How healthcare estates can reach Net Zero

Healthcare estates include key infrastructure to keep our society functioning, but many are ageing, and, in a number of instances, lagging behind those in other sectors when it comes to sustainability. Does support go far enough for these estates to upgrade and adopt low carbon energy solutions considering the UK’s ambitious 2050 carbon targets? Hannah Kissick, associate at international M&E consultancy, CPW, argues that not only is more funding needed, but also that it is time for ‘a fabric first’ approach.

With 25% of all carbon emissions defined as being produced by the built environment, the construction industry can effect real change on the road to Net Zero. At the same time, with dozens, if not hundreds, of crumbling NHS buildings, a significant hospital building programme in progress, and with Net Zero targets looming, the healthcare sector is now more reliant on the construction industry than it has been in a generation. With this in mind, the healthcare sector has a massive responsibility to match its development programmes with its sustainability efforts, which is where decarbonisation will make all the difference. We need to ensure that individual development plans for healthcare estates tie in with forwardthinking shared energy plans across both the public and private sector, but tight budgets mean that the reality is far more challenging than the theory. 

The funding solution