CARBON AND ENERGY SAVING


Electric vehicle fleet All the Trust’s smaller vans have been electric for the past five years, and it now has 79 electric vehicle charging points across its sites. Michael Blades said: “We also have our own chargers ‘back of house’ for our own fleet, and are looking to invest in further EV charging points. We now have quite detailed information on the use of chargers; we have just had the associated software enhanced for real-time charging point availability.” Michael Blades added that the


software is aligned with that from other car charging software providers, so a driver wishing to use the Trust’s charging infrastructure no longer need be a member of the Hubsta scheme. He said: “Instead, they can come onto one of our sites with other charging cards and get access; provided you have a credit card, you can ring up and charge your car.”


£3.5 m invested so far I wondered if the team had quantified the potential cost savings from the decarbonisation scheme over time. Michael Blades replied: “Although I keep a


record of every project I work on, I don’t go back and re-value them. Clearly, also, carbon conversion factors and electricity costs change. The figures I could give you today would tell you that over a 10-year period, we’ve invested over £3.5 m in carbon reduction projects; that is separate to the North Tyneside project. Those projects are saving over 7,000 tonnes of carbon. “On the cost of electricity and gas at the time of me populating the spreadsheet over the years, the annual savings are just under £1 m. If I revalued those for current electricity and gas costs, the figure would be above £2 m.” He added: “Since 2012, we’ve invested in 85 separate projects – from LED lighting to inverter control, pipework heating insulation, new building management systems, and a new boiler house at Alnwick Infirmary, and have consistently exceeded the targets we have had to achieve in every period covered by our plans.” Owen Cusack and Michael Blades


explained that the contract with Breathe Energy will also see the company maintain the new LTHW system at


North Tyneside General Hospital for a 15-year term.


A pioneer? I asked Michael Blades and Owen Cusack whether they felt Northumbria Healthcare FM considered itself and the Trust as among the ‘pioneers’ of the original Sustainable Development Plans, later to become Green Plans. The latter said: “We have certainly tried to be a front-runner, and the Trust has been very supportive to us on our various initiatives. “This project was an especially big number, cash-wise, to go for. Prior to Salix, the Trust was going to fund this, which shows just how much of a carbon reduction ambition it has. The Salix funding was a godsend, and because we were so far down the tendering route, we could supply the information straight away. Michael has been working tirelessly to drive all this through. We like to think we’re trying to lead the way, even in having had Mike in his post for so long. Many NHS Trusts didn’t have people in such Energy and Sustainability roles until much more recently.”


Breathe and the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust


Breathe provides sustainable carbon and energy reduction solutions to help its customers ‘transition to Net Zero’ – via the design and construction of large-scale infrastructure renewal and renewables projects that ‘reduce carbon and energy use, and provide operating cost savings and improved building environments’ for its clients. At North Tyneside General Hospital, Breathe is designing and installing an extensive carbon reduction scheme that includes: n 1.4 MW air and water source heat pumps to provide low carbon thermal energy for around 80 per cent of the site’s annual demand. The heat pump system will simultaneously provide chilled water cooling for the theatre air-handling plant, with spare capacity for future cooling provision. n New dual-fired 4 MW LTHW boiler plant to support heat pumps and provide sufficient resilience for HTM compliance.


n Replacement of the ageing steam infrastructure and calorifiers with a new


LTHW network and plate heat exchangers.


56 Health Estate Journal June 2022


n A new roof-mounted solar PV array of around 1.2 MWp.


n Replacement of single-glazed windows with new double-glazed units.


n Retrofit of high-efficiency motors for air-handling plant.


n Cavity wall insulation. n Upgrade of critical HV electrical infrastructure.


Breathe MD, Jon Kershaw (pictured), said: “Breathe started out about 12 years ago as an Energy Performance Contracting business. The NHS has been the predominant client base for much of the company’s history. We have seen a transition in the demand from clients purely for energy reduction initiatives, to a greater focus on Net Zero and carbon reduction.


“In December 2019 we were acquired by Imtech, whose parent companies are EDF and Dalkia. The business had had a very successful 10 years, but was seeking new shareholder investment to continue the growth, and – with the backing of significant parent companies – we now have this. The new ownership gave us access both to wider services, and specialist expertise – whether renewables, electric vehicle solutions, or district heating specialisms. There is also an element of greater financial support, due to our parent company’s strong market standing. Our business has grown tremendously.


“From a UK perspective, the new ownership gave us the immediate benefits of being part of the wider Imtech group, within which we have Imtech’s Engineering Services business, which undertakes M&E contracting, and Inviron, a technical facilities maintenance company which provides operation and maintenance services on a number of Breathe projects, including at North Tyneside. Here it is operating and maintaining the hospital’s existing Energy Centre, and will be looking after the new equipment installed via the decarbonisation project.


“The North Tyneside General project is another exciting and innovative project, where we will be able to help an NHS hospital take that major step towards decarbonation. We are also looking at other Trust sites so we can support the organisation’s ongoing carbon reduction plan; we’re just embarking on the next stages of surveying.


“As part of our work at North Tyneside General, we are continuing to support local employment and supply chain opportunities; an important part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation funding was that it not only helps the Net Zero ambitions, but also invests in local economies. We are doing that with a number of the suppliers we’ve already engaged, and are very keen to expand it – whether on this current project, or on future schemes.”


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