By Carl Williams, Sector Development Manager – Hospitals, Spirax Sarco
Essential public services are often overlooked in the climate debate, with most of the focus being designated to larger fish within the emissions pond, such as energy and heavy industry. However, the hospitals sector constitutes a larger proportion of emissions than one might first expect. According to a study in the Lancet Planetary Health journal, the NHS accounts for 7% of UK carbon emissions meaning this vital service has one of the largest steps to take on the road towards sustainability.
While decarbonising electricity production has come on leaps and bounds in the UK, making thermal processes more sustainable has proved a far greater challenge for hospitals. Part of the reason for this is because steam remains the most efficient heat transfer solution, as well as being the preferred method of sterilisation recommended by the World Health Organisation. The industry has seen significant change, with the NHS making great progress in reducing its scope 2 emissions, but the path ahead is long and mitigating scope 1 emissions remains a challenge for the above reasons. It’s these scope 1 emissions, often derived directly from hospital premises, that must be the next priority in terms of hospital sustainability.
Decarbonising hospital energy infrastructure
Heating systems within hospital estates are often sprawling operations that can date back decades and rely heavily on outdated, carbon-intensive infrastructure. Although it appears to be an insurmountable task, making energy infrastructure in the hospital sector vastly more planet-friendly is a goal that can be attained without compromising the quality of care for patients or facility standards. Hospitals can meet their thermal needs and decarbonise on a national scale through green solutions by addressing their steam-reliant processes.
Steam can be used in many Hospitals processes to sterilise, or for heat to transfer energy. Crucially, optimising steam-reliant processes cuts emissions, energy, water, and even lowers costs. Hospitals are no exception for this and can reap the benefits of decarbonising steam-based processes on site. These changes can be made whilst keeping most of your existing infrastructure in place, helping hospital leaders to meet their sustainability goals in a cost-effective manner.
A data-driven approach
Decarbonising hospitals is a challenge given the complexity and diversity of hospital architecture worldwide – each site will require a bespoke approach to decarbonisation and steam process integration. This is why hospitals should look for an external partner that can adapt efficiently to their needs, providing answers rooted in data to target the most crucial areas where energy efficiency can be optimised and implemented – all while delivering the standards patients and professionals expect.
This data-oriented approach is, therefore, also integral to enhancing energy efficiency. Data derived from steam-reliant processes can be harnessed to measure the impact that investments in energy infrastructure are having and how the hospital is tracking towards its goal. This means that hospitals can more accurately determine the effectiveness of their energy strategy, as well as able offer data-backed evidence to justify further investments, going a long way towards securing future funding.
Choosing the right partner
Despite all that’s been said, the issue of processing the transition towards more sustainable and efficient energy infrastructure remains. Replacing current infrastructure is no easy task, and hospital engineers and technicians are in no position to rip out all their architecture to start anew. What’s more, with hospitals needing to keep operating theatres running at specific temperatures, as well as having to maintain quality care for patients, meaning the hospitals will struggle to make the transition on their own.
This is where it is vital for hospitals to choose a thermal energy partner that suits their needs and can adapt to their own specific circumstances. All hospitals come with their own unique infrastructure-related hurdles, but solutions are coming to the market that give hospitals a variety of options to work with. For example, many will find they can decarbonise their steam heating by electrifying their boilers, be it through retrofitting or installing new ones. But as they navigate the variety of options and the set-up of their system, the guidance of a trusted partner – like Spirax-Sarco Engineering – will make the journey towards net-zero easier.
The power of steam
The challenge is to decarbonise the sources of steam, rather than attempt to remove steam from processes altogether. Decarbonised steam can continue to serve hospitals to help them make significant progress towards their sustainability goals. Integrating these processes on site at hospitals will make the sector greener and more efficient, leading to better outcomes for the communities they serve and the planet as a whole. A crucial part of this will be leveraging data to read the effectiveness of investments, current energy usage, and improving the system based on these insights with the help of a trusted thermal partner such as our experts at Spirax Sarco Engineering.