CARBON AND ENERGY REDUCTION
Harnessing data through digital building tech
Martin Bissell, Emily Scoones, and James Thomson of Buildings (Digital) at global architecture, engineering, and consultancy company, Ramboll, argue that to stand a realistic chance of meeting its tough Net Zero targets within the timelines currently specified, the healthcare sector must adopt a multi-faceted approach. By embracing digital building tools and data, they say the sector has the chance to take meaningful steps to decarbonise existing building stock and achieve Net Zero targets, while simultaneously reducing its energy spend.
In the UK, the NHS produces 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide every year, and the healthcare sector’s sizeable carbon footprint is not a problem specific to the UK. In the USA, for example, the healthcare sector is responsible for 8.5% of the country’s total carbon emissions. Concerningly, the sector’s carbon emissions increased by 6% between 2010 and 2018 across America, despite the drive for a green transition. Globally, in 2018 the healthcare sector’s climate footprint was sufficiently large that if healthcare was a country, its climate footprint would have been the fifth largest in the world, bigger than both Japan’s and Brazil’s. Clearly, action needs to be taken by the healthcare sector on carbon emissions. In response, the NHS has set two clear targets to reach Net Zero. For emissions it controls directly (the NHS Carbon Footprint), it aims to reach Net Zero by 2040, with an ambition to have achieved an 80% reduction in emissions by 2032 at the latest. For emissions it can influence (the NHS Carbon Footprint Plus) meanwhile, it aims to reach Net Zero by 2045, with a target of having reduced emissions by 80% between 2036 and 2039.
Decarbonising not a simple process Action will need to be taken urgently if the NHS is to meet these pledges and become the world’s first Net Zero healthcare service by 2040. However, decarbonising the healthcare system will not be a simple process. One of the biggest challenges facing the UK’s health service is that, in the drive to decarbonise, the majority of the more straightforward steps, such as replacing diesel and petrol-powered vehicles with an EV fleet, have already been taken. As a result, the encouraging progress the NHS had been making has begun to stall. However, there is an area where significant progress can still be made. In the UK, NHS property and its
In the UK, NHS property and its supporting facilities services, including primary care, Trust, and Private Finance Initiative estate, account for 15% of the NHS’s total carbon emissions profile.
Martin Bissell
supporting facilities services, including primary care, Trust and Private Finance Initiative estate, accounts for 15% of the NHS’s total carbon emissions profile. This should not come as a surprise; healthcare buildings are typically energy-intensive, and that is particularly true of hospitals, which not only require a huge amount of energy, but must also be kept running all the time. The result is that hospitals use 2.5 times more energy than commercial buildings of an equivalent size.
Establishing a new pathway Improving energy efficiency in hospitals and other healthcare buildings would help to significantly reduce the operational carbon emissions of the healthcare estate. Historically, this could of course be achieved through demolition and building back better, but this is no longer an option given both the carbon and fiscal costs. Therefore, a new pathway must be established to decarbonise the existing building stock. No two hospitals are exactly alike, and across the
entirety of the UK healthcare sector’s property portfolio there is a huge range of buildings, including highly sophisticated laboratories, large city hospitals, and rural GP practices. The range of different buildings will therefore require a host of stakeholders, including NHS Trust leaders, property managers, structural engineers, and many others, to adopt a holistic approach to
Martin Bissell, head of Northern MEP at Ramboll UK, has over 30 years’ experience in the design and management of a wide range of M&E projects in many diverse market sectors. His career has encompassed projects ranging from low-energy offices, hospitals, and research facilities, to specialist military installations and private residences. Working closely with clients, architects, and other members of the design and construction teams, he is responsible for ensuring that quality solutions are delivered on time and on budget. He has embedded low carbon, sustainable design principles into projects for many years.
November 2024 Health Estate Journal 53
Gorden Murah Surabaya / Pexels
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