The General Hospital Dr. Enrique Cabrera, in Mexico City (CDMX), now has a solar water heater system benefiting patients, medical staff and hospital staff in general. The use of the solar thermal system also helps reduce greenhouse gases (GHG) and thus mitigate climate change, in addition to providing social and economic co-benefits to the hospital and promoting a green and inclusive recovery.
The inauguration took place on May 23, 2022, the head of the Secretary of the Environment of Mexico City (SEDEMA), Marina Robles García; the head of the Ministry of Health of Mexico City (SEDESA), Oliva López Arellano; the Political Counsellor of the German Embassy in Mexico, Simone Franke; and the Coordinator of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Climate Team, Philipp Schukat; among other personalities.
The Sustainable Hot Water in Public Hospitals project emerged in 2020 as part of the efforts of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (BMZ) develoPPP programme to mitigate the effects of the crisis caused by the global pandemic. This was possible through the collaboration between develoPPP and the Mexican company Módulo Solar, with the FELICITY program, part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI).
This Solar Water Heating system helps mitigate local polluting emissions and reduce operating costs. The SWHS provides hot water at low cost in the hospital; it is estimated that with this project there will be a reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 52 tonnes of CO2 eq/year: the equivalent of the emissions of charging the full battery of 6.2 million cell phones. This project joins the efforts to reduce energy consumption and promote energy efficiency, as well as generate cleaner and renewable energy in hospitals that focused their attention on treating patients with COVID-19 during the pandemic
Likewise, with existing technical information and methodologies, a Roadmap is expected to be generated, allowing the project to be replicated in more public buildings.
“DeveloPPP and FELICITY are making technological advances a reality, to move towards a more sustainable city,” Environment Minister Marina Robles García recognised at the inauguration.
This sum of efforts allows us to continue promoting the construction of sustainable buildings and cities with a low carbon footprint to benefit us all.
Read the press release from the Ministry of the Environment of Mexico City on the official page: https://bit.ly/3yVZ4Vr
