Is Your Hospital a Health Threat?

Regulators Set Sights on Healthcare

Lenox Hill Hospital in metropolitan New York is working to reduce its environmental impact. It has recently signed on to the New York City Mayoral Challenge, agreeing to reduce its carbon emissions by 30% in the next ten years. The ambitious goal of the overall program is for businesses from all industries to band together to reduce by 30% industrial emissions for the entire city by 2030. Facilities Administrator Michael Gilson said, “Lenox Hill Hospital is committed to participating fully to meet the collective goal of reducing emissions. The fact that we have voluntarily signed up for the challenge shows our level of dedication.”

But while Lenox Hill and other forwardthinking organizations across the country are making great strides to improve the environment, it appears that businesses, including hospitals, may not have long to make voluntary reductions. On June 26, 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a carbon cap-and-trade bill that would place mandatory limits on carbon emissions. If the bill passes the Senate and becomes law, it would drastically change the way businesses are forced to measure their environmental impact and impose a fine for organizations that did not comply. Regulators are specifically targeting hospitals. According to a 2008 Department of Energy report,1 hospitals are the second most energy-intense buildings, and the World Health Organization (WHO) has come out publicly challenging hospitals to reduce emissions. In a May 2009 statement, the organization’s director asserted, “There is also evidence that the health sector’s energy use and resulting toxic emissions undermine the health of the very communities the sector is meant to serve.”

Manage What You Measure

The WHO describes the process of assessing a hospital’s carbon footprint: “In calculating their total carbon footprint, institutions such as hospitals must include indirect emissions through visitor, patient, and staff travel, and the carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted as a result of procurement of goods and services. This total footprint is expected to be two or three times higher than direct emissions alone, though more difficult to measure.” 3 It is important to first perform an evaluation before recommending drastic changes to operations.

Crothall is being proactive to “take the temperature” of our healthcare client facilities. Through the Project Services Group of Crothall Facilities Management, we are undertaking an audit of all Plant Operations & Maintenance customers, with two-thirds of the facilities assessed so far. The analysis will measure energy usage, both in costs and BTUs per square foot, with respect to each utility—electric, gas, water, and sewer. Each hospital will be measured and benchmarked against all other facilities in the Crothall database to see where they stand compared to their own goals as well as the performance of other facilities. Although Crothall is not directly responsible for the management of energy costs at our client facilities, we can make a positive impact on these costs through more efficient management. By building awareness of opportunities for savings, these efforts can lead to an active campaign to make improvements to the hospitals’ operations. These efforts represent not only a way to reduce our clients’ carbon footprint, but also to save money through reduced consumption in the long term.

As a forward-thinking partner, Crothall helps our clients develop plans to address the opportunities uncovered through our energy audits. This initially involves efforts to realize all savings possible through improvements to plant operations without the addition of new capital expenditures. When it is determined that capital improvements are required, Crothall is able to provide a turnkey program of capital planning, acquisition, installation, and ongoing maintenance. In the February 2008 issue of Celebrations, we discussed how Crothall assisted with an upgrade to Eger Health Care’s heating and cooling plant, reducing consumption and coming in $1 million under budget (“Consume Less, Spend Less”).

Sustainable Future

At Lenox Hill Hospital, Crothall’s energy audit involved a full assessment of the greenhouse gas emissions (CO2, NO2, and SO2) it is producing. This is only the first step in a process to identify opportunities, formulate an action plan, and take corrective measures. The Crothall facilities team has already made some initial adjustments to steam regulators and other electrical improvements. And the hospital is planning to engage in several more small incremental projects to realize some quick savings. Once the City of New York makes an emissions worksheet available, the hospital will begin to evaluate more elaborate large-scale projects.

For a hospital engaged in an ambitious and aggressive carbon reduction plan, there is no time to waste. But if pending legislation passes in the near future, all hospitals may find they have less time than they thought to reduce their carbon footprints. Crothall will continue to be a responsible partner, helping our clients achieve energy consumption reductions to meet all regulatory guidelines, reducing their impact on the environment and on their bottom lines.