Cappagh Hospital on target to reduce energy use by 26%

Climate action requirements mean that public hospitals must meet strict emissions and energy targets within five years.

By 2030, all public hospitals must achieve a 50% reduction in energy use and similar reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

The National Orthopaedic Hospital in Cappagh Hospital in Dublin is one facility where climate action is under way.

The hospital said it is on target this year to reach a combined 26% cut in energy use despite expanding services.

It has effectively saved €93,000 this year with the measures.

Head of Engineering at Cappagh Martin Healy said the hospital has cut its water use by 12%.

At one stage, one leak was wasting over 12,400 litres of water a day.

Hospital-wide submetering was installed to catch leaks.

Cappagh sub-zones have large heating zones so that areas are heated only when in use.

Natural gas use is down 37% and electricity use is down 6% from the baseline between 2016 and 2018.

Cappagh is also developing a Green Theatre to reduce the single-use of certain instruments and waste materials.

Consultant orthopaedic surgeon Professor John O'Byrne said the hospital has been looking to make its theatres environmentally friendly and have less impact on the environment.

One of the issues is the use of single-use surgical supplies, instruments, packs and drapes and how much waste is generated and how it is disposed of.

Prof O'Byrne said the hospital started off a few years ago, looking at the amount of waste generated in theatre.

He said that all surgeons who do joint operations find that at the end of surgery, there are bags and bags of waste, some of it contaminated with patient materials.

A team looked at how the waste was being divided and found a tendency to put a lot of it in the contaminated waste, which is the most impactful and expensive in terms of destroying it.

The team found that waste was not always being put into the most efficient and environmentally friendly recycling bags.

The hospital has also looked at whether doctors need to wear gowns all the time for some very small procedures.

Whatever approach is taken, it must also not compromise patient safety.

Prof O'Byrne said they also looked at the sets of instruments they open for operations and very often when they looked through all that is provided in a set, just a third or a half are actually needed.

The hospital has a waste segregation area on site, where cardboard and plastic are separated, compressed and baled.

Meeting energy and emission reduction targets has been a challenge, as the hospital continues expanding.

The hospital's Chief Executive, Angela Lee, said the hospital has an aged infrastructure to operate under and there has been a programme of window replacement.

Some buildings or wards date back to the early 1900s.

Cappagh has undertaken a programme of sustainability for the last five years.

The hospital has been supported by the HSE Energy Bureau and the SEAI in terms of grants and funding to make the current areas more sustainable.

Ms Lee said that Cappagh has already met its public sector climate action targets for 2030 in relation to energy efficiency.