Managing Energy Costs in a Hospital Setting

I am constantly on the look out for literature, articles, or other blogs that will allow me to learn as much as I can about this industry.  I am a fervent believer than in order to best serve my customers, I must always be a student to trends, challenges, and how these systems work. I spend time each week feeding this thirst for knowledge, and this week's search lead to a topic that I have some personal connection to.  The research article from www.esource.com that I used to write this blog focuses on managing energy costs in hospitals, and the link to that article is at the conclusion of the blog. 

My fiancé and mother are both nurses, and my fiancé works at one of the largest hospital systems in Virginia-VCU Health Systems (previously MCV). Whenever I go visit her for lunch I am amazed at the complexity of the infrastructure and the magnitude of the campus.  It is hard not to notice the hospitals presence in the skyline coming in and out of the city, and I often wonder what it takes to operate on a facilities level.  Upon reading the facts, figures, and data in this article I feel I have a surface-level understanding of how much goes into keeping these facilities operating so that they can save and repair lives.

There is an immense amount of equipment and systems that consume energy in a hospital.  The U.S. Energy Information Association (www.eia.gov) states that a 200,000 square foot, 50-bed hospital spends $680,000 on electricity and natural gas.  That is roughly $13,611 per bed.  Let that sink in for a second. For comparison, VCU Health Systems has approximately 780 beds throughout the facility.  Wow! Does that figure floating in your head shock you as much as it does me?  Does that help put health care costs into perspective a little bit? (That's another topic completely...)  With energy costs consistently and exponentially rising, how can hospitals reign in consumption and combat horrid utilities bills? 

Before a plan can be made to manage costs, one must understand where the costs are coming from.  Below is a breakdown of where the energy goes by percentage:

Electricity:                                                  Natural Gas:
Water Heating:        1%                               Cooking:                  4%
Office Equipment:   1%                                Other:                      9%
Space Heating:        3%                                Water Heating:     30%
Refrigeration:         3%                                 Space Heating:     57%
Computers:             4%
Cooling:                 14% 
Other:                    15%
Ventilation:           16%
Lighting:               43%

We a baseline of consumption laid out, we can begin to take a look at cost reduction.  There relatively inexpensive strategies that are more geared towards immediate impact, and there are long term strategies that could potentially involve substantial capital expense, but drastically increase energy efficiency.  I am going to focus my thoughts on the more immediate strategies. 

A common practice in my household, as I am sure it was in many others, as a kid was to "turn the light off when you're not in the room."  Well, it's a theme that can be simple to implement and effective in reducing consumption and in turn-costs.  The article suggests posting "Please turn the lights off when not needed" stickers above light switches.  The hospital could implement a "green" initiative that rewards units or departments for showing a reduction in energy consumption, if that is something that is monitored on that level.  Still in reference to a "green" initiative, a campus campaign utilizing signage, email blasts, and social media could be effective, yet inexpensive, in promoting conscious lighting usage.  De-lamping, where light bulbs where the is excessive lighting are physically removed, could also be a method employed. The installation of lighting controls, if none exist, is an excellent way to curb overuse.  Automatic controls utilize sensors, timers, and dimmers to save energy and reduce maintenance costs.

Aside from lighting reduction, powering down computers and effectively utilizing sleep mode for desktop computers can be helpful in reducing consumption.  Energy Star Power Management program (www.energystar.com/index.cfm?c=power_mgt.pr_power_management) provides free software that places active monitors into a low-power sleep mode through a local area network.  Once again, a simple and inexpensive solution that can amount in substantial savings.


The HVAC systems in hospitals are typically responsible for 33% of the electrical consumption, and 56% of the gas consumption.  It is my experience, and it is noted in previous posts, that many organizations underestimate their HVAC systems.  However, the numbers speak for themselves-this equipment needs to be recognized as a massive asset to be protected.  Inversely, this equipment is can also be a liability if not kept up with.  Regularly schedule maintenance and tune ups save energy and extend the useful life of the equipment.  Tasks such as coil cleaning, equipment calibration, component inspection and replacement, filter changes, etc. will ensure equipment operates as efficiently and effectively as possible.  By establishing the correct preventative maintenance program, energy cost reductions of between 10% and 20% could be realized on the HVAC equipment alone.

In addition to creating a preventative maintenance plan, there are a few other areas within the HVAC realm that can result in more effective energy cost management. Many air conditioning systems utilize an economizer.  An economizer is a dampered vent that draws in cool outside air when it is available to reduce the need for mechanically cooled air.  Through periodic inspections to ensure the linkage is operating correctly, the likelihood of the economizer being stuck in the fully opened position decreases.  If that issue occurs, there is a constant flow of outside air coming into the system-regardless of the need.  This will result in the need for mechanical conditioning to bring the air to the requested temperature.  You guessed it-that inflates the energy consumption, and negates the purpose of the economizer.  When it comes to the chilled water system, facilities can sequence the chillers on and off and operate multiple cooling towers can make the most of the systems and operate in the most energy efficient method.

To conclude, these systems are a testament to human ingenuity and innovation.  I am constantly amazed at how the technology comes together to work effortlessly at the push of a button.  I can see components of this complex system every day on my way home from work and I now have a deeper understanding of the impact it has on the hospital.  I've outlined the expenses incurred, and I've given a couple ideas of how to reduce consumption and cost.  What I haven't done yet is put the impact into perspective.  My responsibility to clients is to develop proactive methods to reduce their operating costs and expenses.  In many cases this results in an increase in net profits, which is great-that is the goal in business.  In a setting such as this, a not-for-profit health care center, that responsibility transforms into something completely different.  Each dollar of operating costs we can reduce is another dollar that can go towards researching cancer treatments, obtaining rehabilitation tools and resources, or improving patient care and experience.  I hear about the back-end of those improvements from my family and the people they help.  Knowing that I had a small part in making that happen is a satisfaction that cannot be put into words.


Luke

http://www.touchstoneenergy.com/efficiency/bea/Documents/Hospitals.pdf

Challenges in Preserving History

Yesterday morning upon arriving to the office, my brain at full power from the copious amounts of coffee, I had a completely different topic for the blog entry I am writing now.  However, one of my meetings yesterday inspired me to switch it up and discuss something completely different, so the other topic will just have to wait!

As my "about me" section states, I love the city of Richmond.  The rich and deep history that is all around us is inpsiring and thought provoking.  I live in an old house just a few blocks from where Patrick Henry gave his famed "Give me liberty or give me death" speech.  I constantly find myself thinking about how life was at that time in my neighborhood, and it absolutely fascinates me.  There is a tremendous amount of history throughout our state, and I had the opporunity to spend some time with an organization that is doing a fantastic job preserving the history of their town and educating others in the process.  It was a great experience on many levels. Professionally, I enjoy the opportunity to meet with a potential client and learn about their operation and if there is something I can recommend that would further push them towards their goals.  Personally, I soak in the experience of learning about a new place and the people and events that have shaped it. 

When we visit historial sites, museums, buildings, etc. as tourists, I do not feel we have a full grasp of everything that goes in to making that experience happen.  How many of us think about how the temperature of the room is affecting the painting we are looking at? Or how the sculpture we are posing beside is reacting to the humidity of the air or the oil from our skins (yes, the signs say don't touch, but I've come to realize people typically do not read well in public settings).  What about how the instituion you are visiting is open for business.  There is not an endless supply of money in these organizations, and many of them are non-profit-meaning what ever comes in goes right back into the organization.  Sure there are grants, donations, and government assistance in some situations but there are many administrative challenges that are created by this financial structure. 

I am not a preservation speciliast, nor am I claiming I have all of the answers.  However, there are some practices that can be put into place that can help us keep these landmarks around for future generations to learn and explore history.

• Temperature Control and Humidity Control:
• As mentioned above, the collections housed in musuems are very vulnerable to the elements-temparture, humidity, human touch, etc.  It is extemely important that these factors are reduced as much as possible.  It is the reason that many artifacts are enclosed in glass cases, and there are those signs posted near ones that are not. 
• ASHRAE, or the American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers, published a chapter in the ASHRAE Handbook titled "Museums, Libraries, and Archives"that outlines the temperature and humitidy requirements based on the type of facility or collections housed.  There is a great amount of information in this publication, which I will not go into great detail about but I highly recommend it.  It can be found on ASHRAE's website: www.ashrae.com and there is an abstract of it http://www.getty.edu/conservation/our_projects/science/climate/paper_michalski.pdf.
• Budgeting:
• The need for budgeting is imperative in any business, but especially important for these organizations.  Many have set budgets for mechanical system maintenance and repair.  From my experience, the budget for repairs are significantly higher than that of maintenance.  This is a reactive state of maintenance, and one that is very difficult to budget for as the frequency or cost of repairs are unpredictable.  This creates a roller coaster cost situation, and in my opinion is not ideal.  I focus on recommending a maintenance plan that allows for consistent budgeting, with the priority being maintenance.  This is less costly over time, and is more much predictable when it comes budget time-allowing for the financial focus to be on the exhibits and artifacts.
• Proactive Maintenance:
• Putting these practices together in a cohesive plan or program is the most effective and efficient way to accomplish success.  By doing this, the organization will ensure that the mechanical systems are operating at their best, allowing for temparture and humidity control.  Equipment issues will be fixed before catastrophic breakdowns occur, putting the collections in harms way and potentially disrupting the flow of the facility.  Repair costs are reduced, as the equipment is operating efficienty and small inexpesnsive problems are fixed as opposed to costly repairs.  Life of the equipment is extended, leading to less unit replacement over the life of the facility.   Simply put, it is the best interest of these organizations to take a proactive approach to their mechanical systems, as they play such an important role in the preservation of history and education.

-Luke

Welcome!

Welcome to EverythingHVACRVA!

This blog is produced with the hope that I can shed light on current trends facing Richmond, Virginia businesses in the realm of building maintenance, efficiency, and operational costs.  This is not a technical blog, rather it is a business blog.  The focus will be on how mechanical systems impact the most important thing in any business-the bottom line.  It is written for business professionals, by a business professional.

Professionally, I am a Commercial Maintenance Solutions Consultant (mouthful, I know!).  It is my responsibility to analyze the current practices and procedures of potential clients with regards to their mechanical systems, learn what they are facing on a day to day basis and how that impacts their ability to perform at their peak, and develop a baseline of their overall operational costs.  From there, we develop a plan together to get them exactly where they want to be.

It has been my experience that the mechanical systems are not at the forefront of many business leaders' minds (this experience comes from working with businesses, and also being one of these business leaders in a previous life).  Since these pieces of equipment are not often in plain or common sight, they only come to the light when there is an issue-a breakdown, system failure, or temperature control complaints (too hot or too cold).  This often leads to a reactive state of maintenance, which can be extremely costly.  For one, there is the cost of the actual repair including replacement parts, materials, and labor.  Secondly, there could be lost production, or a lack of productivity due to mechanical equipment being offline.

It is imperative that a proactive approach to facility maintenance is adopted by every business out there. In this economy, it is not only the company who produces the best product or service that comes out on top.  It is the company that produces stellar goods and services AND proactively manages the cost of doing business.

$1 dollar in revenue hits the bottom line at a fraction of that dollar, while $1 in costs reduced hits the bottom line at 100% of the reduction.  This is the idea that drives my process when meeting with the businesses I work with.

-Luke