The NHS is one of the biggest hvacr end users in the UK, and it has a major challenge on its hands on the energy front. It can learn a lot from the big supermarkets and save hundreds of millions of pounds in energy costs. Ken Groves of energy control specialist RDM reports.
Hospitals and healthcare facilities depend on a lot of energy-hungry plant and equipment to keep them running. However, buildings often date back to Victorian times, or were built in an era when energy efficiency was not a priority.
With the cost of energy rising dramatically, and predicted to rise further over the coming years, there is a risk of energy costs escalating out of control and overwhelming NHS budgets, with serious implications for patient care.
Government is already putting the brake on real increases in funding for healthcare, in line with the new economic stringencies. Therefore, the pressure on energy running costs will increase significantly.
How much energy is wasted across the healthcare sector? Estimates vary, but as much as 25 to 50 per cent at the conservative end of the spectrum. If we could eliminate even 25 per cent waste it would yield savings of hundreds of millions of pounds.
The idea of starting with a clean slate is attractive. However, it is simply not feasible to demolish all the older, inefficient buildings and replace them with high efficiency facilities. There is, however, an alternative.
There are substantial opportunities to save energy in the running of hospital buildings, even with relatively old and inefficient buildings still in widespread use. With the proper approach and relatively small investment, it is possible to reduce power consumption, improve the quality of the healthcare environment for staff and patients – and at the same time significantly reduce running costs.
The supermarkets have pioneered in this area, and I believe there are major lessons to be learned for the hospitals sector.
One of the main stumbling blocks to getting control of energy usage is the haphazard way hospital building services develop over time. There may be many different systems, subject to independent monitoring and control strategies. Given this, it is hard to deal with the building as a single entity, which is the ideal approach.
Intelligent control systems as a solution
The solution is to wrap a single, intelligent control system around all of the existing plant. This enables managers and engineers to have a window on the entire estate, and control all elements - air conditioning, heating, refrigeration, ventilation and so on – from a single point. This approach can embrace old and new buildings, and all levels of plant.
A basic challenge in relation to hvacr equipment is to ensure it is only used when needed, and delivers the correct environment for patients and staff.
The starting point is to identify plant that is not operating to design specification, and the optimise performance. It is surprising how much plant does not operate as intended, either as a result of poor maintenance and servicing or, in the case of refrigeration and air conditioning plant, due to under- or over-charging of refrigerant.
In both cases, equipment will operate inefficiently and be forced to work harder, drawing too much power for the duty compared to its original specification.
The energy certification process being introduced this year (under the Energy Performance of Buildings Regulation) will highlight those buildings and pieces of plant that are in particular need of attention, and provide a clear focus for action.
While hvacr equipment represents a big chunk of energy used by hospitals, less obvious everyday items such as photocopiers, computers and TVs can be significant. These items consume energy while on standby, and represent an important on-going cost. It is estimated that 90 per cent of Europe’s electricity consumption goes to power equipment on standby, much of it overnight. Systems such as RDM’s Data Manager can control individual building locations overnight, and make an immediate impact.
Another important option is using variable speed drives to precisely control plant, and ensure they deliver the exact amount of cooling, heating or ventilation required. This is a much better approach than coarse control systems that operate by either turning the system full on, or off. In addition to saving energy, it also extends the life of plant and cuts maintenance, due to the smoother operating regime.
The role of the Data Manager
A Data manager can switch off electrical items rather than leave them on standby overnight. Another simple example is the use of light sensors to measure external light; the energy used for internal lighting can then be controlled to maintain optimum conditions.
The key is to identify where there is waste through effective monitoring, and then solve it by intelligent control. It is the approach we have pioneered in relation to supermarkets. As hard-headed commercial organisations, they have made controlling energy use a priority and, with RDM’s help, adopted systems that deliver substantial savings.
At the most basic level, hundreds of millions of pounds could be saved from hospitals’ operating costs by addressing the little things. There are myriad examples, but to name a few:
- Why keep PC’s and photocopiers on standby consuming power when there’s no-one in the office?
- So often, the last person to leave forgets to switch off the lights in the office, so they’re left on all night.
- Lights left on all day, even though the sun is shining through the windows.
With a Data Manager, unused equipment is switched off and costs immediately reduced. Once these opportunities are identified and solutions put in place, the approach can be replicated across an NHS Trust - indeed across the whole of the NHS estate countrywide.
Why hasn’t the hospitals sector got to grips with the energy issue in the same way as the supermarket sector?
For a start, some of the factors inhibiting progress are outside estates and facilities managers’ control. Political initiatives, the organisational changes in the move from central control to trust and ultimately Foundation status, have served to muddy the focus on such fundamental housekeeping. There is also the overriding imperative to provide clinical excellence without interruption in the healthcare setting.
Retail businesses, on the other hand, have a much more stable and predictable set of drivers, and can therefore more easily adapt to change.
Having said that, we should not forget that every pound saved on hospital running costs is a pound that can be spent on improving patient care. In the public sector, that should be as powerful a driver as the commercial imperative for retailers.
The importance of monitoring for planned maintenance
Another important area where hospitals can learn from the approach of private business is in monitoring for planned maintenance. As noted, any disruption which affects patient care has to be avoided. Therefore, implementing effective monitoring of building services plant and electrical systems enables maintenance issues to be identified before they result in breakdown. Proper planned maintenance can then be organised, without disrupting patient care.
An example of how this can work in practice is with the use of a monitoring and service management bureau. This remotely monitors the performance of building services and refrigeration plant on a site – or across a network of sites. It can include real-time feedback on thousands of items of plant, including temperatures, pressures, energy used and so on.
An example of how this can work in practice is with the use of a monitoring and service management bureau. This remotely monitors the performance of building services and refrigeration plant on a site – or across a network of sites. It can include real-time feedback on thousands of items of plant, including temperatures, pressures, energy used and so on.
Any units which divert from pre-set norms are instantly identified. They can then be examined remotely for the cause of the problem, and the likelihood of failure predicted. Specialist staff can then decide if immediate attention is needed, and if or when an engineer should visit.
This is both energy reducing and cost saving for a supermarket, at risk of losing valuable food stock in the event of a refrigeration breakdown. When applied to blood or tissue storage units in a hospital, this capability not only reduces energy costs but protects valuable and potentially irreplaceable assets from being lost.
Automatic light switching is another area where supermarkets have taken a lead. Many retail sites operate three shifts: trading, stocking, empty. In power terms for a healthcare site, this would represent 100 per cent, 50 per cent and 0 per cent of usage. However, many healthcare establishments operate at an always-on 100 per cent all of the time.
The variable switching system applied to a hospital environment would be dayshift, evening and night shifts. Managers decide in advance what areas can be powered down when not in use, rather than rely on staff to switch off lights when they leave for the day.
Manual override with timers can ensure the lights are powered on when needed, but switched off again when not. None of these initiatives impact negatively on staff or patients, but their effect on the bottom line for running costs can be dramatic.
Simply making sure a hospital’s cooling and heating systems are not fighting one another can save huge amounts of wasted energy. It’s not uncommon for building heating to be left on until, say, 9:30am, with the air conditioning coming on at 08:30am. This is literally burning five pound notes. By considering the operation of a building as a whole, healthcare managers can use RDM control systems to identify these expensive mis-matches and eliminate waste.
Payback times for the Data Manager are generally measured in months. The exact figure will obviously depends on the specific application, but payback under 12 months is not unrealistic. With energy prices predicted to rise, the already quick payback times will get even shorter.
The essential ingredient in an effective strategy is transparency. You must ensure that what is actually happening in the buildings and facilities is made visible. This is where the supermarkets have pioneered with RDM, and it is has been key to their success.
Today’s triple play approach of monitoring, control and remote management is already delivering substantial cost savings and reduced energy usage for major UK organisations. It is a short step to applying this approach in a clinical setting.
The ability to control energy use and schedule maintenance before disaster happens enables managers to ensure they are operating at minimum cost with maximum asset security. This is what RDM provides 24/7/365 for retail installations globally.
It is an approach that we believe can also deliver incalculable benefits for the medical sector.
For more information, please contact the author on: 07920 061763.