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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Environment

Public building CO2 footprints revealed

Bank of England
Bank of England
Energy efficiency rating: G
Annual C02 emissions: 11,983 tonnes of carbon
Around 18,000 buildings, including town halls, museums, schools and job centres, are being tested to discover their energy efficiency on a sliding scale where A is the best and G is the worst. The Bank of England, above, isn't so good at saving energy
Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty
Palace of Westminster
Palace of Westminster
Energy efficiency rating: G
Annual C02 emissions: 11,983 tonnes of carbon
The Bank of England together with the Palace of Westminster consume enough electricity and gas to pump out 21,356 tonnes of CO2 a year, the equivalent of more than 14,000 people flying from London to New York
Photograph: Doug Armand/Getty
Imperial War Museum North
Imperial War Museum North
Energy efficiency rating: G
Annual C02 emissions: 1,396 tonnes of carbon
In Salford, the Imperial War Museum North, designed by Daniel Libeskind and opened in 2002, scored a G, the same as the building of its sister museum in London, completed in 1815
Photograph: Don McPhee/Guardian
Natural History Museum
Natural History Museum
Energy efficiency rating: E
Annual C02 emissions: 10,026 tonnes of carbon
The Natural History Museum spends £1.4m a year on electricity and gas - a figure that is expected to double from this month as a result of rising world energy prices
Photograph: Getty
HM Treasury
HM Treasury
Energy efficiency rating: E
Annual C02 emissions: 4,122 tonnes of carbon
The Treasury's headquarters, despite a complete office refurbishment six years ago that was supposed to "set new environmental standards in Whitehall", is still towards the bottom of the list
Photograph: Cate Gillon/Getty
GLA building
City Hall, London
Energy efficiency rating: E
Annual C02 emissions: 2,255 tonnes of carbon
New buildings also fared badly, raising questions about the validity of sustainability claims made by architects and developers. London's City Hall, built in 2002, was described by its architect Foster & Partners as a "virtually non-polluting public building" yet has scored an E
Photograph: David Levene/freelance
DEFRA
Defra head office
Energy efficiency rating: E
Annual C02 emissions: 1,322 tonnes of carbon
The government estimates that almost a fifth of all carbon dioxide emissions in the UK are caused by non-residential buildings. The findings are likely to embarrass the government, which has pledged to make all new public buildings zero carbon by 2018. The Department for the Environment's head office recorded an E
Photograph: Alisdair Macdonald/Rex Features
Downing Street
Downing Street
Energy efficiency rating: D
Annual C02 emissions: 675 tonnes of carbon
No 10 Downing Street is better than average for its building type. But the prime minister's heating, lighting and air conditioning still create a bigger carbon footprint than a street of 28 families of four living in semi-detached homes, each driving 10,000 miles a year and flying to Spain on an annual holiday
Photograph: Rex Features
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