In a year marked by record-breaking temperatures, with the construction and built environment matching agriculture’s 37% share of Ireland’s national emissions[1], urgent action to decarbonise this sector is no longer optional.
Ireland’s Climate Action Plan 2024 stresses that the public sector must lead by example on climate action. While each Local Authority must reduce greenhouse gas emissions across its assets and infrastructure, it must also take on the broader role of reducing emissions throughout its jurisdictional area through collaboration.
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Green Procurement Strategy Takes Centre Stage
In Ireland, public bodies spend an estimated €18.5 billion a year on goods, services and works. This provides Ireland’s public sector with significant influence to stimulate and actively encourage the provision of more resource-efficient, low-carbon, less polluting goods, services and works in the marketplace.
April 2024 saw the Irish government launch “Buying Greener: Green Public Procurement Strategy and Action Plan 2024-2027,” signalling a strong commitment to embedding green and circular procurement practices.
Over the last few years, the Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) has worked to develop solutions that could transform how local authorities approach sustainable procurement, particularly valuable for addressing carbon emissions.
Harnessing the Power of Green Public Procurement with the CO2 Performance Ladder
Embedding Green Public Procurement (GPP) into local authorities’ practice can be challenging and time-consuming. The CO2 Performance Ladder offers a user-friendly and affordable framework that makes implementing it significantly more straightforward.
The CO2 Performance Ladder has been employed in the Netherlands since 2009 and is recognised as best practice in green procurement by several bodies such as the OECD, the World Economic Forum, and the IPCC. Over 300 contracting authorities in Europe, including local authorities, ministries, and other semi-public bodies, already use it in their tendering processes.
The Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) is now piloting this tool, offering Irish Local Authorities a powerful new instrument to address climate change through their purchasing decisions.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), for example, has already integrated the ladder as a Green Public Procurement (GPP) tool into the tender document for the M7 Kildare bypass pavement project, leading to a significant reduction in project emissions.
How the CO2 Performance Ladder Works
As a tendering instrument, the CO2 Performance Ladder consists of five implementation levels for CO2 management in projects, encouraging contractors to reduce carbon emissions within the project. The system creates a win-win scenario for both public bodies and businesses by integrating sustainability directly into the tendering process:
- Organisations certified on the Ladder receive a tangible award advantage during tendering (up to 10% discount on tendering costs)
- Higher certification levels translate to greater advantages.
- Commissioning parties determine the specific award advantages at each level.
- Organisations are not required to be certified during the tendering process. However, they bid with the commitment to achieve certification within a specified timeframe
Proven Success in Amsterdam
The Dutch capital is a successful example, incorporating the CO2 Performance Ladder as an award criterion in hundreds of tenders annually. This systematic approach has become essential in advancing the municipality’s climate ambitions.
Organisations certified through the Ladder not only actively reduce their carbon emissions but also gain a competitive edge in securing public projects, creating a virtuous cycle of environmental and economic benefits.
Support Available for Irish Local Authorities
The IGBC offers comprehensive support to local authorities interested in testing and implementing this tool in Ireland. This includes,
- Expert advice on suitable tender types and legal implementation
- Capacity building for suppliers new to the Ladder system
- Participation in pre-tendering market engagement
- Knowledge-sharing sessions with experienced international users
As local authorities face mounting pressure to address climate impacts, the CO2 Performance Ladder represents a practical step forward—one that aligns environmental priorities with procurement processes already in place.
For more information, visit www.co2performanceladder.com and contact Marianne Ibrahim, Project Manager.
Home Performance Index: Delivering Sustainable Homes Beyond Carbon
The IGBC offers another powerful tool for local authorities seeking to reach their climate goals, the Home Performance Index (HPI) Certification. The HPI is Ireland’s national certification standard for new homes, like commercial counterparts such as LEED and BREEAM.
When specified as a standard in tenders, the Home Performance Index ensures certified developments deliver high standards of building, high quality of well-being and health while protecting the environment. Beyond carbon emissions, it can help with other critical actions local authorities have to implement, such as climate adaptation (e.g., SuDs), improved air quality and enhanced biodiversity.
Crucially for public authorities, the Home Performance Index is EU Taxonomy aligned which gives access to green finance with lower interest rates.
The certification’s value has already been recognised by major public entities, with both Dublin City Council and the Land Development Agency now specifying HPI Certification within their development tenders.
For more information about HPI, please visit homeperformanceindex.ie and contact John Fingleton, Certification Programme Manager.
[1] Irish Green Building Council – Building a Zero Carbon Roadmap (2022)
