The pressure remains on health estate managers to meet upcoming carbon targets, as the 2010 NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy states that the NHS needs to reduce carbon emissions by 10% by 2015.
However Spirax Sarco says that combining good practice in steam with the latest control technologies can typically save between 10 and 20% of fuel costs for boilers, lowering carbon emissions and costs significantly. The company can also help NHS Trust estates departments identify and secure funding for Government energy-saving projects that “will lead to measurable carbon reduction, or minimise the cost implications for future taxation in the coming months”.
The company explains: “Spirax Sarco products, packaged systems, and services, can help to achieve all these objectives and more. As well as providing long-term gains, steam system improvements often bring rapid payback, delivering the ‘quick wins’ that hard-pressed estates managers are looking for.”
When Spirax Sarco supplied new energy-saving heating and hot water systems for Kettering General Hospital, the company also played a critical role in getting Government funding for the project. Spirax Sarco calculated that switching from calorifiers to the company’s EasiHeat systems would reduce the energy consumed in two of the hospital’s plant rooms by between 6 and 10%, which enabled the hospital to successfully bid for £250,000 from a Government energy funding scheme. The fund is a Department of Health initiative to promote NHS projects that will reduce carbon emissions by improving energy efficiency.
“Spirax Sarco did all the heat-saving calculations so we could put a bid in. It saved us a lot of work and made it a really easy process,” explains Adrian Coombs, head of estates at the hospital.
EasiHeat systems use compact, steam-to-hot-water plate heat exchangers to generate hot water on demand for heating and domestic hot water. They “virtually eliminate” hot water storage and the heat losses that go with it, while reducing the risk of Legionella.
The new systems have also reduced the maintenance load at Kettering General Hospital. All shell and tube calorifiers have to be stripped down for regular insurance inspections, and the “ageing” calorifiers at Kettering needed a significant amount of routine work to prevent leaks, “none of which”, Spirax Sarco says, “is a problem with EasiHeat systems”.
“The old heating systems had come to the end of their working lives,” added Adrian Coombs. “Since the
EasiHeat systems were installed at the end of October, we’ve had no maintenance problems. We are really pleased with the installation, and with the level of support we received from Spirax Sarco throughout the project. The company’s help during the bidding process was critical.”
