Supporting Worcestershire Acute Hospital's sustainability goals
Global resource management company, Veolia, is now helping Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust advance their sustainability goals by delivering energy efficiency. Working through the award–winning Essentia energy performance contracting (EPC) framework, Veolia-Cynergin have been selected for an energy performance contract, which will deliver a wide range of measures designed to lower carbon emissions and energy costs at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Alexandra Hospital and Kidderminster Hospital.
The upgrades proposed by Veolia-Cynergin will support the NHS Trust’s five year Sustainable Development Strategy and Implementation Plan aimed at delivering their healthcare business objectives by using a sustainable approach. Included in the energy efficiency measures is the plan for combined heat and power plants, boiler replacement, conversion to low temperature hot water from steam, and a low energy lighting retrofit. This will help to secure compliance with the Department of Health’s Sustainable Development Unit model requirements for NHS organisations.
Commenting on this latest EPC project, Estelle Brachlianoff, Veolia’s Senior Executive Vice-President, UK & Ireland said, “Healthcare Authorities are under a lot of pressure to achieve cost savings and Energy Performance Contracts make good economic and environmental sense for those looking to improve energy efficiency, and minimise capital outlay. By implementing the latest energy efficiency measures they are able to save on energy costs and reduce carbon emissions and at the same time enhance their patient care facilities.”
James Longmore, Director of Asset Management and ICT at Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust highlighted the initiative, “The Trust recognises its responsibilities in delivering excellent patient care and the impact of its activities on the social, economic and environmental wellbeing of the local communities. This project will help us to enhance the performance of our buildings and estates and further promote environmental sustainability, conserve natural resources and reduce environmental impact.”
This project will help us to enhance the performance of our buildings and estates and further promote environmental sustainability, conserve natural resources and reduce environmental impact
Ray Cochrane, Head of Estates also added “This relatively new and innovative approach to funding and managing important aspects of the Trusts Sustainability and Improvement Plan has the additional benefit of directly influencing both our Backlog Maintenance Plan and our Lord Carter obligations. Furthermore, whilst this initiative will no doubt reduce our energy consumption and carbon footprint, it will also directly benefit the patient, visitor and staff experience by creating an improved and significantly more efficient healthcare environment and I very much look forward to working with Veolia-Cynergin to achieve these outcomes”.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust provides hospital-based services from three main sites to a population of more than 550,000 people in Worcestershire as well as caring for patients from surrounding counties and further afield. The next step for Veolia-Cynergin is to complete an Investment Grade Audit on the Trust's three major sites at Worcestershire Royal Hospital, Alexandra Hospital and Kidderminster Hospital. Following the audit the identified energy efficiency measures will be delivered to the sites over the next year.
Delivering energy management to hospitals since 1938, Veolia currently provides energy management to over 100 hospitals in the UK and Ireland which support the energy requirements for around 7.9million patients each year. This increases sustainability of the healthcare sector by annually saving 119,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions.