Sustain, a leading carbon reduction company have said that their latest research suggests that the NHS could save between £100m and £150m annually by cutting its utility bills.
Sustain analysed the utilities spend in the NHS in England using ERIC data; they found that the NHS spends £500m annually on energy and water. Whilst the average NHS trust spends £1.3m on energy, it says many could potentially reduce this ‘by at least £250,000’.
Compelling as these cost savings are, the quest for effective energy management joins a long list of competing priorities for the NHS. The report also noted that the biggest barrier to achieving these savings is the lack of knowledge and time to focus on uncovering, designing, financing, procuring and implementing resource saving measures. The public sector needs support for these important decisions from independent experts and, more importantly, they need to work together.
Head of Low Carbon Buildings, Sustain, Matt Fulford, said:
Even the more conservative £100m saving across the NHS could pay for 12,260 heart bypass operations or the treatment of 21,600 stroke patients. The kinds of measures Trusts could easily adopt are tried and tested steps been proven to work, including changing lamps in existing light fittings, ensuring existing heating systems are running well, and temperature settings are in place to reduce running time, and insulating buildings and boiler rooms.
Sustain collected ERIC data on 389 NHS Trusts, and, for the 185 NHS Trusts which fall under the Carbon Reduction Commitment scheme (CRC), cross-referenced it against the latest returns to check for consistency.
Each Trust’s energy and water spend was benchmarked against both Sustains internal benchmarks, and benchmarks from the Carbon Trust and CIBSE.
References: Sustain Report
With continuing pressure on the NHS to reduce overheads and deliver carbon reduction commitments the introduction of energy saving lighting and heating upgrades can deliver excellent returns on investment and are ideal quick win solutions.
We work closely with a number of public sector bodies to assist them in delivering Public Sector Carbon Reduction Commitment targets, and where possible we assist with funding applications. Through working closely with our client’s we are able to design bespoke schemes for their often unique environments.
We have a range of case studies on our website www.chalmor.co.uk demonstrating how we assist UK organisations to reduce carbon and save energy. Call us today on 01582 748 700 or email us on marketing@chalmor.co.uk
