Network news

The podcast Helpth has interviewed us about our work with sustainable healthcare

Posing the question "Why healthcare sector needs change?" in their first podcast episode, Helpth (by Tamila Ulan) has a conversation with our CEO and co-founder Daniel Eriksson. This episode – which is the second in the podcast series – digs into what first steps to take when aiming to reduce the negative impact of the healthcare sector on the environment. The need for knowledge exchange and collaboration through an international network like NCSH is key. 

Listen to the podcast here

Do you want to get on board on the journey towards sustainable healthcare, too? Contact Felicia Hedetoft (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and become a member here today.

Learn more about sustainability in healthcare from Nordic perspectives on September 6th!

Our partner Business Finland is inviting you to their next Health Tuesday – a morning filled with inspiration and discussions about what steps we can take towards a healthier future. This event is arranged in collaboration with us at NCSH and the Embassy of Denmark in Finland. 

Read more, find the agenda and sign up by clicking the button below:

To Health Tuesday

Date: 6 September 2022

Time: 09.00–11.00 CET

Not yet a member in the NCSH network? You can easily sign up here.

One could argue that the most important premises to ventilate in an effective way are hospitals and other healthcare facilities. So, why don't just do that?

"It's all about how the air flows". Our member InventiAir offers one-of-a-kind technology for better air quality and they explain their novel approach to ventilation like this:

In hospitals and other healthcare facilities, a lot of individuals are gathered – often in narrow spaces and during long periods of time. Some of these individuals are also contagious, or they are elderly and more sensitive to diseases. In these spaces, the personnel work extensive days and need fresh air to breathe to be able to concentrate and give the best care possible.

Still, the efficiency of the ventilation tends to be poor or not as good as it could be. Why is this the case, when the technology and products for better and more targeted ventilation are available?

We at InventiAir do not have the answer to that question. But: we have a unique technology, which together with our products provides better air quality, and at the same time saves energy and gives people in hospitals and healthcare facilities a comfortable indoor climate.

Read more about InventiAir's technology here (in Swedish) 

(You find the information in English here)

Our solutions are proven by research and measurements to distribute the air more efficiently. This reduces the risk of infections and leaves individuals breathing air with more oxygen and higher comfort, compared to conventional ventilation methods.

This is the effect of our use of a stratifying principle, which layers the air and distributes the clean, fresh air around people in a room. Confluent jets make the air move in an optimal way, so that fresh air collects around the heat sources in the room (the people), while allowing the exhaled, contaminated air to withdraw from the room before it reaches other individuals.

Of course, not even we – though being an innovative GreenTech company – can guarantee that every harmful particle disappears before it does any harm. But we do know (from research, tests, and measurements in our laboratory) that a significant amount of particles rises to the ceiling and out, compared to mixing ventilation.

So, why use old, common technology when hospitals and other healthcare facilities can become safer and more pleasant environments with InventiAir?

Want to learn more?

• To InventiAir's website (in Swedish)
• To InventiAir's website (in English)

Become an NCSH member you, too – fill out the form here!

NCSH is sharing the topic of sustainable healthcare in Europe's market leading business journal!

Sustainable healthcare is at the core of sustainable development.

This is what we show in our article published in The European's summer edition 2022. Partnerships, collaboration and our digital hospital Grønnköpingkið – these are all ingredients needed to further boost the sustainable transition in the healthcare field.

"Just like Grønnköpingkið, all hospitals are part of larger systems. Faced by the likelihood of more pandemics and escalating climate disasters, collaborating across boundaries and borders is vital. Sustainable healthcare offers a model for withstanding massive disruptions in societies worldwide, meeting and preventing the crises of the future. It is at the core of sustainable development."

You find the editorial on page 34–35 by clicking the button below: 

To the summer edition

Enjoy the read!

Denmark’s Capital Region introduces a sharing platform for sustainable healthcare!

The NCSH member FLOOW2 is now operating and servicing the Danish region's new Recycling and Donation (Genbrug og Donation) platform – an online platform where all healthcare facilities in the Capital Region of Denmark can exchange furniture, materials, excess inventories and medical equipment. Visit the groundbreaking site here: 

To Genbrug og Donation

Read more about how FLOOW2 explains the new platform:

The 44,000 employees of the Danish Capital Region can now order furniture that was obsolete elsewhere and put it to good use in their own workplace. Using an online sharing platform, called Genbrug og Donation, the region is promoting reuse and recycling of its many furniture and products. This sharing marketplace is an easy and practical way to save costs and simultaneously contribute to making healthcare more sustainable.

Director of the Center for Real Estate, Mogens Kornbo, says this about the platform: "The recycling platform gives all our colleagues the opportunity to contribute to the green transition. It is amazing that we can give new life to good furniture that would otherwise have ended up as bulky rubbish. At the region's recycling and donation warehouse, we have the space and competencies to store and repair the furniture, and now we have a platform that makes it easy for colleagues to choose recycling."

The recycling platform works by dedicated employees picking up surplus furniture from the region's many hospitals and companies. The furniture is then inspected, cleaned, repaired and refurbished if needed. Pictures of the collected furniture are posted on ‘Genbrug og Donation’, where the region's employees can order what they need for free, which is then delivered directly to their workplace.

Today, the Capital Region of Denmark buys new furniture annually for up to DKK 25 million. Each recycled and refurbished desk saves the region between two and three thousand kroner, and with 44,000 employees, the savings run up quickly.

The recycling platform makes it possible to keep track of how much furniture is recycled and how much CO2 is saved. In the first month after launch 650 items were exchange were made resulting in savings worth more than €130.000 and 39.000 Kg CO2. In the long run, the platform will be expanded to other hospital products and products.

Genbrug og Donation is powered by FLOOW2, the global leader in developing marketplaces for businesses and organizations.

Become an NCSH member you, too – fill out the form here!

In Nya Malmö Sjukhus (NMS), rooms will be equipped with the green Opragon!

Today's healthcare requires new and innovative solutions, not least to reduce energy consumption. NMS is preparing the first two operating rooms where staff will be trained to get the most out of improved work processes, installed with Opragon (Temperature-controlled AirFlow, TcAF) from our member Avidicare. At their website, you can follow the total energy savings of such installation in real-time, compared to traditional ultra-clean ventilation systems:

Read more and find Avidicare's Energy Savings calculator

Avidicare present this exciting news in more detail here:

Among the most important benefits is that the operating staff will have maximized their space to perform their work, as the entire operating room is ultra-clean! The two theaters at NMS will be installed before the entire construction is completed, expecting another twenty operating rooms with the same equipment further on.

With the innovative and scientifically proven technology TcAF, the Opragon system creates ultra-clean air throughout the room thanks to its stable and robust airflow, driven by gravity instead of fans. It is a smarter way to utilize the laws of physics through gravity, and thus save on energy consumption. This in comparison to mechanically pushing air into the spaces. Gravity ensures that the dirty air falls to the floor and minimizes the risk of infection-sensitive areas being exposed to bacteria and viruses swirling around.

Avidicare's Opragon systems offers a 30% lower cost of ownership compared to standard LAF. The Opragon boasts a low energy cost without compromising efficiency, while simultaneously providing an at least 5x larger ultra-clean work space.

All in all, lowering the total energy consumption in medical facilities and minimizing the risk of infections.

Talk to Avidicare's experts to get support in showing compliance in your project.

The NCSH member Enrad has just started their podcast 1.5 degrees – a podcast about sustainable cooling and heating!

Become an NCSH member you, too – fill out the form here!

Our CEO Daniel Eriksson is speaking at an international webinar by ISSA, join in you too!

On April 13th, the International Social Security Association (ISSA) is organising a forenoon to reflect on global experiences of environmental sustainability in the healthcare sector. NCSH is thrilled to be sharing and representing the Swedish and Nordic approach as well as innovation on the subject.

You are specially invited to listen in on the webinar for free by signing up to Zoom:

Click here to register

Time: 09.30–12.30 (UTC/GMT+2 or CEST)

Read more about the webinar on ISSA's website HERE

 Not yet a member in the NCSH network? You can easily sign up today using our form!

Want to learn more about innovative predictive maintenance for HVACR systems? Check out ClimaCheck's new guide!

Our member ClimaCheck has just released a guide about improving your company's sustainability performance and efficiency. Read it by clicking on the button below:

Go to the guide

This is how ClimaCheck themselves describe their new release:

Most hospitals need cooling in their facilities: Air conditioning, medicine/vaccine storage and process cooling are just a few vital systems that need to run without interruption. Heat pumps are often crucial in order to keep staff and patients warm as well as providing hot water.

Approximately 30–60% of the total energy consumption is used by HVACR systems (where present). In many cases, however, the efficiency of these systems is overlooked, so long as they deliver the intended temperature; and staff and tenants do not complain about heat or cold! Although easily overlooked, this leads to overconsumption due to energy inefficiency and translates into electricity bills being 10–30% higher than they need to be.

Inefficient systems are also less reliable and tend to fail more often, which is catastrophic in hospitals. Most problems are caused by poor commissioning and maintenance methods. Current practices fail to detect performance deviations before they result in failures or complaints.

Every year, ClimaCheck analyses performance of thousands of HVACR systems and see the costs as well as the lack of optimisation results. We want to remove energy inefficiencies and introduce predictive maintenance, to make organisations more sustainable.

As a part of this we have released a guide which goes through everything from collecting data, analysing it to getting actionable information to then use. We have helped many different organisations save millions of kWh and at the same time reduce the risk of breakdowns and cancelled operations/surgeries. On example is Banner Health: They have reduced their energy consumption with 14M kWh and save $3.8M yearly.

If you have questions or want to know more about ClimaCheck's unique method, download the guide or contact us directly.

Become an NCSH member you, too – fill out the form here!

Business Finland, one of NCSH's members, has released a collection of innovative Finnish solutions for hospitals!

Click here to access the full "Future Hospitals from Finland"

This is how Business Finland describes their new brochure: 

The Future Hospitals from Finland brochure presents more than one hundred truly innovative Finnish solutions supporting the building and operations of future hospitals, divided into nine sub-categories from design and planning, to running of operations, and home-based hospital care.

The reader is introduced to the entire chain from designing and building hospitals, into applying the latest medical technologies and running sustainable hospital operations, into providing hospital-like care at the safety of patients' own home.

Read more from the release.

 Become an NCSH member you, too – fill out the form here!