Energy Written by David Mackey, Carbon & Energy Fund
BUSINESS INFORMATION FOR HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS – www.healthbusinessuk.net
ESTATES MANAGEMENT
Implementing energy strategies in healthcare estates A new guide to energy best practice for healthcare estates has been published by the Carbon & Energy Fund. David Mackey outlines the background to the guide, the scope of its contents and usability Since the Lord Carter Report in February 2016 outlined opportunities for efficiency savings and environmental benefits within the health care system, the NHS, social care, and public health system, IHEEM and HEFMA have been supporting the Carbon & Energy Fund (CEF) in the creation of an essential piece of literature for all trusts – Implementing Energy Strategies in Healthcare Estates: A Best Practice Guide to the Model Hospital. Completed towards the end of September 2017, Lord Carter of Coles was so impressed with the final draft, he wrote the foreword: “I am delighted to introduce this best practice guide for developing trust-wide energy strategies for the NHS. This is a key area of strategic investment for trusts in meeting the challenge to reduce their estate operating costs. The economic benefits of strategic investment in energy projects are well known and understood by the NHS. National evidence suggests that there is still a lot more the NHS can do. This guide will provide a valuable source of information
to estates professionals, who have responsibility for developing viable strategic energy solutions for their organisations. “The ongoing revenue savings these schemes release provide much needed extra savings for trust boards. These resources can be utilised directly to improve the delivery of frontline patient care, or as leverage to provide capital funds with which to address the growing critical infrastructure and backlog maintenance risks of the NHS estate. Energy costs are currently rising and the outlook going forward is for that trend to continue. I believe this document, produced by the energy industry in partnership with NHS directors, professional and academic bodies, is the
most comprehensive source of reference material available to trusts, to enable them actively to develop and deliver commercially viable strategic energy solutions to significantly reduce the annual £650 million NHS energy bill.” With input from all of the CEF’s specialist team and suppliers, the guide covers every aspect of the energy infrastructure upgrade process, and clearly demonstrates the financial and environmental benefits of each energy technology and the suitability of those technologies for particular situations. Structured around a ‘Model Hospital’, the guide has been created with exclusive data garnered from over 40 schemes commissioned by NHS trusts that are already in commission, under construction, or, in the initial stages of sign up. Independent of all suppliers and pricing, the guide offers detailed information on the broad spectrum of technologies available to use within today’s health estate. All of the information featured has been tested and verified from ‘live’ schemes ranging in value from £1 million to £32 million – not lab tested or derived from a sales brochure.
The econom benefit ic s o f s t invest ra t e g project ment in energic sa y and undre well known the NHS erstood by evidenc , but nationa es l there is uggests that s more th till a lot eN can do HS
FUTURE INNOVATIONS As well as examining technologies available now, the guide also looks at those available in the future and at recent innovations that are starting to become financially viable. Each technology has its own section featuring: a description of the technology; how it can benefit a trust and what to consider. In order to achieve parity across trusts and technology instruction on calculating savings, it demonstrates what you should expect and
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