Bath hospital looks towards a greener future

The Royal United Hospital in Bath has submitted a second planning permission application as part of plans to become more energy-efficient by improving its heating system and cutting carbon emissions.

This latest application comes after the hospital successfully applied to add a number of air source heat pumps to the roof of its energy centre.

Now, the hospital is looking to create a new route of buried high voltage cables that will supply power to the newly installed rooftop heat pumps.

The improvements are part of a wider project to de-steam as much of the RUH’s 52-acre estate as possible by replacing ageing heating systems with greener and more energy-efficient sources of energy.

Once completed, the changes will help the hospital to reduce its overall carbon emissions by approximately 19 per cent at first, and then by 25 per cent within the next five years.

Toni Lynch, Chief Nursing Officer, said: “We are very pleased to have received planning permission to install air source heat pumps, which will make our energy supply greener and help us move towards our vision of making Bath one of the healthiest places to live and work.”

Should planning permission be granted, work to install the cabling is expected to take towards the end of 2025.