Design strategies for low carbon hot water in the healthcare environment
The NHS has a commitment to become the world’s first net zero national health service.
With NHS estates and facilities playing a critical part in achieving this ambition, Andy Green, Technical Director at Baxi, discusses the options for generating safe, reliable efficient hot water
As part of its commitment to tackling climate change, the NHS has set ambitious targets for reaching net zero from its directly controlled emissions by 2040, and the emissions it can influence by 2045. Achieving low carbon hot water generation is one of the areas identified for achieving this target.
Given the high demand for hot water that is frequently associated with healthcare premises – from comfortable conditions and catering to in-house sterilisation and laundry – this service is a clear priority for efficiency. But it’s one that comes with certain challenges.
First and foremost is the need to prioritise patient safety and wellbeing. Ensuring an adequate, reliable hot water supply is key to the whole operation, creating comfortable conditions for patients and staff, maintaining clinical standards, as well as being essential for treatment purposes.
Related to this is the need to implement measures to prevent the build-up of waterborne pathogens, mostly related to the control of legionella bacteria, in the hot water system. To reduce the risk of legionella, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) advises that domestic hot water (DHW) should be stored at 60ºC at least and distributed so that it reaches 55ºC at point of use in healthcare premises.
As the risk of patient scalding or burning increases when water temperatures are too high, a further consideration is temperature control which needs to be provided at hot water outlets to protect patient safety.
The vast scale of the NHS estate, the diversity of buildings and differing heating systems add to the complexity of the challenge facing NHS estates and facilities managers. Our focus here is on new build net zero carbon hospital and healthcare buildings and design strategies for the hot water system within them. With that in mind, let’s consider some of the options.
