CIOB Head of sustainability: "There needs to be more incentives to drive innovation in NHS sustainability"

I’m regularly encouraged by the conversations I have with clients who want their projects to be environmentally sustainable. In most cases, it’s not just because of the potential cost savings from lower energy consumption, but also because they see it as the right thing to do as part of the wider net zero and sustainability agendas. 

I recently chatted to a member of our CIOB Sustainability Advisory Panel, Kemi Owoeye, who is a Technical Lead at Willmott Dixon and has worked on several health sector projects in the last 20 years. Her latest, a health centre in Weybridge in Surrey, is in the pre-construction phase and will be net zero in operation. It will also include a rain garden to support biodiversity net gain and help reduce surface water runoff to the sewer network, while creating a welcoming environment for staff and patients.

Kemi told me that, in her experience, the NHS understands the need for net zero better than many other sectors, as a large proportion of its estate operates 24/7 and its buildings are energy-hungry due to the specialist equipment needed to diagnose, treat and care for patients. She says the NHS also recognises it is on the sharp end of dealing with the impact of a warming climate on people’s health, and in turn spends billions treating them, so sees a benefit in playing its part to address climate change. 

The social aspects of improving sustainability in the built environment aren’t talked about enough in my view, and Kemi gave me another great example of a health centre she worked on in Chiswick, which included homes for its key workers in the design. This not only removed the need for time-consuming and stressful commutes for those workers but also cut out the carbon previously emitted from them travelling to and from work. Clearly, it’s not possible to do this on all projects, but this type of progressive thinking is certainly needed if we are to reach net zero.

Legislation and standards can have a key role, as they provide clarity and push both clients and constructors to do more, faster. Planning policies have driven improvements and cost efficiencies in photovoltaic (PV) energy generation as well as nature protection for example. 

I was particularly pleased to hear Kemi speak about the NHS’s own Net Zero Building Standard, and its requirement to not only address carbon reduction but also water use, which is an aspect of sustainability that’s often overlooked. Successful planning applications are increasingly including conditions around provision of sustainable drainage systems (SUDs), minimising the daily water use per person, or rainwater harvesting, while most local authorities target the maximum BREEAM credits related to water. The widespread droughts across the UK this summer are likely to become more commonplace, and the risks to society and the economy will be enormous if action isn’t taken to drive down water use.

Kemi and I are in agreement that