Hospital facility professionals looking for ways to reduce operational costs with sustainability can look to the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) for resources, according to an article on the Health Facilities Management website.
Benchmarking utility consumption at the beginning of sustainability efforts can help to showcase accomplishments later. While hospitals often want to keep the unit costs paid for utilities private, documenting the energy used can help hospitals find areas for improvement.
Several benchmarking tools are available, the article said. Portfolio Manager from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star program allows hospitals to input their utility data and connect with ASHE’s Energy to Care program which then allows hospitals using the program to evaluate energy use over time and across facilities.
Getting hospital executives to support sustainability is easier when facility managers can show value. One resource that explains the importance of sustainability is a new Hospitals in Pursuit of Excellence guide, “Environmental Sustainability in Hospitals: The Value of Efficiency.”
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