Harry Waugh, the Scottish branch member of IHEEM’s Council, and a former Health Facilities Scotland energy manager, who now runs his own energy/carbon consultancy, “Call Harry”, argues that growing reliance on technology will continue to strengthen the need for effective energy management in the healthcare sphere.
In an article that first appeared in the 2010 IFHE Digest, he looks back at previous Government and NHS energy-saving initiatives, and describes a recent Scottish carbon reduction campaign, aimed at health service staff, which used the plight of an imaginary character, Floe Bear, cut off from his natural habitat by melting ice floes, to bring humour to a serious subject and encourage buy-in in from staff.
As far back as the end of the 18th century, the controversial Count Rumford, founder of the Royal Institution in London in 1799, was conscious of the need to save energy. Over two centuries later we still find it necessary to remind people of the need for conservation. Count Rumford might not have been aware of “Climate Change” but that, combined with cost and fuel supply, are the main reasons for our concern now about saving energy. It has long been recognised that energy efficiency plays a major part in our drive to reduce the effects of global warming as it affects our planet. Environmental anxiety, plus rising costs and concerns for security of supply, have raised the profile of energy and environmental management to a level never before reached. Of business leaders surveyed by the UK’s Carbon Trust, twice as many said reducing carbon emissions had risen up their agenda in a six-month period than those who said it had fallen down it (20% vs 9%). They also apparently now rank energy efficiency ahead of recruitment freezes, redundancies, freezing salaries, or giving below inflation pay rises, as a potential cost-saving measure. According to new research released by the Carbon Trust, UK industry is haemorrhaging almost £7 million a day due to poor energy efficiency. Simply by implementing cost-effective energy efficiency measures it would, the research claims, save around 22 million tonnes of CO2 emissions – equivalent to Scotland’s total annual business and commercial carbon emissions. This is not achieved by high technology solutions, but rather by simple good housekeeping measures. I am referring to money and energy that could be saved by making quick and easy changes, such as encouraging staff to turn off computers and lights, turning down the heating, and maintaining equipment properly.
NHS Scotland trends
Log in or register FREE to read the rest
This story is Premium Content and is only available to registered users. Please log in at the top of the page to view the full text.
If you don't already have an account, please register with us completely free of charge.
