To ask the Minister of Finance and Personnel for his assessment of the success of programmes to improve the energy efficiency of public buildings.

I can only answer the question in relation to Northern Ireland Civil Service (NICS) Office Estate for which my Department has responsibility. Energy consumption of this Estate equates to 4% of the total Northern Ireland public sector consumption. Energy efficiency programmes for all other public buildings are the responsibility of the Department which manages those buildings.

A three year Energy Efficiency Plan for 2011-14 for the Office Estate has been completed and an updated Plan covering 2014-17 will be published shortly. Both Plans identify three primary mechanisms by which energy consumption can be reduced:

reduction in the footprint of the Office Estate;

capital investments in energy efficiency measures and equipment; and

behavioural change of staff occupying the Estate.

Steps taken so far to improve energy efficiency include:

the implementation of recommendations from comprehensive energy surveys;

the implementation of Display Energy Certificate (DECs) recommendations;

voltage optimisation pilot projects; and

providing premises officers with limited access to Building Energy Management System (BEMS).

Energy consumption data has shown that in first year of the 2011-14 Office Estate Energy Efficiency Plan, a 3.5% reduction in energy consumption was achieved and assessment of the following two years indicates that the Department is on track to meet the combined 2011–14 plan target of 10% energy reduction (approximately 9,500megawatts hours (Mwh)).