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‘Smarter’ buildings and the sustainability challenge

Ian Ellis, a ‘smart buildings’ specialist at Siemens Smart Infrastructure, explains why recent years’ heatwaves in the UK point to a new challenge – simultaneously mitigating the effects of climate change while dealing with the root cause of carbon emissions.

Last summer the UK truly felt the effects of climate change. While global warming has already caused extreme weather events around the world, some perhaps thought that the UK’s milder climate would mean we would be shielded from the effects. Our cooler weather and status as a developed economy does mean we are somewhat less affected, but recent 40 °C temperatures have shown we do have many infrastructure challenges ahead of us, particularly in our built environment

Frequent heatwaves will make building comfort harder to maintain. We also need to be careful not to exacerbate the root cause while doing so, by ensuring that carbon emissions are limited at the same time. For hospitals there is a fundamental need to ensure comfortable temperatures for patients and optimum working conditions for doctors and nurses. At the same time, how do you address opposing challenges of decarbonising for the future, and providing comfort for today, for a building as complex and energy-intensive as a hospital?

The fundamental shift in design

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Upcoming Events

The Fire Safety Event

NEC, Birmingham
25th - 27th April 2023

Facilities Show

ExCeL London
16th - 18th May

UHEI DUBLIN – CONFERENCE – IN PARTNERSHIP WITH IHEEM

Trinity College Dublin Conference Centre
16th - 17th May 2023

NAHFO Conference 2023

Crowne Plaza, Stratford-upon-Avon
5th - 7th June 2023

Healthcare Estates

Manchester Central
10th - 11th October 2023

Access the latest issue of Health Estate Journal on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

Download the FREE Health Estate Journal app from your device's App store

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