All sectors of the medical industry are tackling issues of
sustainability as care providers continue to be asked to do more
with less. Last month at CleanMed, over 800 healthcare industry
professionals addressed critical environmental issues. The
study, titled “Targeting 100! Envisioning the high performance
hospital: Implications for a new, low energy, high performance
prototype,” represents the ongoing push to green America's
hospitals and build healthier communities. Tackling energy
reduction in hospitals, which use about 2.5 times the amount of
energy as a similar-sized commercial building and emits
approximately 18,000 tons of CO2 annually, is challenging due to
a 24-hour operating schedule, health-related guidelines, and
extra commitments on air filtration/circulation and humidity.
The most salient outcome of the study is the identification of a
process that brings together architectural, mechanical and
central plant systems to deliver significant efficiencies. These
strategies include heat recovery, da