News

May 14, 2023

Veolia awarded NHS trust FM contract to drive estate sustainability

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust awards FM contract that will target major

Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust awards FM contract that will target major on-site carbon reductions across its estate

A new sustainable facility management (FM) contract awarded by the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust aims to reduce the organisation's carbon footprint.

The contract that has been awarded to Veolia, which will manage 144,300m2 of patient care facilities and around 20,000 assets. The decarbonisation programme is expected to save £1m per year and also aims to reduce estate carbon emissions by some 850 tonnes.

The onsite-based Veolia FM team, supported by the NHS trust's mobile and specialist teams, will provide 24-hour cover for a range of FM, utility, mechanical and electrical services including heating, ventilation and cooling. Other functions to be delivered as part of the agreement include emergency generation, lighting, medical furniture, compressed air and medical gas supplies.

Using building energy management systems (BMS), integrated with Hubgrade monitoring and targeting software, the FM team will monitor the usage of all utilities that include gas, electricity, and hot and cold-water supplies. The team will also liaise with the environmental agency, on behalf of the hospital, for environmental matters such as gas use, noise, and site impact.

More recently, Veolia worked with the Royal Berkshire Hospital to install hydrogen-ready boilers. These systems are intended to run on the existing natural gas grid before being converted at a later date to run on a fully supply of hydrogen should the gas be made available for heating.

These boilers are intended to help reduce distribution heat loss, and improve control of the heating and hot water systems, enabling the hospital to save around 3.8GWh of gas and a further 850 tonnes of carbon per year.

John Abraham, chief operating officer at Veolia UK & Ireland for industrial, water and energy, said of the latest contract: "Through our experience of delivering successful FM and utility contracts in other hospitals, we understand how critical service delivery relies on a partnership approach to provide services safely, efficiently and without disruption to patient care."

"Our Greenpath Zero carbon offer enables the NHS to become more sustainable, and focus budgets on patient care, we can help enhance the estate and move a step nearer the net zero carbon target."

Veolia launched its Greenpath Zero carbon roadmap earlier this year to help its clients reduce their emissions by up to 80 per cent using its industrial ecology solutions.