Climate change measures for hospitals and health infrastructures

About

The health sector is one of the most CO2-intense sectors of economy, however at present this trend is evolving. In fact, many health sector organizations advocate the reduction of CO2 emissions while recognizing the importance of proofing them against climate risks, such as flooding or storms.

Currently there are promising results which need to be further boosted, in terms of reduced energy consumption and increased energy efficiency, adoption of renewable energy sources making hospitals self-sufficient in case of power-cuts, enhanced thermo-isolation generating better living conditions and reduced expenses for cooling and heating, enhanced resilience to climate hazards, increased living and working conditions for the hospitals’ occupants, and green procurement.

Within this framework the existing approach on climate proofing is rather analysed from the ex-ante perspective, centred on the fulfilment of CPR requirements for projects financed both in the 2014-2020 and the 2021-27 programming periods. A review of experience to date, which incorporate lessons learnt from the direct experience of health stakeholders and operators when implementing climate requirements is missing and is considered relevant to enrich knowledge-sharing with stakeholders.

JASPERS has completed an assignment aimed at understanding which are the most effective climate change approaches and solutions for health infrastructures. The intention is to introduce them in future EIB and European Commission projects as advisory tools to assist project promoters during project preparation.

Target audience

The webinar was designed for the health infrastructures, as they could implement the climate’s proposed working methodology and associated outputs. It would also benefit the Managing Authorities of the EU funds, who are expected to gain from the increased demand for funding to implement investments related to climate change measures.

Objectives

• The six project’s outputs represent a valid operational support along the hospitals’ journey to become less carbon-intensive, and more resilient to climate hazards. 
• Accessing an integrated approach on how to address climate change for health infrastructures, where emerging trends for climate mitigation and adaptation are presented.
• The cases-study demonstrated that decarbonising health infrastructure is an achievable task.

The assignment’s results were converted into outputs, covering the following topics:

• Staffing for climate change
• Criteria for green procurement of goods and services for health infrastructures
• Energy demand and efficiency
• The potential benefits from climate adaptation
• Developing a Climate Action Plan