LOW
CARBON
EUROPE
REMS - CNWL NHS TRUST
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust (CNWL) is one of the largest NHS trusts in England, caring for people with a wide range of physical and mental health needs. We have approximately 7,000 staff who provide healthcare to a third of London's population and across wider geographical areas, including Milton Keynes, Kent and Surrey.
The REMS role at Northwick Park is based within this department and works alongside the other sections, which make up the Estates Department, as well as support other departments around the Hospital and the Trust.
And because of its consumption levels and the type of equipment being used, the Trust falls under the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EUETS), which requires all carbon emissions to be catalogued and reported to the Environment Agency.
This requires a significant amount of expenditure, as the Trust has to buy allowances, which cover the level of emissions produced.
OUR APPROACH
LCE’s initial approach was to target the area of work covered by the EUETS, as the risk of non-compliance in this field is extremely high.
The Trust also has to collect data and produce reports under the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), so this was also a priority during the initial stages of our work.
With legal compliance issues under control and reports submitted as required, LCE moved onto the next REMS stage, which meant evaluating the sites and looking at ways to save energy.
An initial review identified several areas, including upgrading lighting systems, improving the insulation of buildings and, most importantly, a review and upgrade of the BMS.
These recommendations formed the basis of a successful application for funds within the Trust’s CapEx scheme. A series of projects, ranging from the installation of heat meters to VSD installations have all been approved, as well as the BMS review, which is currently underway. An initial VSD survey is currently being carried out to establish what new technology is necessary to cut energy consumption onsite.
OUTCOMES
LCE has produced quarterly and monthly reports, which illustrate the amount of energy used and carbon emissions within the Trust’s buildings.
It has also been noted that the decentralization of the plant, its general condition, and the fact that most equipment is still manually controlled and not linked to the BMS has led to a significant amount of usage onsite. In order to tackle this, a high level of investment is needed.