It's not easy being green…

I was reminded of this unreasonable obstinacy regarding all things green when I gave a presentation to an audience of public sector building managers. I did my normal breathless 20-minute spiel about the golden age of renewable energy funding, once in a lifetime opportunity, etc, then stood back expecting a smatter of polite applause, a few questions and possibly the odd whoop of enthusiasm.

But, instead, I was met by a silent sea of sullen faces, folded arms and the odd mutter about listed buildings, austerity cuts and 'some of us having to live in the real world'.

This experience was not entirely unexpected. Most of the developers and investors I work with used to moan about trying to sell energy efficiency to the public sector. They complained about a wall of bureaucracy, inflexible procurement regulations and a 'not invented here' mentality.

What is more telling now is that the market has stopped complaining and has pretty much just given up on the public sector all together. They are working with industry, retail and other more sectors where it is simply easier to get things done.

For the hard-pushed public sector, this is a massive missed opportunity. You probably work in a big draughty old building that leaks energy like a sieve. I am guessing you also complain about austerity cuts and worry about your future job security. These three facts are not entirely unrelated.

We have been over this ground before, but it is worth rehearsing once again. Collectively the public sector is the UK's single largest consumer of energy. It has thousands of buildings, most of which are more than 50 years old and cost a fortune to heat, light and cool. As a rough guide, the sector probably spends at least a couple of billion pounds annually buying fossil fuel energy. The price of this is going up inexorably and in the last three years the price of electricity alone has risen by 50%.

At the same time, the development of technology to reduce energy consumption is booming along in leaps and bounds. Low-energy lighting, building management systems, more efficient boilers and good old-fashioned insulation have all become mainstream technologies that collectively can save 25-30% on the average building's energy bill.

So we have three factors coming together: lots of leaky old buildings occupied by users who are facing unparalleled budget cuts; continual improvements in technology that deliver massive savings in energy usage; and, finally, the price of fossil fuel power going up every year.

You would think this would lead to a huge industry in public sector energy efficiency schemes. You would think everybody in your organisation would be turning down the thermostat, installing LED lighting and switching to newer boilers. You would think energy conservation would be top of the list of priorities for your leadership team and members. You would think all of these things, but you would be wrong.

There are lots of public sector organisations that talk about their green credentials but the number that are actually doing anything significant is still less than a couple of hundred or so. Yes, that's right, a couple of hundred or so in a sector that, according to my helpful contact at the Office of National Statistics, employs 5.7 million people and has precisely 8,280 separate organisations.

As ever, there are few shining beacons in the gloom and some councils and hospitals are doing a huge amount to cut their energy costs. Peterborough, Nottingham and Wiltshire councils are all great examples of what can be done, but they are laudable exceptions. 95% of the public sector is not doing anything significant at all about energy conservation or, if they are, they are keeping it very, very quiet.