A £1.2m pilot LED lighting upgrade project across 30 GP surgeries has helped to save £158,950 on annual energy bills. 

Assura, the primary care premises specialist, has carried out upgrades through lighting improvements in consultation rooms, waiting areas, and training and team spaces.

The pilot is part of the company’s SixbySix strategy to minimise the impact of its buildings on the environment, en-route to fully-net-zero-carbon primary care buildings.

One of the key aspects of this is reducing energy consumption and, to help achieve this goal, Assura is working to get every one of its buildings to an EPC rating of band B or higher across the entire portfolio by March 2026 – four years ahead of planned national targets.

It plans to improve the EPC ratings of at least 50 buildings per year and the pilot project was the first step for the company.

The works were carried out with the help of contractors, Quartz Elec and FES Lighting.

LED is currently one of the most efficient lighting technologies, using 25% of the electricity of ordinary light bulbs and lasting up to 25 times longer.

Assura invested £1.2m in the programme, which has reduced energy needs by almost one million kilowatts across the 30 centres involved in the pilot. 

Paul Warwick, Assura senior project manager, said: “We are committed to a net-zero-carbon portfolio and that starts with making our existing buildings more energy efficient.

“While we’re designing and innovating to reach net zero on our new-build projects, we’re also making the small-but-important changes at existing sites like these, ensuring we play our part in a sustainable future and supporting the NHS to meets its goal to be the first net-zero-carbon health service by 2040.”