RE:FIT case study: Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust

The RE:FIT framework gives public authorities the opportunity to procure a long-term private sector partner to help deliver energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects across their estates. Contractors appointed through the framework guarantee agreed levels of energy performance and cost savings, helping public bodies reduce delivery risk while progressing towards net zero.

One organisation to use RE:FIT to support a major programme of decarbonisation is Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. The Trust appointed specialist energy performance contractor Dalkia through the framework to deliver a £24.79 million energy-saving scheme across Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals.

The challenge

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust has been working to reduce its carbon footprint for a number of years. Its carbon reduction journey began in 2009, with £10.4 million subsequently invested across a range of energy-efficiency projects that helped reduce carbon emissions by nearly 25%.

However, achieving further substantial reductions required more significant interventions across the Trust’s estate. At Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals, this meant addressing energy-intensive heating and building systems while also tackling elements of longstanding backlog maintenance.

The Trust therefore needed an approach that could combine major decarbonisation measures with improvements to existing infrastructure, helping it progress towards net zero while maintaining resilient and efficient healthcare facilities.

The solution

Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust secured funding through the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme following a competitive bidding process. The £24.79 million project was designed to achieve emissions reductions of more than 15% across Charing Cross and Hammersmith hospitals.

Dalkia was appointed through the RE:FIT framework to deliver the programme.

A major element of the project is the installation of an air source heat pump at Charing Cross Hospital. By extracting heat from the air to provide heating and hot water across the site, the system will reduce the hospital’s consumption of natural gas.

Both hospitals will also benefit from a package of energy-efficiency measures covering lighting, pumping, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, alongside improved energy controls. Older boilers and steam systems will be replaced with modern, energy-efficient equipment, helping to address elements of the Trust’s backlog maintenance at the same time as reducing energy consumption.

Solar panels will also be installed at both hospitals, providing a renewable source of electricity and reducing reliance on electricity from the grid.

The impact

The programme is expected to deliver a step change in the energy performance of two major hospital sites, reducing emissions by more than 15% while modernising important elements of the Trust’s infrastructure.

By combining low-carbon heating, renewable generation and a range of energy-efficiency measures within a single programme, the project demonstrates how decarbonisation investment can deliver wider estate benefits. Replacing ageing equipment and improving building controls can help reduce energy consumption while simultaneously addressing maintenance requirements and improving the long-term resilience of healthcare facilities.

Professor Tim Orchard, Chief Executive of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said:

The climate change crisis has real implications for the health and wellbeing of our staff, patients and local communities. Securing the decarbonisation grant is a huge boost to our efforts and a great start to implementing our first comprehensive Green Plan.

The project also builds on the Trust’s existing progress, demonstrating how organisations that have already delivered significant energy-efficiency improvements can use RE:FIT to move on to larger and more complex interventions.

Gary Parke, Managing Director at Dalkia, said:

We are delighted to enter into a new partnership with Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. This decarbonisation project will deliver a step change reduction in the Trust’s carbon footprint and put it well on the way to achieving its net carbon zero goal.