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This guide provides a comprehensive checklist and business case for public-sector procurers and policy-makers to implement sustainable public procurement (SPP). It emphasizes shifting the procurement mindset from 'best value for money' at the point of purchase to 'best value across the project/product life cycle,' utilizing life-cycle costing (LCC) to justify the higher upfront costs of green assets through long-term efficiency gains and reduced environmental externalities.

This white paper examines the integration of Life Cycle Costing (LCC) within sustainable public procurement (SPP), arguing that current models often fail to deliver the best value for taxpayers by overemphasizing upfront purchase prices over long-term operational and environmental costs. The authors identify systemic barriers—including conflicting capital and revenue budgets, a lack of professional expertise, and data gaps—and recommend that LCC be integrated into high-level public expenditure and resource allocation policies rather than remaining a routine procurement task.