NHS Net Zero Building Standard Hospital

The Countess of Chester Women and Children's Building becomes first completed NHS facility in England to achieve the NHS Net Zero Building Standard.

Following rigorous review, NHS England verified the project in September 2025. Built over three years with a £110m investment, the 12,200 m² facility now houses maternity, neonatal, paediatric, and women’s outpatient care — serving Chester and Ellesmere Port.

Key accomplishments:

• 25% lower upfront carbon than required by the Standard (saving 1,300 tonnes CO₂e)

• 220 MWh annual energy savings through heat pumps, heat recovery ventilation, and smart controls

• 90 kW rooftop solar PV generating 68 MWh/year

• BREEAM Excellent, placing it in the UK’s top 10% for energy-efficient buildings

• Fully electric, natural gas-free, designed for grid decarbonisation

• Creation of the Net Zero Carbon Coordinator role, now a model for future NHS projects

The project was delivered by Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Integrated Health Projects (IHP) a joint venture between VINCI Building and Sir Robert McAlpine, with Ecospheric serving in the role of Net Zero Carbon Coordinator, a cross functional position to enable holistic whole life decarbonisation of every aspect of the building. This role involved:

• Building and maintaining the Design Register, a live tool recording energy and carbon decisions.

• Running dynamic simulation modelling (DSM) to test multiple design options for feedback to the design team.

• Leading optioneering studies on over 40 architectural, structural, MEP, and clinical interventions.

• Working together with IHP to coordinate all design partners to ensure compliance evidence for NHS England.

What is the NHS Net Zero Building Standard?

Launched by NHS England, the Standard provides the first clear framework for whole life net zero carbon healthcare buildings. It sets rigorous targets for:

• Embodied carbon in construction materials,

• Operational energy and carbon during use,

• Whole life carbon across the building’s lifecycle.

The Standard is not simply about carbon reduction; it also improves patient and staff health and wellbeing through better thermal comfort, air quality, and adaptable, future-proofed design.

Moving forward, NHS England intend to make the Standard mandatory across all new major healthcare projects. The Countess of Chester represents a critical first step in learning how to apply the Standard effectively in practice.

Above all, the Standard empowers sustainability professionals to demand scientific and data-driven consideration from every principal supply chain partner involved in a project. It insists on optimisation and minimisation thinking across architecture, engineering, construction, and clinical technology, while providing NHS Trusts and decision-makers with the robust evidence behind the final design of a hospital.

It is also important to note that the Standard does not in itself create a “net zero building.” Instead, it ensures that individual projects are aligned with the trajectory required for the national NHS estate to achieve net zero by 2040.

More info:

Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust announcement

IHP news release

AHR project profile