S.L. 623.7 Art. 6Purchases by contracting authorities to be cost effective. S.L. 601. 07.

(1) Contracting authorities shall only purchase products, services and buildings with high-energy efficiency performance, insofar as this is consistent with cost-effectiveness, economical feasibility, wider sustainability, technical suitability, as well as sufficient competition, as referred to in the Third Schedule. The aforementioned obligation shall apply to contracts for the purchase of products, services and buildings by public bodies in so far as these contracts have a value equal to or greater than the thresholds laid down in Article 7 of Directive 2004/18/EC as amended:

Provided that such obligation shall apply to the contracts of the armed forces, only to the extent that its application does not cause any conflict with the nature and primary aim of the activities of the armed forces and with the exception of military equipment as defined in the Public Procurement of Contracting Authorities or Entities in the fields of Defence and Security Regulations.

(2) Public bodies shall be encouraged by the Minister, including at local council level, with due regard for their respective competences and administrative set-up, to follow the exemplary role of Government departments to purchase only products, services and buildings with high-energy efficiency performance. Public bodies shall also be encouraged when tendering service contracts with significant energy content, to assess the possibility of concluding long term energy performance contracts that provide long-term energy savings.

(3) Without prejudice to sub-regulation (1), when purchasing a product package covered as a whole by a delegated act adopted under Directive 2010/30 EU, the aggregate energy efficiency shall take priority over the energy efficiency of individual products within that package, by purchasing the product package that complies with the criterion of belonging to the highest energy efficiency class.