles. Points were given for low fuel consumption, emissions of HC, PM, CO and NOx, noise pollution, in addition to low environmental impact substances and electronic components. The company finally purchased 23 CNG-hybrid buses and 142 CNG buses, meaning it now runs one of Europe’s largest CNG fleets. EMT advise fellow transport operators to stay abreast of the latest technologies and maintain regular contact with all relevant manufacturers in order to achieve the optimal solution, according to requirements.

The City of Luxembourg wished to create a healthier living environment for its citizens and developed an action plan to set out how this could be achieved. As part of this process, existing cleaning products were analysed to test for harmful substances, the majority of which contained at least one. The City recognised that using low environmental impact cleaning products in its public buildings was one way of achieving their environmental goals, in a cost-effective way. In 2013, the City published a tender for cleaning products and services for municipal theatres. Luxembourg’s Environmental Protection Office provided the technical specifications, which included a list of hazardous substances which the bidders were banned from offering, and a second list of substances for which the bidder would receive points, if their products contained less than a certain amount. Each bidder was requested to supply samples of every proposed cleaning product, so that tests could be carried out to ensure banned substances were not present. They were also required to submit new products with at least one month’s notice. In addition, Luxembourg reserved the right to carry out random testing of products being used.

In order to minimise CO2 emissions and the use of natural resources, Stuttgart’s main sewage treatment plant already generates electricity from methane gas, sludge incineration and solar power installations. This case focuses on the next step the Municipality has taken by tendering for a fleet made up entirely of electric vehicles. It has taken advantage of the fact that these vehicles are required to bear weight rather than travel at speed, in order to benefit from the environmental advantages of fully electric trucks. The technical specifications for these alternative fuel vehicles included speed restriction devices to limit the vehicles to 25km/h and hydraulic, energy recovery brakes. The distance to the closest customer service office was part of these award criteria, recognising the importance of reducing disruption by minimising time spent travelling and the environmental costs of travelling long distances for maintenance or repair.

In 2008, the Romanian city of Craiova joined 3 other European cities under the framework of the CIVITAS Mobility, Development and Energy Reduction (MODERN) initiative, co-financed by the European Commission. Through the CIVITAS Initiative, the European Commission aimed to support cities in the implementation of sustainable urban transport strategies. The Local Council of Craiova Municipality’s main objective was to increase the overall quality of life of its citizens through the reduction of pollution generated by transport and the implementation of energy-saving measures. To reach this goal, one of the measures undertaken by the city was to improve the energy efficiency of its existing tramlines. Modernisation of the trams would include the replacement of old drive systems with electric choppers that control the electric current used by the trams. 9 trams were upgraded with the chopper based system, achieving a 35% reduction in energy consumption. These trams were previously out of commission due to the inefficiency of the older system. Due to the installation of this new system, Craiova has been able to reduce the costs of running parts of its electric tram fleet, increased passenger capacity across the system and reduced pollution related to energy consumption. The technology employed in Craiova’s trams is also currently being promoted in the neighbouring countries.

The London bid to host the 2012 Games set out a vision and plan for how the Games could play a major role in the revitalisation of east London. Equally important was achieving this in a sustainable manner, providing value for money, and leaving a lasting social, economic and environmental legacy for east London. From the outset, the Olympic Delivery Authority set challenging sustainability targets for the procurement of materials for the Olympic Park. The ODA aimed to identify, source, and use environmentally and socially responsible materials. Initial estimates made for the Park indicated that 500,000 cubic metres of ready-mix concrete would be required to build both the sporting venues and for supporting infrastructure. Through sustainable design initiatives and rationalization of materials the actual volume poured was closer to 400,000 cubic metres with a further 20,000 cubic metres precast off-site. Overall, the Park claimed to have reduced the embodied carbon associated with the Park concrete by approximately 24 per cent (equivalent to 29,000 tonnes) compared to industry average concrete with 18 per cent ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBS) cement substitution.

In September 2010, a cross-border project was launched to promote the procurement of innovation in Italy and France. Partners in the Alcotra Innovation project identified a common need for new approaches to i) smart energy systems and ii) intelligent mobility. Issues surrounding the intermittency of renewable energy sources and non-simultaneous energy generation and consumption were chosen as target areas for innovative solutions within smart energy systems. A parallel objective was to tackle issues related to traffic. Specific aims included finding intelligent ways of monitoring poor road conditions and facilitating sustainable travel. The Pre-Commercial Public Procurement which sought to meet these objectives stipulated the use of the Living Labs method, meaning that prototypes must be tested in real life scenarios by end users on their own premises. In June 2012, the contract was awarded to 2 economic operators to explore smart energy solutions, along with 3 consortia to work on the area of intelligent mobility.

Rechtsgutachten im Auftrag des Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftlichen Instituts (WSI) in der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, 20.

Whitepaper based on the 2013 – HEC / EcoVadis Sustainable Procurement Barometer