Berlin’s police force purchases some 200 vehicles every year. Their most recent tender (from May 2012) saw the inclusion of a number of environmental and economic requirements as recommended by the European Clean Vehicles Directive.

In addition to including some basic environmental criteria as a requirement, the contract was awarded based on the life-cycle, energy and environmental costs of the vehicles.

The environmental costs were calculated based on a) fuel consumption, b) energy consumption, c) CO2 emissions, d) NOx, e) non-methane hydrocarbons and f) particulate matter.

The tendering procedure, the first of its kind using life-cycle costing (LCC) including green costs, proved successful and thus will be used again by the police force in the future.

For more information, read the full Green Public Procurement case study (pdf).