With NHS buildings accounting for over 15% of the organisation’s total carbon footprint, and Estates managers under increasing pressure to align infrastructure decisions with stringent sustainability goals, roofing upgrades and sustainable design can help NHS estates meet their environmental obligations through practical, long-lasting solutions.
So says Matthew Hansord, Technical manager at Garland UK (pictured), who says they can do this without compromising patient care or operational continuity. He said: “Healthcare estates face a unique set of challenges when it comes to decarbonisation. Ageing infrastructure, financial pressures, and increasingly demanding compliance standards, can make it difficult to implement sustainable upgrades. With hospitals operating around the clock, even small disruptions can impact patient services. Any sustainability initiative must thus offer long-term performance, minimal downtime, and tangible lifecycle cost benefits.”
The NHS Decarbonisation of Estates Framework provides a structured approach to reducing carbon emissions across healthcare buildings. This £500 million initiative focuses on energy efficiency measures, renewable energy integration, and improved insulation standards to help NHS facilities transition towards a greener future. Garland UK says roofing upgrades ‘are a core component to consider, offering estates an immediate opportunity to reduce energy loss, improve thermal comfort, and prepare buildings for further decarbonisation efforts such as solar PV integration’.
Matthew Hansord added: “Estates teams can significantly reduce energy demand by retrofitting and upgrading hospital roofs, aligning with carbon reduction and financial savings objectives. Improving thermal efficiency is essential for reducing energy consumption in healthcare buildings, where upgrading the roof insulation significantly reduces heat transfer, cutting the need for artificial heating and cooling, and delivering measurable energy savings.”
By achieving a U-value as low as 0.15, NHS Trusts can ensure compliance with modern building regulations, including Part L of the Building Regulations, which sets energy efficiency standards for non-domestic buildings. Enhanced insulation and waterproofing also reduce the risk of leaks and structural issues, ultimately lowering long-term maintenance costs and increasing the lifespan of hospital roofs.
“Understanding the current state of a roof is critical to making informed decisions about upgrades and long-term maintenance,” explained Matthew Hansord. “A roof condition survey provides a detailed analysis of existing issues, potential failure points, and areas for improvement. By conducting a thorough survey, NHS Trusts can identify weaknesses such as water ingress risks, insulation deficiencies, and drainage problems before they escalate into costly repairs.”
He continued: “A proactive approach to roof maintenance ensures that remedial actions can be taken at the right time, preventing disruption to healthcare operations, and extending the roof's lifespan. Through expert assessments, Estates managers can prioritise investments in areas that will deliver the most significant improvements in energy efficiency and long-term cost savings. Effective roof asset management also reduces emergency repairs and downtime, ensuring that hospitals remain operational without unexpected closures due to structural failures.”
Garland UK says installing solar PV reduces energy costs by decreasing reliance on grid electricity, leading to long-term financial savings, where Estates teams can realise a return on investment ‘in as little as four years’. Generating clean, renewable energy on-site helps hospitals lower their carbon emissions and move closer to their Net Zero targets.
The company explains that conducting a solar yield analysis ‘is a crucial step in determining the viability of solar PV installations’. This assessment considers factors such as roof orientation, shading, and energy consumption patterns, to calculate potential electricity generation, ensuring that NHS estates make data-driven decisions about solar investments while maximising energy production and cost-effectiveness.
Matthew Hansord added: “Roofing offers a high-impact, low-disruption opportunity for NHS estates to achieve carbon savings, without compromising operations. Roofing upgrades are external and largely non-invasive, unlike HVAC systems or lighting retrofits, which often require internal access and potential operational downtime. As the first line of thermal defence, the roof plays a critical role in insulation, energy retention, and long-term resilience.
Once retrofitted, a modern roof doesn’t just reduce energy consumption today; it prepares estates for solar PV, rainwater harvesting, and even green roof technology, supporting multiple layers of sustainability.
“In short, if you're tasked with hitting NHS Net Zero goals on a budget and timeline, the roof is an essential upgrade that contributes to carbon, cost, compliance, and continuity, simultaneously.”
Discover how Garland UK supports NHS estates in meeting their sustainability targets at www.garlanduk.com, or visit https://garlanduk.com/healthcare-estates/
