Care Sustainability Expertise Center supports healthcare sector on path to sustainable buildings

On October 10, Sustainability Day, during the conference of the Green Deal Sustainable Care, the Care Sustainability Expertise Center (EVZ) was launched by Léon Wever, Program Director Sustainable Care at the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. The objective of this expertise center is to support healthcare organizations, including hospitals and nursing homes, in their sustainability task. By making healthcare real estate, among other things, more sustainable, the sector contributes to the CO₂-reduction targets from the Climate Agreement.

As our homes become more sustainable in the coming years, healthcare construction will (have to) take this step toward a sustainable future. But, how do you tackle this in the complex healthcare environment? Where do you start? What logical steps can you take? What do you run into? What expertise do you need? All questions you will have as a healthcare administrator/manager. With the new expertise center, there is now a point of contact for these and other questions. Knowledge and experience of TNO and the Stimular/MPZ Foundation come together in EVZ and are available to the healthcare sector.

In the short term, the EVZ will identify needs and bottlenecks from the sector and prepare validated sustainability maps for healthcare real estate, making reliable and care-specific information available on various technologies. In addition, the Center of Expertise will provide support in preparing portfolio roadmaps and organize workshops for the sector and advisors.

For questions about the sustainability of healthcare real estate, a question box has been set up, which can be accessed via www.dezorgduurzaam.nl. By analyzing the questions, the main issues and bottlenecks become visible so that they can be acted upon.

The expertise center performs only pre-competitive activities and should not be seen as a traditional consultant. The needs of the sector guide the activities of the expertise center. Periodically, these activities are coordinated with the branch organizations (NFU, NVZ, ActiZ, GGZ Nederland and VGN). In short: we are in the starting position to serve you with our expertise. Do not hesitate and share your questions and dilemmas with us. We will gladly use our expertise to work together towards a CO₂-emissions reduction in healthcare.

In the coming period, every issue of Building Healthcare will feature a column on making healthcare more sustainable. This column will answer frequently asked questions, highlight current events and inform you about numerous relevant developments.