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Growing numbers of hospitals and healthcare facilities are going green, as they seek to future-proof their medical offering to the local communities by shrinking their environmental impact and reining in long-term costs. But how do you install large swathes of solar energy panels, when you have a reduced real estate footprint across several different sites?
Minimising carbon emissions, maximising energy efficiency, while lowering energy bills and securing power supplies are often the key initial drivers for hospital and healthcare facilities exploring green energy.
Solar thermal technology, which harnesses sunlight to produce large amounts of hot water, is ideally suited for hospitals and healthcare facilities that require a near-constant supply of domestic hot water for sanitation, laundry and food services among others. But the acreage required to install these renewable energy systems can often pose a significant challenge.
Poland’s Mazovian Regional Authority appointed Arup as contract engineer to assess and retrofit twelve public healthcare facilities, the region’s biggest healthcare-driven green energy initiative, in a move that has helped reduce C02 emissions locally by more than 783,6 tonnes over the past year.
Project Summary
200,000 patients benefiting from the initiative
5,300 m²solar panels installed
2.5 GWh/an solar energy transferred back to domestic hot water systems
“More Mazovian citizens use renewable energy sources, and I am glad our hospitals are following suit. It is not only environmentally friendly, but also delivers real savings. ” Adam Struzik The Marshal of the Mazowieckie Voivodeship
Small spaces, big solutions
In order to streamline the technical advisory work, our engineers devised a programme management framework to assess each of the participating healthcare facilities. After auditing the different sites and their requirements, which included from emergency ambulance depots to large hospitals, Arup came up with a range of solutions resulting in the installation of more than 5,300 square meters of solar thermal collectors.
Among the sites assessed, one of them offered a particularly challenging context. In Płock, we needed to deliver a space-saving renewable energy solution that would not impinge on the existing facilities, so the recommendation was to install 1,068 square metres of solar thermal panels above the hospitals’ carpark. The placement meant the 461 solar energy panels installed ended up being very near the facility’s mechanical room, allowing the client to save about 30% of the total project budget. This was then re-invested to improve the energy performance of the buildings across the healthcare complex, further reducing energy consumption.
Future-proofing healthcare facilities in Mazovia
Our engineering services, programme management and design work has helped improve the patient experience for over 200,000 people in the Mazovia region, future-proofing their local healthcare facilities for generations to come and paving the way towards more sustainable healthcare facilities.
As contract engineering for the local Mazovian authorities, Arup’s scope of work included project origination, the verification of the design criteria, developing requirements for automation, preparing the tender documentation as well as timescales and a masterplan.
We also carried out site surveys, design and site supervision for each of the locations, and effectively supervised the general contractor’s implementation, providing services including public health, mechanical, structural and electrical engineering. Our engineers will also continue to offer ongoing monitoring the energy performance of the systems in use over the next four years.
“Green energy helps future-proof healthcare and hospital facilities for the local communities: energy optimisation is key for users and managers alike because of the reduced operational costs and lower carbon footprint. ”
Jaroslaw Witek Sustainability Team Leader
Awards
Top Inwestycje Komunalne 2018 Competition Award (Top Municipal Investment 2018 Awards): Pro-environment anti-smog project Award in Poland, May 2018.
