Recorded webinar: Delivering sustainable, healthy and resilient hospitals

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.

09 September 2020

1.00 am - 2.30 am

Webinar

This 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.

Learn more about our work on environmental sustainability via our dedicated page.

All presenters wish to express their sincere gratitude to all that attended for their active interest and support in improving the environmental sustainability of our health system.

Watch the entire recording below or use the time codes to skip to a specific topic.

WATCH THE VIDEO SESSION

00:00:02

Context, principles and climate resilience
Tiernan Humphrys, Manager Environmental Sustainability
Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority

00:12:33

Business as usual requirements, new focus areas, 2.5 per cent sustainability allowance and design targets
Julian Freeland, Resource Efficiency Lead
Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority

00:25:19

Waste provisions and circular economy
Rachel McConville, Waste Education Officer
Victorian Health and Human Services Building Authority

00:31:02

Background of star rating scale
Monique Alfris, Head of Operations and Standards
NABERs

0033:54

Rating product development
Rob Hughes, Ratings Manager
NABERS

00:36:23

How ratings work
Monique Alfris, Head of Operations and Standards
NABERs

00:39:28

NABERS Energy and Water for Public Hospitals tool and next steps
Rob Hughes, Ratings Manager
NABERS

00:42:07

The future of NABERS Energy
Monique Alfris, Head of Operations and Standards
NABERs

00:46:19

Question and answers

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. 

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.

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.

Watch the recorded webinar

Watch the recorded webinar 'Delivering sustainable, healthy and resilient hospitals'

Contact

Sustainability Unit
Victorian Health Building Authority

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Last updated: 09 November 2020