VENTILATION SYSTEMS
Putting planned maintenance top of the list
A planned maintenance strategy can pay for itself, and should be a top priority, explains Craig Harding, Technical Field Service manager at HVAC specialist, Aermec UK.
Healthcare services are facing unprecedented challenges on numerous fronts, and identifying a roadmap for Net Zero emissions for a system as large as the NHS is challenging. The government’s focus is for the NHS to be the first Net Zero healthcare service in the world by 2045. Underpinning the delivery of care and a comfortable environment for patients as well as employees is an essential cooling and heating infrastructure. The NHS currently contributes approximately 4-5% of the UK’s total carbon emissions. Decarbonisation is expensive, but a good HVAC maintenance strategy that informs and influences how healthcare estates operate can ensure that the buildings and plant sited within them operate efficiently, are compliant, and are at lower risk of unexpected incidents and ‘outages’, which can incur high costs.
Complex and energy-intensive HVAC systems in healthcare estates can be some of the most convoluted systems – little wonder when in many cases such estates have vast air-conditioning, ventilation, and heating systems across many locations. They also use significant amounts of potable water and energy. Many systems are run continuously. A robust and detailed maintenance programme is crucial to provide insight into the health of your estate. It will reduce long-term maintenance costs, ensure the expected lifecycle cost return on your investment is achieved without premature failure, and help maintain decarbonisation. The fluctuating availability of fossil fuels, combined with their harmful effect on the planet, means they are no longer financially or ethical viable. Boosting resilience and energy efficiencies in existing equipment can help build greater resilience in health estates, and contribute to the transition towards more sustainable technologies and meeting Net Zero targets.
Coils being jet-washed. All NHS Foundation Trusts have a
statutory responsibility for managing their assets. Trusts – like any other organisation – need to stay on top of legislative requirements, and to reduce their emissions and carbon footprints while delivering high standards of care. It is a difficult balancing act. Chiller or air- handling unit failures and other unplanned reactive works can prove costly, as well as resulting in disturbances to the day-to-day running of, in many cases, vast estates and delivery of patient care. Healthcare estates managers need to be initiative-taking and innovative. Many Trusts have in place an estates
and facilities strategy to ensure that their estate delivery is fit for purpose, cost- efficient, and sustainable, while addressing future needs. Managing any health estate and all its facilities is complex, and requires a comprehensive and robust strategy to be in place. All four countries in the UK have a Health Technical Memorandum 03-01 (HTM) in place. These are a documents published by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) which offer comprehensive guidance and suggestions relating to the design, installation, and operation, of specialised buildings and the
engineering technologies used. The documents comprise two parts – Part A and Part B. The former applies to the design, specification, installation, and acceptance of healthcare ventilation systems, whereas Part B covers all systems regardless of age, and requires that the existing installation should be compliant with all new requirements, even retrospectively.
A specialist field
Air-handling units and chillers in a healthcare environment is a specialist field. The HTM guidelines are there to protect the health of all stakeholders, and the HTM guidelines play an especially important role in the healthcare space and how it functions. For example, HVAC systems have a pivotal role when it comes to determining infection rates in an Intensive Care Unit, in addition to providing a generally comfortable and safe environment for patients, staff, and any visitors. Maintaining a good and safe indoor air quality is an important strategy. During the pandemic, Aermec’s R&D
team responded by designing the FCZ-H sanitising fan coil unit to help mitigate the transmission of viruses including COVID-19. Virus particles are small enough
May 2024 Health Estate Journal 51
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