CARBON REDUCTION


have charging points for electric vehicles? While the range of electric vehicles is now sufficient for day-to-day driving, we recognise and want to provide a solution to NHS workers that can’t charge their vehicles at home. We know that it is at often only at work that the car is parked for long enough to get charged, but car parking space on NHS sites is always at a premium. This means that providing charging points would encourage people to leave their vehicles on site for longer periods, which for many sites could be extremely problematic. We therefore plan to review staff car parking, with patient charging potentially being implemented, due to restricted car parking space. There are further considerations that are easily forgotten about too when it comes to transport; there is energy embedded into the vehicle, particularly in the battery, so what happens to this battery at the end of its life is also something we must consider and plan for.


Step 3: Planning for the future


When we think about the future of the healthcare estate, we must now, more than ever, have the government’s environmental targets at the forefront of our minds. The government has committed to 40 new-build hospitals, which will need to be net zero carbon. This means carbon reduction must be considered from the outset. We have accepted this challenge, and are reviewing how we can make our new health centres and GP surgeries net-zero, with the Devizes Integrated Health Centre in Wiltshire being our first net-zero health centre to be built.


A strong template for future projects The facility in Devizes is an Integrated Care Centre that will provide space for Wiltshire CCG to offer primary care in the form of GP and urgent care space to the local community. It is currently awaiting final stage design sign-off, which seeks an EPC rating of A+, going beyond BREEAM ‘excellent’ to be net zero in operation. The most notable change to a high-level base spec of BREEAM ‘excellent’ is the introduction of more solar panels to make it net zero in operation. This is an important step in our journey to zero carbon, and will provide a strong template for future projects.


When we consider how to best plan for other new-builds, I believe that the decision-making process must incorporate learnings from what is working well in other estates, and implement successes into other new builds. To do this requires a strong accumulation of data to learn from. Turning our data into information has historically been quite a struggle, but it is essential for future planning. We are taking steps to identify solutions, including


An NHSPS team, taken before the COVID-19 restrictions were put in place.


working with NHSE/I to improve the resilience of data and streamlining our data reporting. I encourage others who are looking to improve their data use to explore this process, as it can help to create new business opportunities, predict future trends, optimise current operational efforts, and produce actionable insights.


Data-based solutions Data-based solutions could enable problems within buildings to be addressed before the tenant even knows there is a problem. Energy usage can be monitored by linking to the Building Management System (BMS). This can then run diagnostics around performance, for example, of the air-conditioning system. Setting up benchmarking to assess good and poor performance with key metrics for electricity, gas, water, and waste, will mean that we can target sites that are either over or under the average, understand why, and ensure that resources are used wisely. We are also pushing for minimum performance standards, both at a building, and an infrastructure level. These standards will bring everyone onto the same page – from the design team, who will need to consider design and the planning or building code, to the contractors, who will need to consider why the building


Cameron Hawkins


Cameron Hawkins heads up the NHSPS Energy and Environment team, which is committed to reducing the environmental impact of the organisation’s buildings. He joined NHSPS as the head of Energy and Environment in December 2018 to head up the newly formed Energy and Environment team. Covering utilities, water, waste, and transport, his objectives are to reduce the environmental impact of NHSPS operations, reduce costs, and ensure compliance with environmental legislation.


He brings extensive experience in the energy


and environment industry, having most recently been a director of Energy Management at a global real estate company, overseeing the implementation of energy and environment strategies at over a dozen global, EMEA, and UK businesses. Prior to this he switched between consulting on, and project managing, large energy efficiency projects, ‘from New Zealand to New York’.


April 2021 Health Estate Journal 43


requirements may be different to normal, to the maintenance team, who will need to consider the skillset they will need to maintain the building. It also raises the minimum expectations on the above, so any innovation is true innovation, not just a step towards net-zero. At a building level, this would stipulate several electric vehicle charging points, use of renewable electricity, and a minimum EPC/BREEAM rating. This would be both for current sites and refurbishments, and when selecting leased space. The infrastructure level will include the above, as well as when backlog maintenance or dedicated energy efficiency upgrades are being undertaken, where perhaps only one section of the building is being targeted. This will include BMS, boilers, (including when to move to electric heating), and lighting.


Remaining positive


While it will be challenging to reach the NHS’s goal of net zero by 2040, I am hopeful that this will be possible. If the government provides adequate funding to organisations, and hydrogen is implemented as a 100% renewable energy source, I can envision a future where these targets are achieved, and can be comfortably maintained. I have been in the energy sector for 20 years, and I know from experience that energy saving and cost saving don’t always have the same, hoped-for outcome. However, if we are to meet the net zero goals, I do believe that we must focus on decarbonisation. We have the technologies to make this happen; thus if we can source the necessary finances, and ensure that our technologies remain cost-effective, we will be able to stay on the current path towards reaching our goals.


Reference 1 Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service. NHS England, October 2020 [https://tinyurl.com/4mvtfm8k].


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