Hospital cuts its West Tower, inpatient facility, energy consumption by nearly 15 percent
HOUSTON – June 1, 2012 – Texas Children’s Hospital is the first hospital this year to be recognized nationally by the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) of the American Hospital Association for cutting their energy consumption by nearly 15 percent. This accomplishment not only helps the environment but will also help the hospital save on costs than can be allocated to supporting patient care.
“Reaching this milestone is a true testament to the dedication our entire team has to conserving energy,” said Skip Milton, assistant director of facilities operations at Texas Children’s Hospital. “We were able to decrease energy consumption by 10 percent while maintaining all operations and the high level of healthcare services our patients and families depend on. That’s an incredible feat.”
The recognition from ASHE is part of the Society’s Energy Efficiency Commitment (E2C) program, which encourages hospitals across the country to reduce their energy consumption by 5 percent or more in support of the goals of the Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR® Challenge. ASHE recognized Texas Children’s Hospital for demonstrating leadership in reducing energy consumption over a 12-month period.
The team’s effort to save energy was focused on Texas Children’s West Tower – the hospital’s 21-floor and 639-bed inpatient facility. West Tower opened with only five floors in 1989, and the remaining 17 floors were added in 1991. With a building ranging from 10 to 20 years in age, Texas Children’s had to use various strategies to save energy. “We conducted an in-depth energy audit to help us understand where our energy was being used and if everything was working as intended,” said Bert Gumeringer, director of facilities operations at Texas Children’s Hospital. The audit immediately helped the team find energy waste and set the ground work for how and where the hospital could begin saving.
Texas Children’s was able to identify no- and low-cost projects aimed at reducing energy consumption, helping the hospital cut electricity use by 15 percent, steam use by 38 percent, and chilled-water use by 15 percent. This resulted in annual savings of $1.3 million in one year. The hospital did not use any capital funds to achieve these savings.
About Texas Children's Hospital
Texas Children’s Hospital, a not-for-profit organization, is
committed to creating a community of healthy children through excellence in
patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked among the top
children’s hospitals in the nation, Texas Children’s has recognized Centers of
Excellence in multiple pediatric subspecialties including the Cancer and Heart
Centers, and operates the largest primary pediatric care network in the
country. Texas Children's has completed a $1.5 billion expansion, which
includes the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute; Texas
Children’s Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility
focusing on high-risk births; and Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, a
community hospital in suburban West Houston. For more information on
Texas Children's, go to www.texaschildrens.org.
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