ENERGY
Improving the efficiency of carbon management at Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust
to 15 per cent higher efficiency levels than standard condensing boilers regardless of primary circuit temperatures. They work by recovering what would otherwise be wasted energy, passing it back into the system for the benefit of space heating (underfloor heating or low temperature radiators) or pre-heating domestic hot water. They are particularly relevant for use on old heating systems that by their nature require more energy to heat. Once the heating equipment is fitted, regular and effective maintenance is essential for boilers to achieve their best performance. The annual service should include flue gas analysis, controls calibration and burner cleaning. For example, if combustion conditions are not right, soot can build up on the fire side of the boiler’s heat exchanger, creating an insulating layer and inhibiting heat transfer to the water. A 1mm layer of soot will cause a 10 per cent increase in energy input to the boiler to meet the same heat demand. In hard water areas, limescale can build up on the water side of the boiler, creating an insulating layer on the water side of the boiler’s heat exchanger which inhibits heat transfer to the water, requiring more energy input to the boiler in order to meet the same heat demand. A 1mm layer of scale can cause a 7 per cent increase in energy requirement. Specialist chemical treatment is necessary to remove the scale and should be carried out annually. Checking the insulation is also important as boiler insulation degrades and can account for heat losses of up to 10 per cent of the energy output on old equipment. This is also true of the pipework and valves.
Contaminated water can reduce the efficiency of a boiler and system considerably, potentially by up to 10 per cent, so examining the quality of the water is important. Chemical treatment is the most effective means of purification. Refurbishment and effective maintenance of heating equipment requires relatively low investment but delivers rapid financial and environmental savings. In these times of continued austerity, energy efficiency offers the practical, affordable, sustainable means of reducing our energy demand and improving our building stock. It’s the win- win approach.
www.remeha.co.uk
I
n support of the NHS’s carbon reduction strategy and the targets laid out in the Climate Change Act, Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals (SWBH) NHS Trust has developed a carbon management Plan (cmP). the cmP focuses on measuring, monitoring and reducing the Trust’s carbon emissions 15% by 2016/17, alongside engaging with staff and stakeholders. To assist with meeting these reduction targets and other reporting requirements, SWBH NHS Trust has implemented Greenstone’s enterprise software solution. The use of Greenstone significantly reduces the burden of data gathering across multiple hospital sites, enabling the Trust to focus on analysing the data and identifying carbon reduction opportunities.
THE NHS’S CHALLENGE
As the largest employer in Europe, the NHS as a whole is faced with the challenge of rolling out an organisation- wide carbon reduction strategy as well as monitoring progress on a Trust by Trust basis. It is therefore difficult to ensure consistency in the calculation of emissions when individual Trusts have to gather, calculate and monitor their data independently.
The biggest challenge SWBH Trust faces is the large amount of data stored on increasingly complex spreadsheets. With energy, waste, water and travel data all kept in a central spreadsheet, meeting reporting requirements with up to date and calculated carbon emissions data can prove very difficult.
SWBH NHS TRUST’S SOLUTION SWBH NHS Trust has addressed these challenges through the introduction of carbon management software. Greenstone’s software solution provides fast and accurate analysis, as well as customisable reports which enable in- depth analysis of energy, business travel, fleet travel, waste, and water consumption across all areas of the Trust. The use of Greenstone’s software and supporting services will enable NHS Trusts to: • Calculate, manage and report carbon emissions from multiple emission sources across its sites and operational activities
• Compare performance across all hospitals or energy meters and waste streams
• Tag Fleet travel data as leased or Public sector sustainability • Volume 3 issue 9 25
owned, patient or non-patient and by department
• monitor waste consumption by type and treatment type, including clinical waste
• monitor water consumption • Create CRC Annual and Footprint reports
• Produce automated user defined reports across all emission sources
• Use flexible dashboards used to meet range of reporting requirements e.g. trust carbon management Plan, CRC, EU ETS, Trust Annual Reports
• Use NHS specific carbon intensity metrics e.g. number of beds, number of ambulance, clinical area
THE RESULT Through the use of Greenstone,
SWBH NHS Trust can now upload resource consumption data each month and calculate carbon emissions against a continually updated database of internationally recognised methodologies and emission factors. This has led to the solution becoming the central solution to manage data across all three hospitals in the Trust, relieving the administrative burden and enabling the team to focus on analysing results, meeting multiple reporting requirements and achieving reduction targets.
THE BIGGER PICTURE – A SOLUTION FOR ALL NHS TRUSTS
The use of enterprise level software has provided the SWBH NHS Trust with a consistency in its approach to calculating emissions. In addition, carefully defining the structure of the Trust within the solution and determining the availability and quality of each data set, has created the robust results required in order to help meet the NHS carbon reduction targets. This solution can be rolled-out to
any NHS Trust or related institution to improve efficiency in data collection, carbon measurement and reporting. It can be relied upon to produce immediate and meaningful results and can lead to an increased level of understanding and engagement in the overall NHS carbon reduction strategy. For more information please contact Gyles Scott-Hayward on
gscott-hayward@greenstoneplus.com or call him on 020 3031 4000.
www.greenstoneplus.com
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32