Homerton Hospital wins Eden Project award for measuring carbon footprint

Homerton staff with their Planet Mark certificate (Photograph: Homerton Hospital)

Homerton Hospital has become the first NHS Trust to receive a prestigious sustainability award after publishing detailed information about its carbon footprint.

The hospital was given the Eden Project’s ‘Planet Mark’ certificate to recognise its work measuring its impact on the environment.

Homerton has been working with Planet Mark partner Low Carbon Europe for four years, and has pledged to cut carbon emissions by five per cent in 2017/18.

The Planet Mark founder Steve Malkin said: “The Trust should be congratulated for what it has achieved in recent years to reduce its carbon footprint.

“It continues to look at new ways to become more sustainable and to reduce carbon emissions further. We are delighted to recognise Homerton as the first hospital to receive our accreditation.”

As of March 2017, the hospital’s relative carbon footprint was 1.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e) per employee, and a total footprint of 5,885 tCO2e.

Nearly three quarters (72.6 per cent) of the hospital’s emissions were electricity, compared to a quarter (25.7 per cent) natural gas.

Homerton Director of Estates Chris Forster said: “Working with our partners Low Carbon Europe, and with the full support of our Trust Board, we have been developing our sustainable management plan and action plan to reduce emissions in the hospital and our community units.

“We have just appointed a new environment and sustainability manager to take this work forward as we seek other new initiatives to enable us to become energy efficient.”

Holders of the mark are required to cut their carbon emissions by at least 2.5 per cent each year to keep the award.