Young people from the West Midlands benefit from green upgrades at the regional mental health inpatient facility

A decarbonisation project at Parkview has sought to improve patient comfort whilst lowering emissions by more than 118 tonnes a year.

Parkview in Birmingham is amongst the latest buildings now benefitting from sustainability upgrades driven by a net zero 2040 ambition.

The Moseley-based service, run by Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust, provides specialist child and adolescent mental health services designed to assess and treat young people experiencing complex mental health presentations requiring admission to hospital.

Dan Saxton, head of sustainability at the trust, said: “Our facility supports young people with mental health conditions and we know that impact on the environment is really important for many young people.”

The decarbonisation project has replaced the old, gas-based heating system with a cascaded air source heat pump. A cascaded heat pump system allows more than one heat pump to work together to meet a property’s heating and hot water needs. 

Measures also included loft insulation after feasibility studies indicated that insulation improvements could reduce the overall heat demand for the building by further minimising heat loss. 

Project outcomes are now being celebrated for not only contributing towards the net zero ambitions of the trust, but also for ensuring the comfort and warmth of this essential community space.

Dan added: “Parkview sits within a green landscape with dedicated garden areas that contribute positively to our patients’ mental health and wellbeing

“The decarbonisation programme enables us to provide care in a place that has made a serious commitment to reducing our carbon footprint.”

The trust is passionate about the care they provide across the community and are proud to hold the sustainability baton and to lead by example when it comes to their own buildings. In doing so, they expect their essential services should continue to be available for the community for generations to come.

The service provides inpatient care for up to 34 young people aged from 11-18 with varying support and treatment requirements. Approximately, seven out of every ten young people admitted to the facility have been identified as neurodiverse (including having Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)), and the service is one of only a small number NHS inpatient services in the country to have received an official accreditation for its consistent, high-quality care for people with ASD alongside significant mental health difficulties.

Dan added: “We are hoping that Parkview will be one of the mental health facilities that is leading the way in being environmentally sustainable.

“Staff can be proud of the facility they work in, and confident that they are doing their bit to tackle climate change.”

To support the £999,396 project, the trust received £879,468.00 in funding through Phase 3b of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. We deliver funding for this scheme at Salix on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. 

The upgrades are expected to reduce the trust’s carbon emissions by 118.23 tonnes annually and save them £27,439 in energy bills every year.

Beatrice Morrison, programme coordinator at Salix, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with the trust on their project at Parkview and to hear more about the positive results they’re seeing now works are complete.

“The projects they’ve undertaken exemplify their commitment to ensuring that the work they’re doing isn’t only good for the planet, but also for the people that need these essential services.

“I look forward to continuing to support them with their additional works, and so, too, to hearing more about the benefits these will bring for the local community.”

To support their ambitions, the trust – who also run Birmingham Women’s Hospital and Birmingham Children’s Hospital – has received further funding through Phase 3a and Phase 3b of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. These larger-scale works are expected to completely transform the façade of the buildings as well as the way they’re generating heat for warmth and hot water. Watch our one-minute short on Youtube to hear more from Dan about these projects and what they mean for the community.