Helping sustainability shine through
Sewell Facilities Management has been providing hard FM services for Hull’s Marfleet Health Centre since it opened in 2005. In recent years, we’ve been working on making the health centre more sustainable, in order to reduce its carbon footprint and cut energy costs for its tenants.
The solution
Following the full replacement of all traditional light fittings with energy-efficient LEDs, the next step has been to use the centre’s large roofing area to generate electricity through photovoltaic panels.
We managed the installation of 166 panels on the roof of the centre, which will convert sunlight into electricity and reduce the centre’s reliance on power produced from less sustainable sources.
The cost of installing the panels was funded by the health centre’s head tenant, Community Healthcare Partnerships.
The challenges
The health centre had to be fully operational throughout the six-week programme of panel installation, so it was important that deliveries, scaffolding erection and the actual installation of the panels caused as little disruption as possible to staff and patients. This was managed through actions such as careful timing of large deliveries and creating scaffolding access via the rear of the health centre.
Reducing a building’s emissions has benefits for everyone, so it was also desirable that staff, patients and visitors of the centre understood the work, and what it means for the carbon footprint of the building. To help people understand how they can support the centre’s sustainability efforts, we installed a screen in the entrance atrium. This displays the energy generated by the PV panels, giving a visual representation of the energy and costs saved.
The results
Within a week of being fully installed, the photovoltaic panels were already generating enough electricity both to power the health centre and to feed energy back into the grid.
The panels are forecast to generate around 56,000KWh of energy per year, which is enough for 62% of the centre’s electricity needs.
This will save the centre around £9,500 annually, and will reduce the carbon footprint of the building by 14 tonnes a year. Over the lifetime of the panels, that’s equivalent to saving the carbon emissions of over 300 long haul flights.
“The installation of photovoltaic panels at Marfleet Health Centre in Hull is a tangible example of Community Health Partnerships' commitment to driving sustainability across our estate. This project not only reduces the building's carbon footprint and operational costs, but it also directly supports the Greener NHS target to reach net zero before 2040.”
The panels will reduce the health centre's energy bills by £9,500 a year
What's next for the Health Centre?
The health centre is set to have further work in the next year, including a plant room upgrade, replacement of the air conditioning, and voltage optimization, which should further enhance the building’s sustainability.
We’re also planning further work to install photovoltaic panels at two further buildings in Hull – Newington Heath Centre and Alexandra Health Centre.