Scaling sustainability: Transforming the Civil Service office estate for a net zero future

I’ll be joining Government Property Agency (GPA) colleagues and over 16,000 property peers heading up to Leeds for UKREiiF this May. The sheer size of the event got me thinking. How can we use that scale to have impact?

Scale and ambition are powerful things in sustainability. We’ve certainly got both at the GPA as we lead one of the country’s largest office transformation programmes to support the Civil Service and unlock value for the taxpayer. With over 50% of the government office estate under our management, we’ve got a unique opportunity to harness the portfolio to contribute to the UK’s Net Zero target – running buildings more efficiently and decarbonising them – and to create an estate that is resilient and set up for the future. 

Ambition must convert into delivery and under our Net Zero Programme to date, we’ve already saved over 14,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) across the onboarded estate as well as £2.8 million a year in utility bills versus 2019. Our work at 10 South Colonnade in London, home to employees from large departments including HM Revenue and the Cabinet Office, is a clear demonstration of the GPA’s commitment towards reduction in energy usage. A number of net zero focused projects, including the installation of heat pumps and LED lighting, has enabled the GPA to remove the gas fired boilers and reduce the dependency on gas.

We’re proud of these results but there’s more we want to achieve, both for the GPA portfolio and beyond. Back to my point about scale, we know that our work can be part of a broader push for change. As a public sector client developing, investing in and managing real estate, we can set a benchmark for others to follow – unlocking opportunities where the private sector can’t and showing what’s possible in places where it hasn’t been done before.  

Hopefully our work will encourage others to rethink what markets need and can sustain, from cities like Manchester, where our First Street hub is the city centre’s first building to achieve a NABERS 5.5 Design for Performance rating, to Peterborough where Quay House is built to BREEAM Excellent standard.

It’s great to see organisations like the British Council for Offices banging the drum for the delivery of more highly sustainable office buildings across the UK. I’m keen to see many more voices in Leeds rallying to the call. 

The GPA is collaborating with other government departments to create UKREiiF’s UK Government Campus. Find out more about our programme at the event, reach out today to find a time to connect gpaevents@gpa.gov.uk, or drop in to see us during the conference. I look forward to seeing you there.