Smarter running can keep buildings fit

Arecent Government survey carried out by the Centre for Sustainable Energy1 found that hospital buildings had some of the highest average carbon dioxide emissions. As not only a useful measure of efficiency and sustainability, but also an increasingly important indicator of energy consumption, these findings suggest that the health sector has a lot to gain from creating “smarter” buildings. Moreover, given escalating energy costs, and the urgent need to meet ever more demanding cost improvement plans, the time for practical action to reduce energy costs is now. With energy prices on the rise, building energy accounts for approximately 24 per cent of the overall carbon footprint of the National Health Service (NHS) alone, according to the NHS Sustainability Development Unit.2 Accenture Sustainability Services believes that optimising existing buildings to use energy more intelligently can help reduce a healthcare organisation’s building estate operating costs by up to 35 per cent, with no capital outlay. Everyone knows energy costs are on the rise, just as global fuel reserves are dwindling. Environmental concerns also still hold quite a bit of socio-political weight. Taken with the fact that the health sector is feeling the effects of global austerity measures to combat recent financial turmoil, the total cost of owning its buildings – as a key asset – is an area ripe for rationalisation. When one Trust was reportedly spending over £10 million on its annual energy bill in 2006 alone,3 surely any means of cutting the cost of “keeping the lights on” in such tough economic times can make a significant positive difference to the bottom line? As such, smarter building management is something no facilities, property, or even financial manager, can afford to ignore.

A highly energy-intensive sector

 In fact, the health sector is one of the most energy-intensive in the UK. Staff delivering critical frontline services depend on efficient buildings to maximise their productivity and effectiveness. Yet, according to independent research, hospitals account for more emissions from UK public buildings than any other sector, emitting an average total of 4,089 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year. When you consider a conservative example of £10 m for one NHS Trust’s power costs, and compare it with NHS savings in the order of 4-8 per cent of expenditure per year that acute Trusts have to find, any savings derived from improving the current use of existing building assets could make a significant contribution to maintaining “business as usual” with less capital resource. To take a working example of how energy efficiency can tangibly help meet the ongoing need for new services in the face of such cuts, the Carbon Trust revealed in September 2010 how the Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospital NHS Trust had saved £1.5 m a year on a combined heat and power “clean energy” project, reducing its carbon dioxide emissions by over 11,000 tonnes a year – equivalent to taking over 3,500 cars off the road. By comparison, the total equipment cost that The Children’s Hospital Trust Fund, based at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, is currently hoping to raise to fund a new operating theatre is equivalent to £1.535 m.5 This, along with many other energy-saving examples in the health sector, is why Accenture believes there has never been a better time for health organisations to re-examine their facilities and estate management through the vision of creating “smart buildings” to harness vital energy savings and other tangible, related benefits. Not only can estate owners recoup capital expenditure and reduce operating costs in the area of energy consumption, but the very exercise of thoroughly auditing energy requirements can also offer the added bonus of mitigating any regulatory carbon emissions compliance burden, like that associated with the Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme.