When Black Hills Energy launched a project to repair components on Mountain Home, Ark.-based Baxter Regional Medical Center’s steam system, the utility also partnered with Shannon Global Energy Solutions to provide hundreds of thermal reusable insulation blankets for the hospital’s boilers, sterilizers, water heaters, condensate pumps, steam traps, valves and more. Shannon conducted an energy survey on the Baxter Regional steam system. The survey looked at energy consumption before and after installation of the reusable insulation and measured a savings for Baxter Regional of nearly $300,000 over the lifespan of the reusable insulation. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, installing “a one-inch thick blanket on an uninsulated six-inch gate valve in a 250-pound-per-square-inch-gauge (psig) saturated steam line yields a savings of $525 per year.” 

Part of the Black Hills Energy program includes accepting an assignment letter, so the utility can directly pay a contractor like Shannon. This takes the onus off the hospital to accomplish the project. 

For more information about the BHE Energy Efficiency Program, please go to:  www.Energy-Ready.com