Duurzaam bouwen, maar tegen welke prijs?
Hoe kan een maatregel die bedoeld is om de bouwsector groener en eerlijker te maken, ervoor zorgen dat minder bedrijven meedoen in het biedingsproces en de projectkosten oplopen?
De groene ambitie van Europa
In recente decennia werd de toenemende belangstelling voor duurzaamheid binnen het Europese beleid geconcretiseerd met ambitieuze initiatieven zoals de Europese Green Deal. In dat kader wordt groene publieke aanbesteding (Green Public Procurement, GPP) steeds vaker ingezet als strategisch beleidsinstrument om duurzaamheidsdoelstellingen te verwezenlijken.
Wat houdt dit nu concreet in?
Kortweg betekent het dat overheden bij bouwprojecten niet alleen meer moeten kijken naar wie de laagste prijs biedt, maar ook naar duurzaamheidscriteria. Denk aan minder CO₂-uitstoot, recycling van materialen of het verplicht gebruiken van milieuvriendelijke producten.
Klinkt als een win-win: de publieke sector bouwt groener, de bedrijven worden gestimuleerd om mee te verduurzamen. Maar in de praktijk blijkt het een stuk lastiger.
Minder bieders op de markt
In mijn onderzoek heb ik tienduizenden aanbestedingen in de Europese bouwsector (2012-2023) onderworpen aan een quasi-experimentele onderzoeksmethode. De gekozen methode maakt het mogelijk om te achterhalen wat er gebeurt als overheden milieucriteria toevoegen aan hun aanbestedingen.
De uitkomst was opvallend. Zodra zulke duurzaamheidscriteria gelden, doen er gemiddeld 15 tot 24 procent minder bedrijven mee in de biedingsronde. Dat is opmerkelijk, want deze criteria mogen en kunnen bieders niet beletten om een offerte in te sturen volgens de legale definitie.
Waarom doen bedrijven dan niet mee?
De verminderde participatie lijkt eerder te wijten aan nog niet geïdentificeerde percepties of factoren, hoogstwaarschijnlijk economisch of strategisch gemotiveerd.
Desalniettemin, fungeren milieucriteria, zelfs zonder enige formele uitsluitingskracht, als een zachte toetredingsbarrière tot de markt, waardoor het concurrentievermogen van bieders wordt verminderd. De resultaten roepen de fundamentele vraag op of milieudoelstellingen wel goed te combineren zijn met de basisprincipes van de Europese interne markt.
Wordt bouwen ook duurder?
Ja, vaak wel. Projecten met milieucriteria blijken gemiddeld 5 tot 18 procent duurder uit te vallen in vergelijking met niet-groene projecten.
Toch is de link minder zwart-wit. Bij duurzame aanbestedingen hoeft de goedkoopste offerte namelijk niet meer automatisch te winnen. Kwaliteit en duurzaamheid tellen mee, waardoor de logica van “meer bieders = lagere prijs” niet altijd opgaat. Traditioneel geldt dat meer biedingen leiden tot lagere prijzen, maar het gebruik van niet-prijscriteria binnen duurzame aanbestedingen maakt deze relatie complexer.
Groene aanbestedingen maken onze bouwprojecten milieuvriendelijker. Maar ze zetten de markt ook onder druk. De vraag is dus niet of we duurzamer moeten bouwen, maar hoe we dat doen zonder de deur dicht te slaan voor te veel spelers.
Botsing tussen idealen en marktregels
En daar wringt het schoentje: de EU wil duurzaamheid promoten, maar tegelijk vasthouden aan de spelregels van de interne markt: gelijke kansen, non-discriminatie en eerlijke concurrentie. Met groene aanbestedingen schuurt dat. Duurzaamheidsdoelen en marktprincipes botsen vaker dan gedacht.
Wat nu?
Betekent dit dat we moeten stoppen met groene aanbestedingen? Zeker niet. Maar het beleid moet slimmer. Hoewel de integratie van milieucriteria bedoeld is om duurzaamheid binnen de grenzen en veiligheid van de interne markt te bevorderen, suggereren de bevindingen dat het onbedoeld concurrentie belemmeringen teweegbrengt, waardoor juist de principes die ten grondslag liggen aan de interne markt van de EU, worden verstoord.
Mijn onderzoek laat zien dat de balans tussen groen bouwen en een open, competitieve markt nog niet is gevonden. Bovendien is het voor sommige bedrijven zelfs lastiger om mee te doen en kan de prijs van projecten flink omhoog geduwd worden. Mijn thesis daagt daarom de overtuiging en het begrip van de Europese Commissie over de impact en het potentieel van de GPP inzake openbare aanbestedingen uit.
De boodschap is duidelijk: de Europese richtlijn voor openbare aanbestedingen moet slimmer worden toegepast. Duurzaamheidsdoelen moeten beter worden afgestemd op de principes van de Europese interne markt. Alleen zo kunnen we letterlijk en figuurlijk bouwen aan een groene en eerlijke toekomst.
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