New research reveals that healthcare executives place a higher priority on energy efficiency than other industry executives and are more likely to expect to make improvements over the next year.
Johnson Controls, a Milwaukee-based provider of products and services that optimize energy use, and the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE), a personal membership group of the American Hospital Association, commissioned the 2008 Healthcare Energy Efficiency Indicator study. The study surveyed 335 energy decision makers in the healthcare industry during March 2008.
Johnson Controls also conducted a parallel, multi-industry study called the Energy Efficiency Indicator, which polled 1,150 North American executives in partnership with the International Facility Management Association.
The survey found that 57 percent of respondents to the multi-industry study consider energy efficiency to be "extremely important" or "very important," compared with 65 percent of healthcare respondents. Two-thirds, or 67 percent, of healthcare organizations also reported plans to spend capital on energy efficiency this year, compared to 56 percent in the multi-industry survey.
The survey also found that healthcare organizations will tolerate a longer payback (4.2 years) on energy efficiency projects than other industries (3.6 years).
"It takes a lot of energy to run a hospital," said Dale Woodin, executive director of ASHE. "As healthcare organizations look for ways to control costs and improve patient care, they are engineering energy-efficient solutions that will pay off handsomely in three or four years."
Survey respondents are projecting energy price increases of 11 percent this year. Healthcare organizations are set to spend about 8 percent of their capital budgets and 6 percent of their operating budgets to conserve energy in the coming year. Fifty-nine percent of respondents say the need to control costs is a greater motivator than environmental responsibility.
"We live in an age of rising energy prices and growing environmental consciousness," said Clay Nesler, vice president of global energy and sustainability at Johnson Controls. "All industries are investing more aggressively to control energy costs and improve their sustainability. We believe this is a long-term trend."
Many healthcare organizations already have invested in efficiency and cost control measures. Common investments include:
- Building management solutions-installing, updating or improving (88 percent);
- Energy-efficient lighting (87 percent);
- Variable speed/frequency drives (67 percent);
- Lighting sensors so lights are turned on and off as needed (56 percent);
- Adjusting time that heating/air conditioning units run (55 percent); and
- Negotiated energy contracts with suppliers.
The survey reveals that the healthcare industry has not adopted renewable energy technology to the same degree as other industries. More than two-thirds (68 percent) of respondents to the multi-industry study have invested in renewable technologies or have actively considered investing. Only 38 percent of healthcare organizations reported similar interest in renewable energy. Included in this number, 25 percent of healthcare organizations have looked actively at solar energy, and significant numbers have shown interest in other technologies such as biomass, geothermal and wind.
"Finding sites for energy generating equipment like solar panels and wind turbines can be a challenge for compact urban hospitals, but it is a challenge that can be overcome," said Don Albinger, vice present of renewable energy at Johnson Controls. "Our job is to educate healthcare leaders about new, creative and cost effective techniques for incorporating renewable energy in space constrained settings."
What is your healthcare organization doing or not doing in order to cut energy costs? E-mail Associate Editor Molly Merrill at molly.merrill@medtechpublishing.com.