Bold steps at Midlands hospital as it tackles net zero challenge

Clinical staff pivotal in climate change journey

Emergency medical teams at a Midlands acute hospital, serving around 450,000 people, are fundamental to net zero works happening on their doorstep.

Whilst medical teams battle to save lives every day at Good Hope Hospital, onsite engineers have been looking at how the site can save on carbon emissions by introducing a range of new technology. 

The busy hospital, in Sutton Coldfield, has been undergoing a major net zero project thanks to funding under the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme which it was awarded in 2022.

During a visit to the site, we were able to catch up with project leads, engineers as well as clinical staff to understand what the project has meant to them.

It also gave us a chance to celebrate this benchmark project and discuss plans for the future.

Good Hope Matron Natasha Salmon said: “We understand the health impacts of climate change and the fact that the NHS has declared that the climate emergency is a health emergency, has meant everyone can get on board.

“Climate change and air pollution have wide impacts on health, many of which aren’t measurable for years to come.

“This is not just about the engineers coming in and imposing works on us, we appreciate that all of us must be part of the process. Climate change has an impact on our patients as well as all of us.

“This project at Good Hope Hospital is about us all. Yes, our priority as a hospital is to help people every day, but our responsibility is also to look to the future wellbeing of everyone.

“What is going on now will improve things for generations to come.”

Funding

Good Hope Hospital, serving North Birmingham, Sutton Coldfield as well as parts of southeast Staffordshire, is one of four acute hospitals part of University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust (UHB). 

University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust has invested more than £70m to reduce its carbon footprint, with support from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, to ensure trust sites become more energy efficient.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme is run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and is delivered by our teams at Salix.

As part of this funding, Good Hope Hospital was allocated £12,506,872 under Phase 3a of the scheme. This has allowed the hospital to install heat pumps, commission a new low-temperature-hot-water system and decommission the existing steam distribution system. 

As well as the giant 650kW air source heat pump, other funded energy efficiency measures have included LED lighting, roof insulation and pipework insulation.

During our visit we saw the heat pumps, boiler rooms as well as the giant air source heat pumps on the roof.

Neil Turnbull, estates manager at Good Hope Hospital said he was delighted with how the work had progressed and believed much of the success came down to good communication.

He said: “We always have to think ahead, so for example when we installed the air source heat pumps on the roof, we had to arrange for the road to be closed, that the pumps could be lifted over the site, and that the theatre rooms below were emptied.

“We have had to think about every possible scenario and the priority is always with patients, but we have had to think about our neighbours too.

“There has been huge amount of team work, and all credit to my colleagues.”

Head of projects at the Carbon and Energy Fund (CEF) Andy Yates has supported the project from the start. He said: “We are very pleased with this project, but there is always more to do. The trust has been fully engaged and has removed steam from their site enabling the use of low carbon technologies now and into the future.

“Yes, it’s been a great success."

How it works

During the visit we also met the Veolia team who have physically put the equipment onto the site. They have had to navigate around a busy working hospital.

We learned about how some of the works have made a practical difference to the people who use the site. For example, the better quality of light has improved the working environment for patients, staff, visitors whilst the removal of all old existing steam and condense pipe work has reduced maintenance required to repair leaks. It simply means the mechanical maintenance team can concentrate on other maintenance tasks.

The new low water temperature heating systems installed across the site increases the resilience of the heating and hot water systems which means future maintenance tasks can be carried out with less disruption to the site.

The removal of old steam calorifiers also frees up the mechanical maintenance team to carry out other important tasks and also allowing the funds to be spent on other important upgrades and improvements.

And of course, the new state of the art Building Management Systems controls installed to all plantrooms allowing better control of heating and hot water systems meaning a more energy efficient system and again a better environment for patients, staff and visitors.

Trust vision

The funding and investment for UHB has been used across four projects:

• Adding heat pumps into the heat networks at Good Hope Hospital, Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) and Solihull Hospital
• Removing steam as a means of generating heat at Good Hope Hospital
• Completing the first phase of the removal of steam heat generation across Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham
• Increasing the number of solar panels across the trust’s sites
• A Heartlands de-steam project

Together, it is hoped the projects will reduce the trust’s carbon footprint by nearly 10,000 tonnes.

This will contribute to the trust’s green plan which commits to reducing emissions that it controls directly by 80% by 2032. 

Looking to the future, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust is also set to upgrade their whole Building Energy Management systems and optimise the controls to reduce heating and HVAC consumption. This will be funded through other avenues.

Director of estates and facilities for University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust Paul Boocock said: “The work here is significant but there is still a lot more to be done across our estates in order for us to meet the NHS net zero targets.”

Thank you to the Good Hope team for welcoming us to the hospital and discussing the challenges, learning and success.