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
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