Lessening our impact on the environment, and looking at ways to reduce our carbon footprint across a number of key areas was an important theme for us 2021-22.
During the year we commissioned a study of both of our buildings and of one of our shops to better understand where we could implement changes that would positively impact our carbon footprint.
The results of these studies showed that our hospice building was constructed with excellent insulation, and that much of what we do across the hospice in terms of heating, lighting and air flow is already of a high standard. In fact one of the challenges moving forwards looks to be how to keep the building cool throughout the summer months.
Many of the changes we will strive to implement are behavioural across our teams – maintaining and growing recycling, reminding staff and volunteers to turn off screens and computers when not in use, and encouraging use of our new electric pool bikes where possible. Across our shops we are also looking at the best heating options, to reduce any excess energy loss and to increase the productivity of our heating systems.
Some of the key areas highlighted by the reports carried out, and through our own internal audit of our environmental impact included;
A high quality hospice building with excellent insulation
A good mix, at present, of electricity and gas across the Hospice
Good solar panels in use on our Hospice building, with potential to increase these
Good lighting across most of the Hospice building
Opportunities to move to electric vans for our facilities team
Moving forward, assessing and reducing our environmental impact where possible, will continue to be a key priority.
