Green energy harnessed to power new Cambridge surgical unit

Heat pumps have been installed on the roof of the surgical hub on the Addenbrooke's Hospital site in Cambridge

A hospital's new specialist surgical unit is to be powered by more green energy to help it reduce its emissions.

Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH) Trust said solar panels and heat pumps had been installed at its surgical hub.

The changes will help to provide domestic hot water, heating and cooling for the building.

The hub, located at Addenbrooke's Hospital, was built to help cut waiting lists for orthopaedic operations - such as knee and hip replacements.

The Cambridge Movement Surgical Hub opened in November and is a 40-bedded unit with three operating theatres.

Other measures installed at the hub to help the NHS trust reduce its carbon emissions included reducing single use plastics and a new restocking and ordering system to prevent waste.

A pilot study to trial reusable surgical gowns was also being undertaken by CUH.

A bespoke, locally built, computer-controlled electronics system manages the heating and cooling at the surgical unit

Richard Hales, energy and sustainability manager, said: "The hub's heating and cooling system has been built with energy efficiency at its heart.

"The system is innovative, not just for its practical modularity and direct connection to approximately 80kW of roof-mounted clean solar energy, but also the way the whole system is managed sets it apart."

"During summer time when the sun is really shining we're hoping that this whole unit will be running significantly off those panels."

A similar system was introduced in 2021 for the trust's Rosie Maternity Hospital.

The trust has set the target of halving its carbon emissions by 2032, (from a 2019/20 baseline) and become a net-zero organisation by 2045.