Behind the blue lights and sirens, the Trust is committed to continuing to make greener choices when it comes to its buildings and infrastructure.
Since 2012/13 the Trust has significantly reduced its estate portfolio from 149 sites across the Region to just 46 which has resulted in a 44% decrease in CO2 emissions. The implementation of the Make Ready model and also ensuring new build sites, such as Sandwell Hub currently under construction, are compliant with BREEAM Excellent Standards is also helping the service to be greener and more sustainable.
The new site in Sandwell, which is a 7,000m2 purpose-built ambulance hub, is set to have the calculated emissions of 15.2kg co2 per m2 once fully operational next year. The Trust has already invested in a number of sustainable projects across its estate portfolio over the years which includes installing LED lighting, replacing old boilers, the installation of Air Source Heat Pumps at its two control rooms in Brierley Hill to reduce the amount of gas/electric that is used to heat water, introducing a Building Management System (BMS) to all primary sites and installing EV chargers for electric vehicles.
The Trust’s determination to become a paperless organisation is already a key priority by investing in and introducing more technology-based solutions. The Trust’s HR team is already successfully paper-free and the recent rollout of iPads for all patient facing staff not only improves patient care but also aids the paperless agenda too. The Trust is always looking to further utilise technology to become a fully paperless organisation and, in doing so, creates a more efficient and effective way of working. The Trust is also looking at plans to reduce its volume of waste going to landfill and incineration and increase the level of recycling.
An opportunity for further improvement under consideration is the installation of solar panels across the roof faces of four buildings to produce an annual yield of 170,620kWh (Navigation Point), 91,760kWh (Millennium Point), 132,950kWh (Tollgate Unit 2) and 37,640kWh (Tollgate Unit 4) which would provide a CO2-emissions saving over seven years the equivalent of planting 5,588 trees.
Anthony Marsh, Chief Executive Officer, said: “A significant amount of progress has been made in our carbon reduction journey over the past few years but there is more to be done. We have some challenging targets to meet over the coming decade which will require more innovative solutions, hard work and significant investment.
“As a service we are focussed on delivering outstanding patient care and the health of the communities that we serve so it is only right that we do everything in our power to help to improve the environment that we all share by continuing to take sustainable steps forward.”
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