A £7 m investment in making Harrogate District Hospital more energy-efficient means an estimated £625,000 per year for the next 25 years (over £15.6 million in total) can instead be spent on direct patient care, Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust says.
Some £1 m has been spent on the electrical infrastructure, including a new standby generator, while two inefficient steam boilers have been replaced, and new heating equipment installed. The existing CHP engine has been optimised, and a system devised to divert low-grade waste heat for re-use during the winter to power the underfloor heating in the car park. Internal lighting has been widely replaced, with over 8,500 new LED ‘more dementia-friendly’ lights, with older light fittings and pipework stripped out and removed for recycling.
Phil Sturdy, deputy Estates director, said: “There is a clear patient benefit here in terms of the site’s broader resilience, and what people may notice while in hospital, such as a more natural feel to the lighting. The quality of the work and the effort put in by everyone has given us a project to be proud of.”
The Trust contracted the work out to technical service provider, Imtech, which has also secured a 25-year maintenance contract for the site.
