The National Rehabilitation Centre in Nottingham will be the first carbon neutral building in the NHS, driving forward the health service’s climate commitments aims as it looks to reach net zero by 2040.

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) has progressed work on its state-of-the-art National Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), with the new facility set to lead the way nationally both in patient care and sustainability.

The NRC, which is part of the national New Hospitals Programme, will bring together the best expertise and resources in rehabilitation treatment, training and research under one roof for the first time. It is also set to be a flagship site for the health service’s net zero ambitions, as the NHS’ first operational carbon neutral building.

The NRC, which will be based on the Stanford Hall Rehabilitation Estate between Nottingham and Loughborough, gives an insight into how future NHS facilities can meet the organisation’s net zero obligations. It has been designed to a new standard of energy efficiency for the NHS, is all-electric, and will feature three air source heat pumps (ASHPs) and 900m2 of solar panels that are predicted to provide 10 per cent of the building’s energy needs. Through these energy savings, and by producing much of its own power, the building is expected to make significant savings on energy costs, adding value to the NHS.

The spotlight has turned to the NRC this Great Big Green Week – the UK’s biggest celebration of community action to tackle climate change. As the site nears completion, it will have capacity to treat 750 patients a year through intense rehabilitation programmes, directly benefitting patients that have suffered potentially life-changing injury, trauma or illness.

From there, NUH’s ambition is that the NRC will form the centre of a new ‘hub and spoke’ model of rehabilitation care in the UK, with regional major trauma centres all linking back into the NRC as a centre of national expertise.

Nick Carver OBE, Chairman of Nottingham University Hospitals, said of the finished construction: “The completion of NUH’s groundbreaking National Rehabilitation Centre is a fantastic milestone for the Trust and the NHS in England.

“It demonstrates that the very best in sustainability and patient rehabilitation are achievable together, with life-changing treatments, research and training going hand-in-hand with our rock-solid commitment to the environment.

“It also showcases exactly what this Trust and our NHS is capable of delivering with the right ambition after funding was secured via the New Hospitals Programme, and we couldn’t be more excited for the centre to open its doors.”

Miriam Duffy, Director of the National Rehabilitation Centre, said: “Not only will the NRC sit at the heart of rehabilitation treatment in the UK, we hope it can also serve as a model for future net zero builds from the NHS and across the UK – reducing both emissions and bills.

“Great Big Green Week marks the perfect moment to reflect on the site’s progress so far, and as we look ahead to its completion, we are excited for the first patients to benefit from its state-of-the-art facilities.