The Sustainable Design and Construction Guide (SDaC) has been updated following the recent consultation and is now available for boards to use. 

What is the SDaC and how does it help boards?

We spoke to Stuart Brown (Assistant Director – Property and Capital Planning, NHSScotland Assure), to find out more: “This technical guidance, also referred to as SHTN 02-01 supports NHS boards by explaining what is needed to mitigate the health impacts of climate change from a healthcare built environment perspective, both now and in the future.” 

The guidance was initially developed by NHSScotland in response to Scottish Government’s climate emergency declarations and related national commitments set out in Director Letter (DL) (2021) 38, which then informed the NHS Scotland climate emergency and sustainability strategy: 2022-2026.  

The guidance is complemented by the Sustainable Design and Construction (SDaC) Evaluation Toolkit, which provides a framework for NHS boards to ensure that they use all necessary methodologies and tools and understand good practice approaches to allow them to deliver a robust, sustainable healthcare environment which meets policy requirements.  

The guide has been updated – what’s changed?

Building on previous updates, this updated guide:  

• streamlines content and reduces signposting to other guidance and toolkits  

• clarifies how the SDaC should be used, across varying project scopes   

• provides clarity on requirements by simplifying the language and formatting of the document  

• supports boards in setting targets for Whole Life Carbon (WLC) and Energy Use Intensity (EUI)  

As Stuart explains: “The revision was informed by feedback on previous updates, research completed by NHSScotland Assure and through consultation with national advisory groups, board representatives and key stakeholders from across the public and private sectors. Thank you to all those who fed into the consultation, and to my NHSScotland Assure colleagues for their work on the research and the updates themselves.” 

Embedding SDaC guidance in decision-making

Stuart continues: “Given NHS boards’ climate emergency duties, the principles outlined in the SDaC guidance should be embedded across all capital investment decision-making not just those projects that meet Scottish Government threshold for third party assessment. 

“NHS boards should apply SDaC tools, relevant sections and associated targets as appropriate to evidence their governance and alignment with sustainability objectives.”  

Case study development – can you help?

As part of ongoing guidance development, the NHSScotland Assure team are looking to complement the SDaC with some working case studies, examples of best practice in action.  

If you have capacity to support this or have any queries on the guidance, please contact the team at nss.architecturedesignsupport@nhs.scot.

Photo by Inga Shcheglova