Towards NetZero for hospital operating theatres

Hospital operating theatre suites are a particularly resource- and energy-intensive component of the health sector. Reducing their carbon footprint presents a significant challenge due to the necessity of maintaining patient safety. In this paper, we apply a multidisciplinary methodology to investigate and assess various strategies aimed at reducing the carbon footprint in hospital theatres. The strategies evaluated include (i) the duration of theatre ventilation operation, (ii) the efficiency of the ventilation strategy, and (iii) heat recovery systems and technologies. These approaches are assessed using a combination of theatre space monitoring (via building management systems), computational air-flow modelling and mathematical models. We develop a robust methodology that applies these modelling techniques to general hospital suites, enabling the estimation of reductions in CO₂ equivalent.