Methodist Health receives Energy to Care Award

Methodist Health in Henderson, Kentucky, is now a proud recipient of The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) 2018 Energy to Care Award. This distinction is reserved for the select few healthcare facilities that reduce energy consumption by 10% in a single year or 15% over two years. Methodist Health is recognized for reducing their energy intensity by 16% compared to 2016 and is one of only two hospitals in Kentucky to receive this award in 2018.

To achieve these results, the Hospital partnered with Harshaw Trane to utilize advanced building analytical tools to identify numerous system inefficiencies that were leading to increased energy usage and comfort issues. The sustainability efforts of the entire Methodist Health staff have created a culture of continuous improvement that is reflected in their substantial energy performance gains. Their high level of engagement, openness to new suggestions and ideas, and willingness to partner has the facility on path for continued success.

“We are very proud of the way all of our facilities team members have embraced our energy conservation project and made it successful,” said Jack Hogan, MBA, Vice President of Ancillary Services at Methodist Health. "They have identified and corrected numerous inefficient practices and upgraded equipment to not only save money, but improve performance, comfort, and safety. Maintenance Supervisor Stephen Logsdon and his team of facilities professionals, along with our energy consultants at Harshaw Trane, are to be highly commended for this outstanding achievement.”

In addition to the high-level engagement of the facility staff, the existing building equipment and controls were optimized to industry best practices. Some of those optimizations include:

• Both the chilled water and airside systems were optimized to operate at their lowest consumption levels while still meeting the comfort needs of the facility.
• Using real-time energy data, facility staff can identify system performance issues before they become major issues.
• The Hospital uses an OR critical dashboard that helps clinical and facility staff know if critical systems are operating effectively to meet code and patient needs.

Key Impact – Savings since 2017

• 2,600,000 kWh – Electricity savings
• 147,000 CCF – Natural gas savings
• 2,743 MTCO₂e – Carbon emission reduction, which equates to emissions from:
  • 587 passenger vehicles driven for one year
  • 956 tons of waste recycled instead of landfilled
  • 296 homes’ energy use for one year
  • 91,801 incandescent lamps switched to LEDs
• Over $220,000 in energy cost savings

“Achieving more than a 10% reduction in energy intensity in a single year is a tremendous feat,” said Eric DeLodder, energy engineer at Harshaw Trane. “It has been an honor to work with the Methodist Health facilities team and assist them on their continuous improvement journey. I greatly appreciate our continued, trusted relationship, and I am excited to be a part of future improvements.”