The Samaritan Well being Companies hospitals in Albany and Lebanon are integral to the well being and wellbeing of the communities they serve. The Samaritan Lebanon Group Hospital is a small rural hospital serving east Linn County communities, whereas the Samaritan Albany Basic is an acute care facility and well being middle offering medical providers to the larger Albany space. In response to elevated demand for the hospitals’ providers, Samaritan Well being seemed to reduce power use to assist scale back prices and reallocate funds to enhance the standard of affected person care.
“Power effectivity is a precedence for facility managers. It’s been a cornerstone of our deliberate capital enchancment tasks,” mentioned Samaritan Well being’s power supervisor, Michael Martin, who lately retired after managing facility operations for over 20 years.
Samaritan Well being’s long-standing dedication to power effectivity made collaborating in Power Belief of Oregon’s Strategic Power Administration (SEM) providing a straightforward selection. SEM educates companies and organizations on the best way to make lasting operational adjustments that save power. By using the tutorial workshops, instruments and sources obtainable by way of SEM participation, the Samaritan Well being amenities groups had been capable of acquire a greater understanding of the power required to function their respective amenities and the best way to optimize gear so it operates at peak effectivity.
SEM helps organizations get monetary savings and enhance operations
Lebanon Group Hospital’s engineering providers supervisor, Layne Hayes, says collaborating in SEM offers him and his crew the dear data they should talk the significance of enhancing effectivity. “SEM helps us educate directors about gear well being and the way upgrades will save us cash in the long term,” he mentioned.
Like many different SEM contributors, Samaritan Well being amenities employees realized the work they had been doing aligned intently with the U.S. Division of Power’s (DOE) 50001 Prepared program. The 50001 Prepared program gives organizations with a framework to assist them set up power administration methods that reinforce long-term financial savings. SEM participation helped the Albany and Lebanon hospitals get 75% of the way in which to ISO 50001 compliance. By SEM and the 50001 Prepared Program, Samaritan Well being has developed energy-efficient practices that may save the group power, enhance employees and affected person consolation, and decrease utility prices for years to return.
Getting field-tested practices which might be confirmed to avoid wasting power in place was one thing Samaritan Well being upkeep employees needed to see because of collaborating in SEM. They acknowledged there was sensible data about power effectivity they stood to achieve that will be useful to not solely them however the complete group as properly. “Power effectivity matches proper into our sustainability targets and helps us be higher stewards of our surroundings,” mentioned Martin. “Turning into extra sustainable is the driving drive behind our participation in SEM.” Samaritan Well being has acquired almost $54,000 in SEM incentives for the Albany and Lebanon hospitals because the group started collaborating in 2020.
Verify excessive and low for sources of power waste
Participation in SEM helped Samaritan Well being power groups develop the behavior of proactively looking for out obtainable money incentives for energy-saving gear installations that would scale back power consumption and enhance the group’s backside line. Consequently, Samaritan Well being accomplished a number of tasks utilizing Power Belief money incentives to cut back their out-of-pocket prices.
1. Steam traps
After talking with an Power Belief power advisor about incentives for energy-efficient steam traps, or valves that take away condensation that builds up in steam methods, the amenities crew at Albany Basic Hospital surveyed their present steam traps.
Employees decided the steam traps had been failing and introduced in a contractor, who confirmed they had been caught open. There was no condensation to launch, as steam was blasting out of them 24/7. Changing the traps improved the hospital’s power effectivity as a result of, as extra steam is conserved, the boilers run much less continuously, utilizing much less power.
Samaritan Well being will save almost $48,000 a 12 months on power prices because of the brand new steam traps. This challenge, which Samaritan Well being acquired over $7,500 for, allowed upkeep employees to determine a preventative upkeep routine to make sure the steam traps stay functioning, which is essential for assembly the hospital’s temperature and humidity necessities.
2. Roof insulation
Albany Basic Hospital’s outdated, leaky roof wanted to get replaced, together with the roof insulation. “After we assessed the extent of the problems with the roof, we found a variety of the insulation was rotten or simply wasn’t there anymore,” mentioned Martin. Each time it rained, engineering operations supervisor Eric Carpenter says his employees needed to “usually empty 16 buckets on the highest flooring that had been accumulating rainwater.”
After studying there have been incentives obtainable for energy-efficient roof insulation, the amenities crew at Albany Basic Hospitals realized there was a possibility to cut back the price of their ongoing roofing challenge. As a result of the employees realized about obtainable incentives earlier than the challenge was full, Samaritan Well being ended up saving over $15,000 on new roof insulation.
When the roof of the constructing adjoining to Albany Basic Hospital was being changed in 2023, Samaritan Well being employees had been able to repeat the method. For this challenge, Samaritan Well being acquired greater than $6,000 in roof insulation incentives. In whole, Albany Basic Hospital will save over $4,000 a 12 months on power prices due to these roof insulation tasks.
3. Business pump variable frequency drive
The temperature sensors on the properly pump supplying water to the cooling tower and irrigation at Lebanon Basic Hospital had been damaged, forcing the pump to function across the clock at full pace. When the cooling tower didn’t want water to situation the air within the hospital or the irrigation system to assist keep the grounds, the water being pumped was taking place the drain.
The brand new variable frequency drive that Samaritan Well being put in alongside the alternative properly pump will save the hospital $3,000 in annual power prices along with dramatically lowering the hospital’s water consumption. The amenities crew estimates Lebanon Basic Hospital is saving 20,000 gallons of water a day from being wasted because of this challenge.
Power Belief incentives and different sources can get your challenge off the bottom
For giant power customers like Samaritan Well being, pursuing energy-saving upgrades at any time when attainable might help facility managers maximize operational effectivity. Power Belief may even assist organizations calculate how a lot power a challenge will save and decide the return on funding.
With potential transform tasks on the horizon at these hospitals and different Samaritan Well being amenities, Carpenter already has his thoughts on how Power Belief’s involvement may assist make these capital enhancements a actuality. “My crew has begun discussions with Power Belief to see how we are able to make the brand new roof of one other constructing on the Albany Basic campus extra environment friendly,” Carpenter mentioned. “We’re wanting ahead to studying what alternatives with Power Belief can be found to us.”
Go to www.energytrust.org/commercialSEM for extra details about participation in Power Belief’s SEM providing. Discover the Oregon Money Incentives web page to be taught what energy-efficient gear upgrades your medical facility can save on. For questions or help getting began, e mail our crew at existingbuildings@energytrust.org.
