As one of the UK’s market leading manufacturers of air handling units for the healthcare sector, Barkell has carefully dissected the new guidance and prepared this succinct yet comprehensive CPD, offering information and analysis of the revised recommendations for mechanical AHU design, whilst considering the implications, shortcomings and potential value engineering solutions.

Published on 22 June 2021, the revised HTM 03-01 guidelines were released by NHS England & NHS Improvement, having been developed with the help of the CIBSE Healthcare Group. Replacing the 2007 document, they offer a general refresh, with more emphasis on the selection of appropriate materials and filtration for the plant, the promotion of energy efficient technologies and the importance of resilience and diversity in these systems in order to provide continuous and sustainable healthcare ventilation, in alignment with the UK legislation for Net Zero by 2050.

The release of these revised regulations follows the 2020 government announcement that 40 new hospitals will be built by 2030 as part of a package worth £3.7 billion, delivering on their commitment to improve the UK healthcare infrastructure in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Bruno Guedes, head of technical solutions at Barkell said: “The revision of the HTM 03-01 guidelines has been much anticipated and the new recommendations bring it in line with current legislation and modern manufacturing methods. The new guidelines are immediately effective so it is crucial everyone involved in healthcare ventilation projects becomes quickly familiarised with the changes.”

Mr Guedes continued: “We know from feedback that CPDs on legislative matters are very much welcomed by industry professionals, so we wanted to share our knowledge in this particular area as swiftly as possible, to enable current projects to keep moving forward.”