The cornerstone of Atlantic General’s sustainability program is an energy efficiency strategy that is good for the environment and even better for the bottom line. Atlantic General has implemented a Performance Contracting program — a self funding project that pays for itself from the efficiency and energy savings generated. This plan is guaranteed for ten years through a third party insurance contract. Should the guaranteed savings not be produced, a check will be written to the hospital for the shortage amount! Here are some highlights:
- Lighting upgrade – Installed new energy savings ballasts, lamps, and fixtures.
- Lighting Occupancy Controls – Installed over 200 wall and ceiling sensors.
- Vending Machine Controls – Reduce the energy consumption of vending machines during off hours.
- Water Conservation – Install flushometers on toilets and tamper resistant, flow control devises on sinks.
- Chilled Water Loop Repiping – Repiping of the “old” and “new” sections of the facility to tie the loops closer to the common discharge regaining chiller capacity, reducing chiller runtimes, and increasing chiller efficiency.
- Insulation Blankets – Install 36 insulation blankets in the mechanical plant to reduce heat loss and inhibit heating of the upper deck (patient area floors) reducing cooling needs.
- Steam Trap Replacement – Replace or repair steam traps in the Plant.
- Cooling Tower Repiping – Create energy efficiencies by repiping the cooling towers to permit an even distribution of condenser water.
- Air Handler Unit Retooling – Install pneumatic actuators and re-commission economizers.
- Hot Water Reheat Valve Replacements – Replace older valves with new technology.
- Boiler Room Ventilation – Use new and existing avenues of ventilation to reduce excess unusable heat in the Boiler Room.
- Cooling Tower Variable Frequency Drives (VFD) – Install new VFDs to reduce energy consumption.
- Controls Upgrades – Provide Variable Air Volume Modular Assemblies (VMAs) integrated with the building controls system to increase the environmental controls on the building.
- OR Humidifiers – Replace humidity controls with more robust pneumatic controls for better control and monitoring of the physical environment.
- Night Setbacks – Programmed building management system to reduce energy consumption during off hours and unoccupied times.
Full training on all aspects of the performance contract has been given to the Plant Operations Department. Communication has taken place through internal meetings and memos, as well as updates in the hospital’s newsletter. External communication has taken place through press releases, newspaper articles and a presentation to H2E “Green Buildings and Resource Conservation.” During the first year of the performance contract, savings were:
- Electric – 630,390 kWh saved (15% savings)
- Fuel oil – 17,835 gallons saved (16% savings)
- Water – 1,612 kGals saved (40% savings)
The first year impact on the environment was a reduction of 460,190 pounds of CO2 emissions released, along with other greenhouse gas savings. The water savings (over 1.6 million gallons) directly benefit the local community. A strong commitment from Senior Leadership and the Board of Directors enabled the exploration and funding of these initiatives that significantly reduced and continue to reduce the hospital’s carbon footprint.
Contact: Glenn Lebedz, Director, Support Services, glebedz@atlanticgeneral.org