NHS Scotland - climate emergency and sustainability: annual report 2021 to 2022

8. Sustainable Construction

8.1 Sustainable Design and Construction Guide

On 4 October 2021, the Sustainable Design and Construction (SDaC) Guide was published to provide guidance for NHS Scotland Boards undertaking new and refurbishment construction projects, and to meet new requirements to address the climate emergency and sustainable development. NHS Scotland Assure has facilitated training seminars and workshops for NHS project teams.

Use of the SDaC became mandatory for Health Boards in August 2022.

In December 2022, NHS Scotland Assure published a single page overview of the SDaC highlighting key sustainability considerations for the healthcare-built environment.

The SDac has been integrated into the process for developing new NHS facilities.

8.2 Children’s Theatre Suite, Ninewells Hospital

In 2021, the Scottish Government launched the draft fourth National Planning Framework which among many key policies called for the regeneration and reuse of existing buildings, and infrastructure to “improve wellbeing and transform our places”, as well as minimising waste and reducing pressure on virgin resources.

The 2022 winner of the NHS Assure Design Excellence Awards was NHS Tayside Children's Theatre Suite at Ninewells Hospital. The selected site for the project was an old research laboratory used by the University of Dundee. It had some limitations which required extensive consultation. The outcome of this was design principles that put patient experience at its heart. The project demonstrated innovative approaches and the judges said that despite the constraints of redeveloping an existing single aspect 1970s hospital, the design team delivered a scheme which felt purpose built to provide the theatres next to the existing children’s wards.

Sustainability is only one of the judging criteria for this award. Other criteria include urban design and public realm, wayfinding, circulation and waiting, materiality and value, light and ventilation (comfort), and futureproofing. However, the NHS Tayside Children’s Theatre Suite provides an encouraging example of how retrofitting, as opposed to demolishing and rebuilding, which is likely to come with it a much greater impact on the environment, can provide, as one of the Anaesthetic Consultants stated, "a world class facility".