The biggest challenge has been finding the funds, but high level support has never been a problem. Our CEO was the first to ever attend a local Carbon Trust Carbon Management meeting.
Environmental Services Manager Kevin Thoy
Business case
United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust aims (ULHT) is responsible for four Lincolnshire hospitals: the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston, Grantham and District, Lincoln County, and the County Hospital in Louth. Across these sites, the Trust spent £2.2 million on energy in 2006-2007, a figure which it has taken as its baseline in developing a carbon management plan.
The NHS as a whole is responsible for an average of 18 million tonnes of CO2 a year. By working with the Carbon Trust, United Lincolnshire Hospitals NHS Trust (ULHT) sought to address proactively its share of the outputs, and in the process discovered that sustainable thinking and substantial savings go hand in hand.
A longstanding Carbon Trust customer, ULHT had previously focused on financial savings. Before signing up to the Carbon Management service, it carried out an Initial Opportunities Assessment in 2004, identifying no- and low-cost opportunities to reduce energy across its four sites.
In addition to these low-cost opportunities, a major project at this time was the replacement of the coal-fired boiler plant at Lincoln County Hospital with gas-fired boilers in combination with a 1.4 megawatt combined heat and power (CHP) plant. This reduced CO2 emissions at the hospital from 12,000 to 8,000 tonnes, and demonstrated the significant potential to save both energy and money across the Trust as a whole.
Encouraged by the nationwide Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), ULHT has now put sustainability and improved efficiency at the centre of its goals, and is aiming to reduce its CO2 emissions by nearly a third by 2015. It expects to save just under £624,000 a year after that point, and its well-researched and detailed strategy means it is on track to make the change.
Carbon Reduction Commitment
The Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme is an emissions trading scheme aimed at reducing carbon emissions in large non-energy intensive organisations by 1.2 million tonnes of carbon per year by 2020.
It is a mandatory scheme, targeting emissions currently not included in the EU Emissions Trading Scheme or Climate Change Agreements, and applies to organisations that used more than 6,000MWh of electricity through half-hourly meters during 2008.
Read more about the Carbon Reduction Commitment.
The approach
ULHT has an ongoing objective to reduce heat demand at its hospitals, and aims to meet best practice for Acute NHS sites (50-55 gigajoules per 100 cubic metres). So when the old, heavy fuel oil boilers at its Pilgrim hospital needed replacing, the Trust selected replacements that were the perfect size to meet this demand.
When reviewing fuel types, gas was considered, but the cost of upgrading the gas infrastructure was too high, cancelling out the benefits. Instead, the Trust decided to install a biomass boiler, and a 525kW gas-fired CHP system using the existing gas infrastructure on site. This halved the hospital’s annual CO2 emissions from 12,000 to 6,000 tonnes.
The new boiler is fuelled by 9,000 tonnes of woodchip a year, sourced from local suppliers. Together with the CHP it provides all of the hospital’s heat and hot water except during peak periods in winter, when two new oil fired boilers provide top up.
Cutting the losses
The focus of the plan has now moved onto the much smaller Grantham and District hospital, where the Trust is considering whether a similar approach to the boiler system could be feasible. It predicts that by replacing the existing boilers with a decentralised system, the hospital could reduce its costs by £109,000 per year and save 910 tonnes of CO2.
A decentralised heat supply can reduce the standing heat loss from any underground or overhead pipework that distributes steam or hot water. This is especially true if the pipework is the main heating source for domestic hot water systems around the hospital, and must be constantly kept at the same temperature.
Whether or not the primary heating system is centralised, sites – such as hospitals – can explore new ways to provide their domestic hot water. Systems which store hot water are now out of favour because of their standing heat losses and Legionella risk. Instantaneous systems, using plate to plate heat exchangers, are preferable, as long as they can supply enough hot water for several sinks, baths, showers, and kitchens. For individual sinks and basins, which only use a small amount of water, local water heaters can be an economical choice.
Switching to biomass
Biomass refers to organic matter which was recently living – such as wood, but also including sewage and crops grown specifically for energy use.
Biomass could play a significant role in helping the UK to meet a range of existing renewable energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets. The CO2 savings are particularly significant when the fuel comes from resources which would normally be discarded as waste.
For further information, see 'Biomass heating: a practical guide for potential users' (CTG012)
Getting involved
Raising awareness among staff of the impact of their behaviour as individuals is a central priority for ULHT. The Trust is recruiting energy champions at each site, and holds staff training days, as well as incorporating responsible energy use into staff inductions.
The Trust has also formed a ‘Green Group’ with other local health trusts, working on a wide range of energy saving projects, from allotments to boiler replacements. Posters have been distributed at all sites reminding everyone of their own impact.
Policy
Carbon management has also been embedded as a central element to be considered in all process and purchasing decisions. The Trust has already begun to evaluate its suppliers’ carbon reduction strategies and how their emissions may be reduced; looking at the CO2 emissions resulting from supplier partnerships, and establishing reporting arrangements to keep track of improvements.
Building design, waste management and water management have also been included in a comprehensive new approach putting sustainability at the heart of policy.
Working together
The Carbon Trust has advised ULHT on individual projects and helped develop business cases and funding applications. Its technical support and consultancy has also helped to put the plan into action.
“The biggest challenge has been finding the funds, but high level support has never been a problem,” says Environmental Services Manager Kevin Thoy. “Our CEO was the first to ever attend a local Carbon Trust Carbon Management meeting.”
The Department of Health’s Energy and Sustainability fund contributed to the major projects, while Lincolnshire County Council’s LIGHT programme provided a further £200,000 grant for the biomass initiative at Pilgrim Hospital. The Trust is continually looking for further energy efficiencies and its five-year ‘Spend to Save’ scheme will also enable it to budget for future projects.
Future plans
At Pilgrim Hospital, a project to reduce the energy used by the air conditioning fans on the hospital’s ten storey tower block was completed in October 2009. With a one-off cost of £50,000, the move is expected to save the Trust £94,000 a year, meaning that the payback time is just eight months. It will also shrink the hospital’s annual CO2 emissions by 760 tonnes.
At the other three hospitals managed by the Trust, thermal insulation and draught proofing is being improved, allowing ULHT to turn the thermostat down by 1°C without causing discomfort. This measure is expected to result in savings of £6,500 a year, and 310 tonnes of CO2 across the three sites.
Keep your cool
Turning the thermostat down by just one degree could lower your heating costs by 8%, depending on average starting temperature, insulation of the building and effectiveness of controllers.
For more tips see heating - how to cut costs.
NHS Carbon Management
NHS Carbon Management provides technical and change management support to help NHS Trusts to produce a carbon management plan and to achieve significant reductions in energy costs and carbon emissions. The overriding aim of the service is to embed carbon management across the whole organisation, and to make the business case to the Board for cutting carbon.
Read more about NHS Carbon Management.