We recently partnered with the team from the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) to present a webinar on delivering sustainable, healthy and resilient hospitals.
Held on 9 September 2020, the webinar attracted more than 100 attendees and covered:
- the latest sustainability standards and expectations for all public healthcare capital works in Victoria
- insights into the development and use of NABERS for hospitals.
A comprehensive Q&A session followed the presentation. Questions focused on:
- solar photovoltaics and on-site power regeneration
- passive design
- the application of the 2.5 per cent sustainability allowance
- recycling targets
- adapting NABERS for the private healthcare sector.
Guidelines for sustainability in capital works
The webinar introduced the recently released Guidelines for sustainability in capital works. Published in May 2020, the guidelines incorporate changes to building code practices and information on climate adaptation, aligned with community and stakeholder expectations.
Tiernan Humphrys, Manager Environmental Sustainability at VHHSBA, spoke on a key principle of the guidelines – that hospitals are healing environments:
‘Hospitals are built to make ill people well and not to make well people ill so hospital design must focus on indoor environment and have a connection with nature and support an active lifestyle as best they can.’
Tiernan Humphrys, Manager Environmental Sustainability, VHHSBA
Learn more about the Guidelines for sustainability in capital works in our Resources section.
NABERS for hospitals
NABERS is a national government program that provides environmental performance ratings for buildings.
During the webinar, Rob Hughes from NABERS presented on the NABERS Energy and Water for Public Hospitals tool.
The tool rates the efficiency and environmental impact of entire hospital campuses with certified ratings for a total of 281 hospitals across Australia.
‘There are certified ratings for a total 281 hospitals across Australia over a number of years that relate to 1,257 ratings in total; 830 for energy and 427 for water’.
Rob Hughes, Project Lead, NABERS Energy and Water for Public Hospitals
The tool was developed in collaboration with all health departments across Australia.
Learn more about the Energy and Water for Public Hospitals tool on the NABERS website.
