HEALTHCARE
If care homes are going to invest in new or refurbished buildings, they must ensure that it will be able to provide the best environment for often vulnerable members of society that must be well looked after. Along with this duty of care, the high energy expenditure that often comes with providing it must also be carefully managed to ensure that the building remains efficient and won’t cost unnecessary amounts to keep warm or cool.
An engaged supply chain
BUILDING CARE HOMES FOR A CHANGING WORLD With more than 1.9 million requests for support and 841,000 people receiving state-funded long-term care showing in the most recent statistics, social care is in significant demand. Combine that with the ongoing financial crisis and the ambitious national targets for carbon emission reduction, and you have a perfect storm for public sector care homes to weather. Simon Briggs, Energy Lead at complete construction partner Stepnell, believes the key to addressing this daunting series of challenges is to ensure care and health projects are designed and built with sustainability in mind. nearly 500,000 residents currently W ith in care homes across the country and a rapidly-ageing population, there is rightfully an ever-increasing focus on residential care for older people. On top of this, better diagnosis of developmental challenges and childhood traumas have seen a significant rise in those under 18 requiring social care.
This increase of pressures on the system have seen the value of the care sector overall increase to more than £16bn, and – with the rise in the cost of utilities like energy and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis showing little sign of easing – more and more responsibility falls on the public sector care providers to scrutinise the efficiency of their existing facilities and planned builds.
An important element of executing these design ideals is having the contractor involved at the earliest possible stage. In its simplest sense, early engagement means that conversations about buildability can be had while the project is still in the design stage, and a contractor can lend its expertise to the process to aid the client’s decision making. Another major benefit of this is that the supply chain and key material suppliers are also brought to the table early, which helps maximise efficiencies and allows for early purchasing of materials. This is something that has become increasingly important in the past year in particular, with significant material shortages caused by a combination of Brexit regulations, the long tail of the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. One of the ways the public sector is able to achieve early engagement is by procuring projects through frameworks. Frameworks help to ensure quality and cost effectiveness and can support the public sector by providing a faster route to project delivery. Through our work procured through several framework agreements, including specifically for the public sector, Stepnell has found that they provide a collaborative platform for all parties with shared success factors, bringing greater efficiencies at project and programme level while safely delivering innovation, on time and to budget. While this is the case for new buildings, there is still a significant challenge with the existing public estate and retrofitting its respective infrastructure. Again, early engagement here is key to finding the right solution, and any actions taken need to be based on the particular energy usage profile. This can only properly happen when there are open and honest conversations between clients, contractors, consultants and end users. Bringing these stakeholders together will allow informed decisions to be made, generating realistic and achievable decarbonisation plans.
The energy question It’s no secret that care home running costs can be astronomical. With the essential heating and lighting – not to mention any medical equipment required – there is a real need for efficiencies to be found wherever possible.
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