CARBON AND ENERGY REDUCTION


How healthcare estates can reach Net Zero


Healthcare estates include key infrastructure to keep our society functioning, but many are ageing, and, in a number of instances, lagging behind those in other sectors when it comes to sustainability. Does support go far enough for these estates to upgrade and adopt low carbon energy solutions considering the UK’s ambitious 2050 carbon targets? Hannah Kissick, associate at international M&E consultancy, CPW, argues that not only is more funding needed, but also that it is time for ‘a fabric first’ approach.


With 25% of all carbon emissions defined as being produced by the built environment, the construction industry can effect real change on the road to Net Zero. At the same time, with dozens, if not hundreds, of crumbling NHS buildings, a significant hospital building programme in progress, and with Net Zero targets looming, the healthcare sector is now more reliant on the construction industry than it has been in a generation. With this in mind, the healthcare sector has a massive responsibility to match its development programmes with its sustainability efforts, which is where decarbonisation will make all the difference. We need to ensure that individual development plans for healthcare estates tie in with forward- thinking shared energy plans across both the public and private sector, but tight budgets mean that the reality is far more challenging than the theory.


The funding solution With capital budgets for the NHS increasingly squeezed, the drive for the decarbonisation required to enable healthcare estates to even get close to Net Zero by 2050 needs to be led by funding from central government. Fortunately, the UK Government and its non-departmental public body, Salix Finance, have recognised this, creating a number of funding schemes dedicated to enabling the wider public sector to reduce its carbon emissions. The Low Carbon Skills Fund provides


grants to help public bodies produce a heat decarbonisation plan (HDP) alongside specialist consultants in the first instance. This involves carrying out an analysis of the public body’s building or estate, and developing a strategy to move the site away from a natural gas or oil-fired heating strategy towards a lower CO2


measures. This source of funding is not only available to those with a HDP already in place, but also those that have independently completed the required calculations, measuring potential costs and predicted CO2


savings. Phase 1 of the PSDS provided £1 bn


in grants over the financial years 2020- 2021 and 2021-2022, and Phase 2 £75 m of grant funding for the financial year 2021-2022, with a stronger focus on heat decarbonisation. Phase 3 is set to provide £1.425 bn of grant funding over the financial years 2022-2023 to 2025- 2026, with Phase 3c having opened for applications last month. Naturally, the public bodies competing for these grants require support from experts in the field. At CPW we have supported many NHS and education sector clients with more than 15 applications across both funding streams, developing successful HDPs and design strategies. The PSDS supports the aim of reducing emissions from public sector buildings by 75% by 2037, an objective that can be tackled in various ways. One way that CPW has had success – especially in healthcare settings – is with a ‘fabric first’ approach. Incorporating the


learnings and principles of Passivhaus, this looks to reduce the energy demand first, and then find a suitable solution to make the remaining demand low or zero carbon. Utilising thermal imaging and heat flux monitors, it is possible to assess the thermal performance of buildings, which is particularly helpful when dealing with older buildings where construction documentation can be hard to come by. These technologies allow us to see where heat is escaping, how it’s travelling within a building, and how well a room holds its temperature.


Survey’s findings Surveys will often show general inefficiencies in existing systems, or building elements that are not fitted or working properly, and changing these can usually provide energy reductions without any significant capital expenditure. This can be as simple as changing control strategies or upgrading draughty windows and doors. Cold bridges can account for up to 30% of a building’s heat loss, and are impossible to see with the naked eye, so thermographic surveys helping to identify why a building may have an unexpectedly


-emitting alternative. Once this


plan is in place, the next step is the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), which provides grants to implement heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency


A redevelopment project CPW delivered at Kettering General Hospital saw it replace ageing site-wide energy infrastructure, and the wider development of a Net Zero carbon pathway for scope 1 and 2 emissions.


November 2023 Health Estate Journal 45


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