Oral question asked in the House of Commons, by David Leslie Taylor (Labour). It was answered by Nick Harvey (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 26 November 2009 on behalf of the House of Commons Commission.

Energy Efficiency (House of Commons)

Question: What steps the House of Commons Commission plans to take to improve the energy efficiency of buildings on the House of Commons part of the parliamentary estate.

Answer: In the last 18 months, the House service has reconfigured building management systems and installed new remote energy meters and kitchen ventilation and lighting controls, as well as energy-efficient lighting and movement sensors. It has also initiated an IT upgrade and a server virtualisation programme, and begun an insulation trial as part of the cast iron roof project. An estate-wide environmental assessment is currently under way to identify future options, which include further building management system changes, voltage optimisation, draft proofing and behaviour-change programmes. That will allow for a challenging but realistic environmental target, supported by an action plan to be set before the House in 2010.

Secondary information