NHS announces fresh plans to tackle the climate emergency

The NHS has revealed plans to step up action to tackle the climate emergency and drive towards reaching the national target of reaching net zero by 2050, a news report can reveal.

NHS Chief Executive Sir Simon Stevens announced that the organisation and its staff will fight the climate "health emergency" and in doing so, reduce rates of heart attacks, strokes and asthma, ease pressure on emergency departments and save tens of thousands of lives.

The health and care system in England is currently responsible for between 4% and 5% of the country's total carbon footprint and the NHS itself notes climate change and harmful air pollution are inextricably linked.

It has announced plans to establish an expert panel to chart a practical route map to net zero and plans to become the world's first major health service to do so.

It will also look at changes it can make in its own activities, in its supply chain and through wider partnerships, as well as in terms of its medical devices, consumables and pharmaceutical supply — it says it has encouraged its staff to drive to work less and bring in reusable cups and bottles and notes it has committed to switch to more environmentally-friendly anaesthetic gases and reduce emissions generated from its buildings.

HeatingSave Building Management System (BMS) — the best solution to help the NHS tackle the climate emergency

The HeatingSave Building Management System BMS can help drive down energy emissions across the NHS facilities by both optimizing the way in which heating and HVAC systems work, but also by making it a lot less likely for employees to tamper with the controls — and thus waste energy.

HeatingSave has a number of features to prevent employees from adjusting the heating controls and leaving them in setting that can waste fuel. The keypad and display on the front of the controller has two levels of password protection.

These passwords can be changed by authorized personnel locally or centrally using the PC software. The password programming meets the requirements laid down by the Carbon Trust, and the PC software is user ID and password protected too.

Naturally, employees do have the right to set the ambient temperature at a value that best suits their needs, and HeatingSave manages this situation by firstly getting the temperature right so people don't feel too hot or cold. If employees do feel too cold, they can hit a button to increase the room temperature. The heating will be turned up for a while BUT will then automatically turn back — keeping the employee at the right comfort temperature — and saving the employer on their fuel bill.

If you'd like to find out more about the savings enabled by the HeatingSave Building Energy Management System, just contact our dedicated product team, they'll be more than happy to answer all of your questions and queries.