The Swansea Bay University Health Board (SBUHB) had planned a phased programme of energy conservation and generation measures, via the Re:Fit framework, with the support of Welsh Government and Salix Funding. Planned works included a range of energy conservation measures at eight of their highest use buildings as well as a 4MW Solar Farm which will provide electricity for Morriston Hospital
Vital Energi were chosen to deliver the investment grade proposals (IGP) for both the Energy Conservation Measure works and the Solar Farm Project. This involved a detailed survey of the Health Board’s eight highest energy properties and identifying energy conservation measurers which would, not only deliver strong carbon reduction results, but would also generate a profit after achieving payback.
The IGP clearly details the carbon and financial savings for all suggested works and brings a level of budgetary certainty to the clients, as well as risk mitigation, by providing an energy performance contract which guarantees set targets for the course of the contract.
Once the IGP had been finalised and accepted by the client, we began the installation works and in addition to the technical challenges of replacing the aging infrastructure, we had the additional complexities of working in a live hospital environment during the Covid pandemic. This meant we would have to work with the hospital to minimise disruption as well as working to the highest standards of health, safety and social distancing.
SBUHB has a long-term carbon reduction strategy outlined in their Sustainability Report and the phased works delivered through the Re:Fit framework are seen as a key element in achieving their goals.
Eight of the Health Board’s highest energy using buildings have been upgraded including Morriston Hospital, Singleton Hospital, Gorseinon Hospital and Tonna Hospital and these upgrades will account for a 12% reduction in emissions across the estate.
These upgrades concentrate on energy conservation measures such as lighting, air handling and the building energy management system. The second phase saw us design install and operate the health board’s solar farm which would supply zero-carbon electricity to the nearby Morriston hospital.
Technological advances in indoor and outdoor lighting make upgrades and replacements particularly attractive as they bring numerous advantages. The Health Board’s hospitals still made use of older fluorescent light fittings and replacing these with more efficient LED alternatives we were able to:
Overall we replaced 12,880 light fittings with modern LED lights across 8 sites and this work was done in a live hospitals, during the Covid pandemic, demonstrating our ability to work within client guidelines and work in partnership to minimise disruption.
These works will reduce the Health Board’s electricity usage by almost 3.75 million kW hours as well as saving them in excess of £500,000 per annum.
