Health officials say a new hospital in Harlow - which will serve Hertfordshire and north Essex including Uttlesford - aims to be carbon neutral.
The new Princess Alexandra Hospital is set to be among the first in the country that does not rely on gas boilers for heating and hot water.
Instead it will use more renewable sources of power such as ground source heat pumps, solar panels and ways to minimise the use of electricity.
The hospital is currently drawing up final design plans for the new estate – set to be the green fields close to what will be junction 7a off the M11.
Concept images have been revealed, giving some indication of what the hospital may look like.
Construction is set to start in 2023 and last three years. The existing Hamstel Road hospital site has been allocated for around 550 homes.
CEO Lance McCarthy said: “We want the new Princess Alexandra Hospital to be carbon neutral and we want it to be sustainable and we’re planning on it being the first all-electric hospital run in the country. We also don’t want it to feel like it is a hospital.
“We want it to feel like a warm calming relaxing environment and we will be using the most modern methods of construction so that we can make it as repeatable as possible so we can make it as flexible as possible and so that we have the ability to be able to expand.”
Michael Meredith, director of strategy and estates, said: “Net zero carbon is really important but basically it is a design that allows all of the energy that is created in the building to be recycled into the building.
“We’re talking about things like ground source heat pumps, we’re talking about having our own substation on the site, we’re talking about photovoltaics on the site to generate our own electricity.
“We’re talking about how we can minimise the use of electricity in the first place. I can’t tell you how complicated it is because hospitals are actually massive users of electricity.”
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