Foleshill Health Centre, the UK’s first Passivhaus healthcare building, has won another award, winning ‘Best Carbon Reduction Initiative’ at the Building Better Healthcare Awards on 3 November 2021. The judges were looking for projects helping to reduce carbon and energy use featuring energy-efficient heating, lighting, and other sustainable innovations, as well as green transport initiatives. Also award winners needed to demonstrate the possible impact on wider carbon reduction efforts more widely across the health and care sector.  This award win demonstrates the opportunities for more innovative Passivhaus healthcare buildings across the NHS.

About Foleshill Health Centre – the UKs greenest health care building

Foleshill Health Centre is the first healthcare building in the UK to receive Passivhaus certification, a rigorous global standard for energy-efficient design. Foleshill not only leads the way for carbon emissions reduction in this type of building but demonstrates its potential for repetition and upscaling across the future health estate.

Foleshill Health Centre is a £3.3m, 619m² building serving up to 10,000 patients in inner city Coventry. The new GP surgery has five consulting rooms and two treatment rooms.   The GP team began seeing patients in August 2021.

The health centre is a partnership between CHP and NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and the tenants Foleshill Surgery, a GP practice, part of Coventry and Rugby GP Alliance.

Passivhaus and sustainable features at Foleshill Health Centre

• The building is highly insulated, so it is warm in winter and cool in the summer. The Insulation exceeds the Building Regulations fabric insulation values by about 40%.
• The building is very airtight; the leakage rate roughly equates to a hole the size of a golf ball across the whole building.
• The energy-efficient features include triple glazed windows, which can be opened if required.
• All rooms have filtered 100% fresh air from ducts in the ceiling, supplied from ventilation units that recover heat from air leaving the building. The air is filtered to a similar standard as an operating theatre, ensuring a safe and clean environment (ISO ePM1 – June 2021).
• Point of use electric heated domestic hot water – each sink has its own water heater.
• There is a small heating system using Air Source Mechanical Pump (Swegon) connected to small radiators.
• Photovoltaic (solar) panels on the roof provide electricity.
• All the lighting is provided by energy-efficient LED lamps.
• No fossil fuels are used in the building.

In addition, Foleshill Health Centre has an electric car charging point, bike racks and is close to public transport to encourage sustainable travel.

Foleshill Health Centre has an EPC A rating (12) close to net zero CO2. It is expected to be BREEAM Excellent.

Foleshill Health Centre – leading the way for sustainable healthcare in the UK

This is the first time that NHSE/I has approved this type of energy-efficient Passivhaus building for the NHS in England.  It is an example for the rest of the NHS showing what can be done using the most modern, innovative volumetric building methods – a benchmark for how health buildings can be sustainable in the future.

As the UK’s first health centre to be certified to Passivhaus Classic, Foleshill leads the way for carbon emissions reduction in this type of building and demonstrates its potential for repetition and upscaling across the future health estate.  Foleshill contributes to the NHS carbon net-zero target and supports its aim to be the world’s first net-zero national health service.

“Foleshill Health Centre is already contributing to the NHS net zero target.  We are proud to work with our partners on the 1st UK health building built to meet Passivhaus standards.” said Malcolm Twite, Executive Director Property Performance at CHP.

Read more: Foleshill Health Centre Case Study

Watch the video about Foleshill, the first UK health centre certified to the Passivhaus Classic international standard for low energy usage and sustainability.

Awards for Foleshill Health Centre

Foleshill has won awards and accolades across the healthcare and construction sectors for its sustainable innovations, value for money and impact on future health care building design.

Foleshill Won the Best New Build Project of the Year at the Healthcare Estates IHEEM Awards (19 October) from a shortlist of 13.  In addition, Foleshill Health Centre was shortlisted for the Sustainable Achievement Award.
Won the Sustainability Award at the CABE Built Environment Awards on 14 October 2021 (CABE news + CABE YouTube video).  This award recognises projects that are not only future-proof but are working to ensure the quality of that future through innovative practices that reduce a building’s overall impact on the environment in an exceptional way.

Won Sustainability Award, won Offsite Award, won Value Award and was Winner of Winners at the Constructing Excellence West Midlands ceremony (10 September 2021).
Won the Offsite Award and was Highly Commended in the Value Award at the Constructing Excellence East Midlands ceremony (2 September 2021).

Read more:  Foleshill Awards

4 November 2021

Foleshill Health Centre NHS Partners: Coventry and Warwickshire CCG + Coventry and Rugby GP Alliance

Delivery partners: Portakabin (Main contractor), Tooley Foster Architects (Passivhaus experts), AECOM (infrastructure consultants) and Arden Estate Partnerships Limited (development management).

Read: Foleshill Health Centre case study
News and Awards: Foleshill Health Centre
Watch: Foleshill Health Centre video

Find out about Passivhaus: Passivhaus Trust www.passivhaustrust.org.uk Video: Passivhaus explained in 90 seconds

Photography: Beth Walsh www.bethwalsh.co.uk
Drone/Timelapse: Heavy-Duty Time-Lapse www.hd-t.co.uk

NHS Carbon Footprint

Foleshill Health Centre contributes to the NHS Carbon Footprint Plus aim.  The health estate makes up 4-5% of England’s carbon footprint.

• The NHS Carbon Footprint (emissions NHS controls directly), will be net zero by 2040, with the ambition to reach an 80% reduction from 2028-2032
• The NHS Carbon Footprint Plus (emissions NHS can influence), will be net zero by 2045, with the ambition to reach an 80% reduction from 2036-2045

Read more about the #GreenerNHS www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/

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