With NHS Scotland pushing hard to hit its target of net zero emissions by 2040 – including a 75% reduction in building emissions by 2030 – the drive to decarbonise a very diverse estate is firmly on.
In 2023, the Scottish health service became the first in the world to completely ban the routine operating theatre use of desflurane, an anaesthetic gas which has a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide.
The Scottish Government stated that removing it from use in hospital theatres across NHS Scotland and shifting to safer alternatives would save emissions equivalent to powering 1,700 homes every year.
Efforts so far
It was the first move of the newly inaugurated National Green Theatres Programme – and a significant step towards delivering the country’s pledge for carbon-neutral facilities.
Among the biggest decarbonisation projects happening across Scotland currently is St John’s Hospital in Livingston, which is using Scottish Government funding to install a solar photovoltaic (PV) array, pipework insulation, LED lighting, and Building Management System (BMS) to centralise the control of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting, in turn significantly lowering energy waste.
It is thought that this will collectively make emissions savings of equivalent to the annual energy use of about 100 average residential homes.
This is just one example noted from right across Scotland’s health boards, collectively amounting so far to a capital investment in estate decarbonisation of almost £17.7 million since 2020-21. It is clear that this ongoing focus on estate upgrades for improved energy efficiency is generating value with thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions being cut on an annual basis, as well as major cost savings.
Common adoption touchpoints for Scottish health boards include retrofitting insulation, high-efficiency double glazing, air source heat pumps, LED lighting, solar arrays, and heat recovery systems
Indeed, in December last year, the Scottish Government announced that
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