The government announced last week that it was providing £46m worth of funding for the investment of LED lighting and technologies across the NHS. All NHS trusts are eligible to apply for funding to improve and expand the use of LED lighting across their services, to save the NHS money and provide a better experience to patients, staff and visitors.
YPO is delighted to be included in the NHS Improvement Guide, which details how NHS trusts can compliantly spend their funding and source LED lighting. Our Low Energy Lighting DPS is listed in the guide and currently has 11 suppliers registered for the DPS who can perform a full end-to-end low energy lighting service.
Background
As electricity costs and associated pass through charges (fees paid to organisations who operate and maintain the electricity network) continue to grow, it’s safe to say the best way to save money on electricity bills is to use less.
With electricity commodity making up around 39% of a typical electricity bill, and pass through charges such as DUoS (Distribution Use of System) or CCL (Climate Change Levy) being levied according to the amount of electricity consumed, investing in energy efficient technologies is fast becoming the norm in the business sector, in a bid to manage consumption and reduce these costs.
But, with so many choices available, it can be difficult to know where to start. Customers tell us that they like to begin with the ‘low hanging fruit’ - those opportunities that bring the most obvious benefits.
LED lighting systems combined with daylight harvesting and occupancy technologies are under-utilised in the public sector but this is changing; YPO’s Low Energy Lighting DPS is amongst the most popular in terms of our most requested user guides.
Low energy lighting systems provide excellent benefits. Suppliers tell us that up to 70% of the lighting element of a bill can be saved. Lights switched on most of the day in most organisations and sometimes all through the night in buildings such as hospitals could equate to a saving of around 20% off the total bill in some cases. Payback periods are also relatively short with many systems seeing a payback period of around four years.
It’s good to see the NHS as a leading public sector body are recognising the benefits of LED and leading the way with their NHS Improvement Energy Fund for LED Lighting. This will be a brilliant cost saver for the NHS, which currently spends a reported £540 million per year on energy.
Better still it will also will improve the experience of patients, staff and visitors within the NHS buildings through a better quality of lighting. Studies show that LED lighting, by being more reflective of natural daylight, can improve the mood and wellbeing of those receiving its benefits.
We look forward to working with NHS customers who are successful in obtaining this funding, and to helping save the NHS costs at this particularly important time.
Find out more about our Low Energy Lighting DPS.
.ashx?h=225&iar=0&mh=411&mw=730&w=400)
.ashx?h=122&iar=0&mh=122&mw=730&w=730)
.ashx?h=118&iar=0&mh=122&mw=730&w=730)
.ashx?h=340&iar=0&mh=411&mw=730&w=600)
