Net Zero Block 3 Seminars

The NHS hope to be the first health service in the world to achieve zero carbon.

Building a net zero NHS, is allied to post Covid changes and so in all it is an exciting opportunity to change the future for the better.
The Central London Community Healthcare Trust (CLCH) is already on the front foot towards their decarbonisation journey and have developed a Green Plan and Board approved decarbonisation pathway which will be available to showcase in October (at the time of the conference). The presentation will discuss the Green Plan development journey including:

Why?
• Net zero carbon affects every aspect of our lives, so it is cross cutting and relevant.
• As a geographically widespread community trust across eleven London boroughs  and Hertfordshire, CLCH used 5900 tons of carbon in 2019, and needs to reach net zero  by 2040. The context is that the energy grid may be zero carbon by 2033-35. New energy standards for new build standards are soon to be released, so that the cost ‘gap’ between a net zero energy, and ‘standard’ construction is reduced.

How?
The CLCH Green Plan outcome is to reduce energy demand, leading to more environmentally sustainably and financially efficient buildings, and reducing the burden on the UK energy grid. At a time when bills are skyrocketing, the action plan is comprehensive and gets the Trust to net zero carbon across several years, including:
• Engaging with staff, installing efficient lighting and controls.
• Reducing fossil fuel consumption in buildings with heat decarbonisation plans.
• Removing unnecessary journeys for patients and staff, introducing electric chargers, bike racks, encouraging the fleet away from fossil fuel.
• Designing 'Green' spaces.
• Reviewing the commissioning of suppliers and reduction of carbon in medical gases.
• Identifying opportunities to link to local heat networks and battery storage.
• Working with our Integrated Care System partners to identify collaborative solutions across the sector.

Applying a carbon neutral programme approach to the whole estate to address the retrofit challenge; the benefits of cross-sector learning using relevant case studies from Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) and Hampshire.
With a lack of clarity surrounding the roadmap to net zero it is difficult for leaders in public bodies to understand where to begin, what to monitor and how to report progress and maximise the potential of funding. Irrespective of the sector or organisation, a programme approach that examines all estates related functions for the existing and planned new build estate, against the funding routes and Net Zero Carbon aspirations will ensure consistency and maximise outcomes, resulting in time and cost efficiencies.
HCC, in response to the Public Sector NZC target of 2030, and achieving government funding for decarbonisation, invested in the development of the Carbon Neutral Herts programme. In essence this initially recognised the school estate, both existing and planned and the funding pots available to the local authority. This looked beyond the capital workstream for the existing estate to also look at the new school build programme and FM function to create a NZC strategy for the entire property portfolio.
The impact of this approach has been particularly successful for the FM function with a Business as Usual (BAU)+ approach adopted that utilises a variety of funding streams bringing decarbonisation to the heart of delivery. This has been so successful that it has been mirrored across the organisation's wider estate, subsequently also being adopted by other local authorities.

Benefits include:

• Robust data capture and analysis providing a roadmap built on quality data, enhancing informed decision making and enabling progress tracked against targets
• A comprehensive database supporting funding bid, which provides a mechanism for speedy/effective responses to funding submission deadlines i.e., HCC achieved £24m of funding from 3 applications for decarbonisation works across 218 buildings, including window walling, solar panel works and ASHP installations.
• Continuous monitoring and evaluation of progress against performance indicators
• Trend analysis
• Identification of innovation and best practice
• Lessons learnt captured and used to strengthen future delivery
• Achievement of procurement efficiencies

In response to the climate crisis, the NHS has set a target to decarbonise its estate by 2040. A key part of the decarbonisation will be achieved through the transition away from fossil fuels to all-electric heating solutions utilising efficient electric heat pumps for the existing estate. The ongoing decarbonisation of the national grid over time will continue the reduce carbon emissions associated with electricity. Coupled with this, the systematic improvement in the efficiency of fabric and engineering systems will reduce the core energy demand. However, this is a complex and lengthy process with differing solutions for different buildings and sites.