Smart Ways to Reduce Energy Consumption in Your Hospital

‘Energy’ in any context is the source of existence - be it life or the place that constantly works to save lives. In fact, hospitals require energy without any interruption considering the significant role energy plays in curing or saving lives. And, as the whole planet is on the verge of running out of energy resources, it is high-time to look out for efficient energy-saving options.

Exploring and maintaining energy conservation methods is not a new task on the table for the healthcare management. Most of the advanced healthcare facilities have already taken strides towards energy conservation tactics with the help of healthcare consultants.

This article is an attempt to explore the proven and efficient energy-saving methods that are being followed by most of the hospitals across the globe. Before that, let’s have a look into the high energy consumption areas in a hospital set-up.

High Energy Consuming Areas in a Hospital Setup:

There are, majorly, 4 components that contribute to high energy consumption in a typical hospital environment.

1. Lighting – Lighting requirements take the big chunk in energy consumption in hospitals. A well-lighted hospital environment consumes around 40% of power.
2. Cooling – Be it ICU or the visitor waiting hall, hospitals need to maintain adequate temperature across the facility. Cooling requirements consume about 25% of the energy resources.
3. Heating – Typical hospital operations such as sterilization, space heating and water heating cause more electricity consumption which stands at 15% compared to other 3 components.
4. Equipment – Both medical and healthcare facility management equipment consume about 30% of energy. This includes advanced diagnostic and therapeutic equipment and also computers and other resources that help management in running hospital operations in a seamless manner.

Proven Energy Conservation Methods for Hospitals:

Even though the reducing the bottom line is aim for all healthcare providers, each hospital requires different energy conservation tactics as each hospital’s energy requirements would as different as their energy consumption levels.

General and well-followed power-saving methods such as keeping a track on each equipment’s energy consumption, checking for flaws in a timely sense, replacing the parts that are worn out and investing on replacement of the old energy setups with the modern ones are universal for all healthcare facilities as well as to all industrial streams.

The modern day energy-saving tactics need a bit more than just maintenance and replacements. Here are a few ways you could implement and save energy in your healthcare facility.

• As lighting requirements are high in hospitals, try to use the energy efficiently by using load shedding on the lighting systems.
• You could use load shedding on the other equipment as well to ease out the demand if you are in a place where the energy consumption is calculated based on the demand.
• Enable your facility by setting up an automated energy conservation system that turns off lights when not in use and regulates the cooling and heating requirements based on the demand.
• Provide your medical, allied medical and operations staff with training and insights on each equipment’s usage and on how to conserve energy without affecting the productivity or quality.
• Set up sub-meters throughout the facility to keep a track on accurate power consumption and monitor the same in regular intervals.
• Keep a tab on chillers to optimize their performance and efficiency and automate the ventilation system for better results.
• Turn off or setback the critical spaces when they are not in use as you can initiate setbacks through the control room whenever required.

Energy conservation in a hospital setup is more difficult than it is done, considering the vulnerability of a hospital without sufficient power. Rather than reducing the supply, using the supplied power with efficiency can yield better results.

Seek help from the expert healthcare consultants to set up an effective energy conservation system for efficient power usage and savings.