Sustainable Hospital Award

sponsored by Climate Consulting
The environment in which people live and work, has a key influence on their health. This award recognises the NHS hospital that has made progress towards sustainability through the smarter use of energy, transport, waste management etc in order to strive towards a reduced impact of healthcare facilities on the environment.

2011 Winner

NHS Barnsley - Kendray Hospital
Completed through the Procure 21 Framework, Barnsley Primary Care Trust’s Kendray Mental Health Unit provides high levels of adult care in a pleasant and safe environment. Central to the design was the need to provide a natural environment incorporating sustainable features and creating therapeutic themed gardens that also serve to enhance local biodiversity. Key building materials such as timber cladding and recycled aluminium alloy roof cladding have also been used. The main circulation areas promote social interaction and utilises natural daylighting from high level windows and rooflights. Ground source heating and cooling was included on the basis that this performs very well with low grade heating requirements such as that used in underfloor heating.

Commended

Maidstone & Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust
A monitoring and targeting project run by the Estates and Facilities Department has enabled Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust to reduce its gas and electricity bills by £139,000 during the 2010/11 financial year as well as using 20 per cent less water across its sites. Energy saving initiatives have included the installation of effective steam control equipment and a heat recovery system at the Trust’s laundry in Parkwood, Maidstone. Optimising existing systems and more frequent energy usage surveys to highlight changing trends have saved money and energy. FM company Capita, responsible for the Trust’s IT, has also implemented an energy-efficient datacentre that will monitor the use of energy, supporting the Trust’s green agenda.

Queen Elizabeth Hospital King’s Lynn NHS Foundation Trust
The Environment Agency’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) league tables show that the The Queen Elizabeth Hospital continues to lead the way as a thoroughly green organisation. To lead the CRC league table, the hospital was judged against three ‘metrics’ covering overall emissions, change in the rate of emissions and voluntary implementation of automatic metering. In January 2008 the QEH received an award from energy-saving concern ENER.G for reducing emissions by 387 tonnes the previous year – equivalent to providing the world with a ‘green lung’ of nearly 60,000 trees. Last year the hospital’s continuing good work was recognised with the award of the Carbon Trust Standard, whose logo is now displayed on Trust documents.

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2010 Winner:
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust

Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust uses an innovative Combined Heat and Power (CHP) system that has led to a £1.5m cut in its annual energy spend and a 20% year-on-year reduction in its projected carbon dioxide emissions - the  equivalent of taking over 3,500 cars off the road every year. Guys and St.Thomas has worked with the Carbon Trust on its public sector carbon management programme for the last three years. As a result, the Trust invested £10m in CHP engines which have brought substantial savings on energy costs while providing heat for the hospital wards and hydrotherapy pools among other uses. In January this year, Guys & St.Thomas was the first hospital trust to be granted the Mayor of London's Green500 Platinum Award for outstanding accomplishments in carbon reduction.

Commended:
Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
Nottingham has made impressive carbon reductions through various transport reduction strategies, including a reduction in food miles through a sustainable procurement initiative to source food locally. 7,000 pints of milk consumed by the hospitals each week are now sourced through contracts with local farmers,as are £300,000 worth of local produce and £300,000 worth of meat. In addition to food, even pharmaceuticals and equipment procured now have to meet stringent energy standards. Further cuts have been made with the introduction of a biomass boiler. This generates renewable electricity and heat for its central processing unit and carbon-neutral kitchen. Energy saving IT software shuts down PCs and printers when not in use. A waste segregation scheme helps reduce incineration and landfill waste, and clinical waste can now be recycled into plastic blocks for reuse in making building hoardings.

University Hospital of South Manchester NHS Foundation Trust
A range of initiatives at Wythenshawe Hospital, including more efficient lighting, heat exchangers and building controls, are resulting in an overall energy reduction of 26%, and the recent addition of a biomass boiler – a first for a North West hospital – is set to reduce annual CO2 emissions by a further 3,459 tonnes, and will be equivalent to the savings associated with 494 homes. Other additional measures to cut the carbon footprint include the installation of ground source heating pumps and cycle to work/car sharing schemes. UHSM is one of only a few hospital trusts to achieve the prestigious Carbon Trust Standard in the UK.