LTHT is on track to meet NHS carbon emissions targets
10 October 2022
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT) is on track to meet the NHS carbon emission targets, with a framework of interventions identified in its new Green Plan and Estates Decarbonisation Strategy.
As one of the largest teaching hospital NHS trusts in the UK, they have a complex estate portfolio covering 500,000 square metres, with buildings varying in age, heritage, condition and suitability for clinical delivery.
With an estate of such size, energy demands and the fabric of the buildings account for a significant proportion of the Trust's carbon emissions. To address this, they have commissioned Mott MacDonald to produce a comprehensive Estates Decarbonisation Strategy, "A Roadmap to Net Zero Carbon", which outlines how the Trust will reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and increase its use of low carbon energy. The four-step approach will focus on making every kilowatt of energy count, transitioning buildings to low carbon heating, reducing their reliance on fossil fuels and increasing the use of on-site renewable technology. Each of the Trust's five hospital sites has a detailed roadmap for the engineering interventions needed to become carbon neutral.
Craige Richardson, Executive Director of Estates and Facilities, Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said, "The Trust recognises that if we are to provide the best possible care to our patients and improve their quality of life, we need to reduce our environmental impact. Working with industry experts such as Mott MacDonald demonstrates our commitment to making radical changes and being at the forefront of creating a greener NHS. We will continue to embed sustainability into all our core activities so that it can become an integral part of our culture."
The concept of sustainability is not new for the Trust; they have been working hard to reduce their environmental impact, reduce waste and drive improvements in quality, which to date, have led to a 33% reduction in carbon emissions.
Their new Green Plan showcases their achievements, which include investing £22m in energy-efficient projects funded by the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. In addition to becoming the first Carbon Literate NHS Teaching Hospital Trust, reducing the use of harmful anaesthetic gases and their policy of not sending any waste to landfill and converting all general waste into energy. It also details the ten action areas the Trust will focus on, such as sustainable models of care, travel and transport, food and nutrition and medicines.
Chris Kelly, Associate Director for Estates Compliance and Risk at Leeds Teaching Hospitals, said, "We now have a decarbonisation road map for each of our five hospital sites, which details the interventions and capital investment needed to decarbonise the Trust estate scope 1 and 2 emissions. The focus will be on reducing the use of harmful fossil fuels, improving energy efficiency and transitioning to low carbon energy sources. Works will include building fabric upgrades, LED lighting, integration of renewable technologies and expanding our connections to the local district heating network, Leeds Pipes."
Hope Lovelady, MEP Net Zero Carbon Engineer at Mott MacDonald, added, "We have really enjoyed working with the Trust to develop the Estates Decarbonisation Strategy. It was a challenging project due to the size and complexity of the LTHT estate, however we took the opportunity to use an innovative, data-driven approach with our Net Zero Estates Tool to develop and test interventions across the sites to produce bespoke site roadmaps to net zero."
