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.

Errenteria considered GPP at various stages of the procurement process for parks and gardens maintenance services. 15% of the award criteria was dedicated to the use of techniques that would improve upon the municipality’s standard environmental requirements. Service providers had to give information on emissions from vehicles to be used under the contract and a list of machinery. The measurement of water used for irrigation per tree or per m2 on a weekly and annual basis was part of the contract performance clauses. The contract was divided into 3 lots to promote more equal bidding opportunities. Green purchasing and contracting is part of the Municipal Environmental Strategy. As well as for the maintenance of parks and gardens, environmental criteria are now used as standard in contracts for vehicle maintenance and cleaning services in municipal buildings. Errenteria has also purchased electric vehicles as part of its effort to reduce local air pollution and the emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs).

Oslo City Council decided to phase out use of fossil fuels for heating purposes in all schools. The main objective of the procurement procedure was to reduce the environmental impact of Oslo’s heating systems, particularly CO2 emissions. As well as innovative solutions for renewable energy based heating in Oslo schools, the municipality required an improvement in existing technical and operational standards, along with improved environmental performance and value for money. There were four stages to the process; market consultation, a pre-commercial competition, a development phase and tendering. Many ideas from the competition and outputs from the development projects were implemented. Heating systems now use ground solar heat collectors, ground heat pumps, air-to-liquid heat pumps, bio-oil, bio-gas, solid biofuel, and various combinations of these instead of fossil fuels. The City Council successfully phased out these 52 non-renewable systems before the end of 2011. The project has resulted in an annual reduction of approximately 3,000 tonnes of CO2 .

The Vorarlberg Environmental Association offers support and guidance in the renovation and construction of sustainable public buildings to all communities in the province of Vorarlberg, Austria. The Municipality of Lorüns was supported by the Association’s GPP advisory service in the preparatory, planning, tendering and construction phases of their latest building project. This study focuses on the contract to build a low environmental impact façade for the local fire station. Assistance with concepts for materials, construction and energy, as well as environmental and legal checks was provided. Furthermore, as part of the tendering support service offered, technical specifications were selected from a list of GPP criteria within “Baubook”, an Austrian ecological building product database. This comprehensive resource includes environmental, energy-efficient and free-to-use criteria devised by the Austrian Institute for Building and Ecology (IBO) with input from IFZ and European Institutions. Over 50 projects in the province have used the advisory service to date.

In April this year, the Town of Lille began a 4-year contract for the maintenance of green spaces in the municipality and the adjacent communities of Hellemmes and Lomme. The framework contract is split into 4 lots covering; grass verges, cemeteries and parks within 2 different zones. In 2001, Lille introduced overall targets to reduce pesticides and other chemicals in order to reduce pollution and promote biodiversity. These targets have been reflected in this tender, alongside many other methods to promote biodiverse habitats including manual grass cutting techniques and the creation of wildlife corridors, buffer zones around water and animal underpasses along roads. The successful design and award of this tender is contributing towards Lille’s goal of phasing out the use of pesticides in public green areas. They are on track to achieve this objective for the whole town by 2014. The strong focus on sustaining biodiversity has helped Lille to become the French Biodiversity capital for 2012.

Following a State Parliament resolution in 2011 requesting that purchases of electricity be from 100% renewable energy sources, the State of Brandenburg published a call for tender requiring the supply of green electricity from January 2014 to be based on a Guarantee of Origin scheme. The electricity purchased by the State is used to power all public authorities, institutions, and universities. This includes over 200 properties covering some 1.2 million square metres of floor space. One of the important conditions set in this recent tender was that the origin of the electricity required traceability and certification. Several companies were able to fulfil the stringent environmental demands, and the final bid chosen did not result in any additional expenditure in terms of price. For future electricity supply tenders, Brandenburg will endeavour to go a step further in their environmental demands and ambitions and trigger the installation of new green electricity generating capacity.

The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), established as a UK independent not-for-profit company in 2000, has been working since 2010 with the Environment Agency (UK government agency responsible for protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development) on the LIFE+ funded programme European Pathway to Zero Waste (EPOW). The programme was developed to test different ways to cut waste in the South East of England. One of these projects has involved working with the Natural History Museum in London to improve sustainable procurement practices through targeting new contracts. Over a period of six months, the EPOW project helped embed sustainability considerations within the Museum’s procurement documents and processes. Procurement consultants worked with the Museum’s team to consistently articulate the Museum’s objectives through the policy and guidance information. Expert advice was also provided to improve a range of contracts and embed sustainability issues within future procurements. One of these contracts was the waste and recycling contract, which is for the effective management and disposal of a range of waste from the Museum’s public galleries, offices and laboratories, in accordance with the waste hierarchy. The Museum is in the process of appointing a new waste and recycling contractor to manage removal of waste. Inclusion of the sustainability recommendations in the waste and recycling contract procedures will allow the Museum to select a service provider that can help the Museum meet the waste and recycling targets set out in its Environmental Management System.

In 2011, Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) signed a contract under a central government framework agreement for the supply of office stationery. Products supplied under the “Government Office Supplies Contract” are compliant with the UK Government’s Government Buying Standards , which are similar to the EU GPP criteria. The contract not only offers GCC a wider range of green products, but provisions made under the contract and by GCC’s Procurement Department make it more difficult for devolved purchasers to buy more costly and potentially non-compliant products from outside the Government Catalogue. Before entering into the contract, GCC undertook a series of measures to reduce unnecessary demand for stationery and reuse existing items. After collecting unused stock from around the Council, a month-long moratorium on buying stationery was imposed. This saved GCC around £29,000 (€34,000).

Using recycled material to refurbish roads usually only applies to the lower layers, using materials such as rubble from demolished buildings. Hamburg’s goal in this example was to recycle 100% of all materials during the resurfacing works on the City’s main street. The bitumen component therefore had to be recycled as well as aggregate materials. The City allowed a group of private companies who originally came up with the idea to test its use on roads not used by the public. After a series of tests, the City was reassured about the quality of the 100% recycling process. A restricted tender procedure was conducted and 5 companies made a bid. The contract was carried out successfully in 36 hours, keeping travel disruption to a minimum. The Municipality saved 30% compared to usual costs for road resurfacing, which equates to approximately €20,000.