Sustainability
Heating, hot water, and the journey to net zero
Sustainability is increasingly rising up the agenda for care providers amid concerns over climate change, high energy costs, and the changing legislative landscape. With heat typically the largest user of energy in care homes, Andy Green, head of technical solutions at Baxi, looks at the achievable opportunities for improved efficiency and carbon reduction
Today, there are around 17,000 care homes located across the UK, caring for just under half a million people. If we consider that the average care home’s annual carbon emissions are around 100 tonnes, the total carbon impact of these buildings could be as much as 1.5 million tonnes per year. This significant carbon footprint offers both huge scope for improvement opportunities as well as challenges due to the sheer scale of the task ahead. Of course, new build care homes will be
designed and built for net zero operation. But these properties are just the tip of the iceberg. With some 70 per cent of existing care establishments expected to be in use in 2050, serving our growing ageing population, refurbishing the UK’s existing care home building stock is the real challenge. So where to start? As the heating and hot water service is typically the largest energy
user in these buildings, this is a good place to begin. Providing a reliable and efficient heating and hot water system is vital to ensure high-quality care, comfort and wellbeing for the more vulnerable residents. Targeting carbon and energy reduction will also contribute to our national net zero target and can help mitigate the reported high utility costs putting pressure on operational budgets. But identifying the best approach to
decarbonising heat can feel daunting for care home operators, as our recent survey of over 400 care homes managers revealed. Budget pressures, eligibility for funding and technical understanding of achievable options were named the top challenges surrounding decarbonising heating and hot water in their buildings by our care home respondents. Subsequent focus group sessions also revealed that unplanned
replacements are common, frequently resulting in a like-for-like distress purchase rather than enabling the care home operator to plan and implement a phased approach to net zero. In this article, we will consider a range of
achievable measures to improve the efficiency of the heating system and reduce its carbon impact. These extend from early-stage energy efficiency quick wins in older care homes to fully electric options integrating renewable technologies such as low carbon heat pumps, solar photovoltaic panels and battery storage in new and refurbished buildings.
Sustainability drivers Let us first consider the drivers for change. Care homes are in scope of a range of social, general, and care home specific regulatory drivers that are pushing sustainability up the agenda.
October 2025
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com 47
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