Hospital & Healthcare Archives - Bloom Energy https://www.bloomenergy.com/blog/category/hospital-and-healthcare/ Bloom Energy delivers always-on, reliable, resilient, sustainable and cost effective on-site electricity for organizations globally Wed, 27 Nov 2024 18:06:20 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://www.bloomenergy.com/wp-content/uploads/bloomfavicon.png Hospital & Healthcare Archives - Bloom Energy https://www.bloomenergy.com/blog/category/hospital-and-healthcare/ 32 32 Clean 24/7 Power For 24/7 Healthcare https://www.bloomenergy.com/blog/clean-24-7-power-for-24-7-healthcare/ Tue, 28 Feb 2023 21:05:43 +0000 https://www.bloomenergy.com/?p=14507 Hospital systems have turned to Bloom Energy for their electricity needs -- from Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health on the west coast of the United States to NYC Health + Hospitals, Mass General Brigham, and Stamford Health on the east coast.

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Healthcare facilities cannot save lives without electricity, even for one minute. Patient care devices, air purification systems, operating rooms and intensive care units need the power on. In the past, their options for energy resiliency have been costly, cumbersome and, often, detrimental to the respiratory health they are charged with safeguarding.

Now, a growing number of healthcare systems are considering fuel cells to provide back-up power and always-on microgrids.

Hospital systems have turned to Bloom Energy for their electricity needs — from Kaiser Permanente and Sutter Health on the west coast of the United States to NYC Health + Hospitals, Mass General Brigham, and Stamford Health on the east coast.

Bloom’s solid oxide fuel cells can generate electricity at a predictable cost from a variety of fuels, including natural gas, biogas, and hydrogen, without combustion, which sharply reduces air pollutants such as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and sulphur oxides (SOx). With healthcare now responsible for 8.5% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, the positive impact on local air quality through the implementation of Bloom’s technology is integral to the mission and values of all of these healthcare organization: Ensuring the health and safety of their communities, as well as being good stewards of the environment.

Our systems meet national code and many state codes. They can convert natural gas to electricity without combustion now, while their fuel flexibility means they can adapt to other lower carbon options in the future, providing a natural edge against obsolescence.

We monitor their performance remotely 24/7, eliminating maintenance by hospital personnel. Our Energy Server™ can be delivered on a ready-to-install platform that keeps site disruption to a minimum, and, if the hospital’s footprint needs to expand, our Packaged Energy Server can be moved elsewhere on campus. A handful of hospitals are even pairing our fuel cells with solar, battery storage, and emergency generators, giving them a truly 21st century electricity profile.

“It’s increasingly costly to maintain aging power systems and this is money that many hospitals can ill-afford to spend.”

Historically, hospitals have been designed with oversized generator capacity that provides power for their entire campuses. Under national and state codes, it is mandatory for hospitals to have both standby diesel generators and emergency generators, and multiple days of fuel on campus to power them. In most states, hospitals must keep three days of diesel fuel onsite at all times. And still, all the precautions can be for naught if the hospital discovers, when a storm hits or the grid fails, that this stagnant equipment doesn’t start as intended or the hospital is limited by the accessibility and availability of diesel.

Hospital campuses have been growing in urban and suburban markets, and so have their associated energy bills. Hospitals are now the second-largest commercial energy user in the U.S., consuming nearly 10% of all energy used in commercial buildings and spending more than $8 billion on energy every year. It’s increasingly costly to maintain aging power systems and this is money that many hospitals can ill-afford to spend. While a few large healthcare systems have margins around 10%, most are at 5% or less. When a power outage forces the cancellation of elective surgeries—a key revenue driver—the bottom line suffers. It also does when utility rates or fuel prices rise.

Ashley Shirk is a senior account executive, Bloom Energy, with a focus on the healthcare sector

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Hospital Microgrids: Shifting to Diesel-Free Hospitals https://www.bloomenergy.com/blog/hospital-microgrids-shifting-to-diesel-free-hospitals/ Tue, 12 Oct 2021 17:59:47 +0000 https://bloomenergy.wpenginepowered.com/?p=8212 Every hospital relies on a resilient supply of power during crisis situations such as extreme weather events that result in power outages, leading to deferring or canceling certain types of patient procedures that must be done when the hospital is fully powered. The requirement for resilient energy mandates most hospital networks to install solutions like […]

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Every hospital relies on a resilient supply of power during crisis situations such as extreme weather events that result in power outages, leading to deferring or canceling certain types of patient procedures that must be done when the hospital is fully powered. The requirement for resilient energy mandates most hospital networks to install solutions like diesel generators to provide backup power in order to support essential functions such as emergency room operations, ventilators, imaging, and operating room equipment.

Back-up diesel generators come at a significant cost to the environment and air quality, harming the health of local communities that hospitals are serving. Microgrids from Bloom Energy provide clean, resilient power that allows hospitals to island their power requirements, reducing or eliminating the need to rely on diesel backup power.

Bloom is treated as a normal source of power for hospitals — meaning — Bloom plays the same role as the grid. With this architecture, hospitals can choose to perform elective procedures even during grid outages, as well as avoiding lost patient care days, the need to set up call centers, and other resources to manage information to patients.

By connecting a fuel cell microgrid as normal source, hospitals constantly save on energy costs and save against a loss of revenue due to short or long outages.

Here are some ways that Bloom is helping hospitals and healthcare facilities.

Reduced CO2 for Sutter Health

Sutter Health chose Bloom Energy to implement green building practices while building their new medical center. The solid oxide fuel cell platform provides a substantial amount of power for Sutter Health while reducing CO2 emissions by more than 600,000 lbs each year, reducing their carbon footprint by 19 percent.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center Avoided $1.2B in Upgrades

SUNY is leveraging 1.8 MWs of Bloom Energy Servers to reduce strain on Brooklyn’s power grid and reduce air pollution in the borough.

The system provides reliable 24/7 power to the facility, delivers 45% of SUNY Downstate’s base electrical load, and provides two-thrids of the electricity needs for the University Hospital of Brooklyn.

SUNY Downstate Medical Center Avoided $1.2B in Upgrades

The solution provided by Bloom is part of a larger energy initiative from Brooklyn Queens Demand Management (BQDM.) The initiative avoided a $1.2 billion utility infrastructure upgrade. The Bloom Energy solution was provided to SUNY at zero cost to the taxpayers while reducing 1.7 million pounds of carbon emissions.

“We are proud to participate in Con Edison’s Brooklyn Queens Demand Management Program and to partner with Bloom Energy to reduce SUNY Downstate’s carbon footprint. In the first two months of operation, SUNY Downstate has reduced its carbon footprint by more than 1.7 million pounds as part of our commitment to community health improvements, making Brooklyn a healthier place to live, work, and raise a family.”

– Wayne J. Riley, M.D., President, SUNY Downstate Medical Center

Microgrid Deployments for Hospitals

Microgrid Knowledge covered Kaiser’s recent innovations at a hospital in Ontario, California, where they are incorporating renewable energy in a move away from diesel generators. Part of that microgrid features a 1 MW fuel cell system from Bloom, that’s paired with solar, and batteries. Kaiser states that this is the first hospital that will be capable of islanding without Diesel.

Contact us today to learn more about how Bloom Energy’s solutions that can help your healthcare facilitate Island it’s energy needs without diesel.

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Powering field hospitals to save lives during the COVID-19 outbreak https://www.bloomenergy.com/blog/powering-field-hospitals-to-save-lives-during-the-covid-19-outbreak/ Tue, 21 Apr 2020 19:46:45 +0000 https://bloomenergy.wpenginepowered.com/?p=4356 Makeshift medical facilities known as field hospitals are popping up one by one across the nation, giving purpose to now-vacant convention centers, parks, arenas, and sometimes even empty parking lots. As the coronavirus outbreak continues to overwhelm the country’s existing healthcare system, the need for additional hospital capacity – specifically, more beds – is palpable. […]

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Makeshift medical facilities known as field hospitals are popping up one by one across the nation, giving purpose to now-vacant convention centers, parks, arenas, and sometimes even empty parking lots.

As the coronavirus outbreak continues to overwhelm the country’s existing healthcare system, the need for additional hospital capacity – specifically, more beds – is palpable.

Standing up these temporary field hospitals reduces the strain on existing facilities and enables the treatment of more patients in the scenario that the ‘curve’ isn’t flattened quickly enough. And unfortunately, this is a reality we must be prepared for.

According to Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) data (updated on April 17th), the U.S. may need upwards of 211,000 beds around the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, which could create a shortage of more than 152,000 beds.

These projections, while unsettling, only further affirm the urgent role temporary field hospitals play in effectively addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

RELATED: We’re stepping up to aid the COVID-19 battle; we need your help

How do you power a temporary hospital?

Swiftly building these pop-up hospitals is an important first step in increasing bed capacity. But what comes next is just as critical – how do you power the temporary site?

Any type of hospital – temporary or not – needs a reliable power source to ensure life-saving equipment and machinery remains available 24/7/365, with zero risk of power failures. And, for COVID-19 field hospitals, time to power must also be a consideration. With patients’ lives at stake, every minute counts – deploying a power source shouldn’t be a roadblock to treatment.

The traditional choice for this kind of rapid, temporary deployment is a diesel generator. But, as hospitals and local leaders consider the impact that COVID-19 has on patients (it attacks the lungs and the respiratory system) and compare that with the local air pollutants that nearby diesels emit, they’re looking for alternatives.

RELATED: The Dangers of Combustion-Based Power

The training facility adjacent to Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, CA can host approximately 100 hospital beds to support COVID-19 response efforts.

The training facility adjacent to Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, CA can host approximately 100 hospital beds to support COVID-19 response efforts.

Field hospitals consider local air quality

Last month, the State of California began work to close its bed capacity gap. Governor Gavin Newsom announced on April 6th that Sleep Train Arena, the former home of the Sacramento Kings basketball team, would be transformed into a field hospital, capable of treating hundreds of overflow COVID-19 patients.

The arena itself already has a power supply, but the training facility next door doesn’t have any kind of backup power. This training facility has capacity for about 100 hospital beds, a significant supplement to the 200+ beds that would be based within the arena.

 

 

 

The State needed a power solution – and fast. But, beyond just speed, it was looking for a solution that wouldn’t threaten the health of the patients it was serving.

Recently, Harvard researchers found that even the slightest elevation in air pollutants can make all the difference in how patients respond to COVID-19. The study concluded that higher levels of a tiny, dangerous particle, known as PM 2.5, was associated with higher death rates in coronavirus patients.

One of the common sources of PM 2.5 is fuel combustion – like those in diesel generators. Breathing in the microscopic pollutant inflames and damages the lining of the lungs, weakening the body’s ability to fend off respiratory infections.

So, combusting fuel directly adjacent to the patients that are being treated for respiratory disease was not a desirable outcome. Time to consider another less ‘traditional,’ more innovative option.

Tackling the public health crisis with innovation

As Governor Newsom voiced at a recent press conference, ‘the spirit of California’ is one of innovation – and you can bet we’ll leverage that innovative spirit to tackle this public health crisis head-on.

RELATED: Three Leadership Lessons from Silicon Valley Clean Energy Pioneers

 

After calling on the Bloom Energy team to quickly refurbish hundreds of ventilators to aid the COVID-19 response, the State of California looked to Bloom once again to support a different battle-front – providing clean, reliable power for the Sacramento field hospital.

If you know any organizations that have out-of-service ventilators, get in touch with us here

Bloom Energy is rapidly deploying fuel cell based microgrids to power existing and temporary hospitals while they care for COVID-19 patients

The thing that is unique about Bloom’s Energy Servers is that they are powered by fuel cells; meaning electricity is produced through an electrochemical reaction – not combustion – virtually eliminating the smog-forming pollution and particulate matter that comes from existing combustion-based power generation sources, like diesel generators.

Additionally, this technology operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, providing the always-on power that hospitals need in order to focus on what they do best – serving patients and saving lives.

The Bloom team quickly got to work installing a 400-kilowatt rapid-deploy microgrid adjacent to the arena. The microgrid solution was installed in record time (less than a week) and three days ahead of schedule.

In addition to the Sleep Train Arena project, Bloom also recently rapidly deployed a microgrid at the Vallejo, California site of a national hospital system in only three days – five days ahead of schedule. Bloom’s Energy Servers were already powering the main hospital at the site, but the newly installed microgrid can supply primary power for a field hospital in the hospital’s parking lot to accommodate coronavirus patient overflow, if needed.

Bloom’s rapid-deploy microgrid solution in the process of being built for a Sacramento, CA field hospital. The installation was completed three days ahead of schedule.

Bloom’s rapid-deploy microgrid solution in the process of being built for a Sacramento, CA field hospital. The installation was completed three days ahead of schedule.

Both of these energy solutions are up and running today, and we’re already working with government leaders and other essential businesses to explore further opportunities for rapid deployment to support critical pandemic response efforts. In the future, we will be able to use this solution for other rapid-deploy scenarios for emergency management.

Solving power constraints at existing and temporary hospitals

Fighting COVID-19 on two fronts

Working side by side with leading hospitals and local governments to fight the COVID-19 war on two fronts, and in turn, helping patients breathe easier, is beyond humbling.

Truthfully, the most fulfilling part of this project has been seeing Bloom’s mission in action – making clean, reliable energy affordable for all. The energy solution we’ve spent nearly two decades developing has the opportunity to help save lives in this time of crisis.

Solving challenges through innovation and resilience has always been central to who we are and what we do – I’m just proud that our work and our technology can be a small part of the solution.

#TogetherWeCan #BeTheSolution

David Trevisan

 

David Trevisan served as project leader for both the Vallejo and Sacramento rapid-deploy projects. In his 14 years at Bloom, he’s served many facets of the business – from system design to construction and installation – experience that lent itself to his successful leadership of these first-of-their-kind projects.

Learn more about Bloom’s commitment to fighting COVID-19

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We’re stepping up to aid the COVID-19 battle; we need your help https://www.bloomenergy.com/blog/were-stepping-up-to-aid-the-covid-19-battle-we-need-your-help/ Tue, 31 Mar 2020 00:36:52 +0000 https://bloomenergy.wpenginepowered.com/?p=4315 Today, thousands of unused, out-of-service ventilators sit idle in hospitals and warehouses across the country. Many are past the warranty date and in need of refurbishment to be returned to service. Under normal circumstances, these stockpiles might go unnoticed – but these aren’t ordinary times. Ventilators deliver air to patients’ lungs and help prevent respiratory […]

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Today, thousands of unused, out-of-service ventilators sit idle in hospitals and warehouses across the country. Many are past the warranty date and in need of refurbishment to be returned to service.

Under normal circumstances, these stockpiles might go unnoticed – but these aren’t ordinary times.

Ventilators deliver air to patients’ lungs and help prevent respiratory failure, a common cause of death among patients with coronavirus (COVID-19). But, there’s a critical gap between how many ventilators are needed and how many are available.

While the Society of Critical Care Medicine estimates that 960,000 coronavirus patients in the U.S. may need ventilators over the course of the outbreak, the nation only has about 200,000 of them today.

Answering the call

As COVID-19 steamrolls its way through the U.S. population and strains the healthcare system, leaders across the nation are asking for support. Federal, state, and local governments have urged American businesses and organizations to think creatively and to leverage their expertise to help combat the pandemic.

Across the country, companies have heeded this call. Ford, 3M, and GE, for example, are working together to boost manufacturing to develop respirators and ventilators. Small businesses are working to manufacture medical-grade face masks. Whiskey and gin distillers are even using their alcohol supply to develop hand sanitizer.

Bloom Energy, too, is answering the call – quite literally.

Less than two weeks ago, California Governor Gavin Newsom reached out to KR Sridhar, Bloom’s founder, chairman, and CEO, and a well-known tech entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. The State had a stockpile of ventilators sitting idle in a warehouse in critical need of refurbishment. A service provider for ventilators told the Governor it would take a month to do the refurbishment.

The Governor and KR agreed, we don’t have that kind of time with lives at stake.

Governor Gavin Newsom takes a tour of the Bloom Energy Sunnyvale manufacturing facility on Mar. 28, 2020, which currently serves as a ventilator refurbishing site.

Governor Gavin Newsom takes a tour of the Bloom Energy Sunnyvale manufacturing facility on Mar. 28, 2020, which currently serves as a ventilator refurbishing site.

So, Bloom raised its hand to help.

At the time, our team knew nothing about repairing ventilators. But as a cleantech company with more than a decade of manufacturing experience for Fortune 100 companies under our belt, we knew we had the resources, skills, and grit to get it done.

Within five hours of receiving the first shipment from the State of California, our team refurbished its first ventilator.

Twenty-four hours later, we’d refurbished 23 more. Since then, we’ve received more than 550 ventilators in need of repair. We’ve also teamed up with biomedical engineers at Stanford Health Care to help test the functionality of the refurbished machines before they’re shipped back to the State.

This past weekend, California Governor Gavin Newsom and San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo visited our Sunnyvale manufacturing facility to see the work firsthand and share an update with the public.

The morning of the Governor’s press briefing, Bloom received an additional 170 ventilators that came into Los Angeles County from the federal stockpile in need of repair. Those ventilators were refurbished over the weekend and returned to Los Angeles County today.

The innovative spirit

KR said it best at the press conference – “What did we do? We simply answered a call.”

Governor Gavin Newsom and Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar discuss how California companies are stepping up to support COVID-19 response efforts.

Governor Gavin Newsom and Bloom Energy CEO KR Sridhar discuss how California companies are stepping up to support COVID-19 response efforts.

The moment our manufacturing team – a group of builders and innovators – saw a problem, they stepped up with solutions. One of our team members even downloaded a service manual and taught himself overnight the mechanics of ventilators and how to fix them.

“That’s the spirit of California,” said Governor Newsom at the press conference.

Manufacturing is in our DNA. Innovation is in our DNA. In a matter of days, we managed to set up an assembly line that can refurbish a thousand ventilators a day.

Bloom Energy team members work at a lung testing station; test voltage of new batteries, and run battery diagnostics on out-of-service ventilators.

Bloom Energy team members work at a lung testing station; test voltage of new batteries, and run battery diagnostics on out-of-service ventilators.

And this isn’t just happening in California; work is already underway at our Delaware manufacturing facility, where we’ve secured an initial supply of ventilators from the State of Delaware and are working with the Delaware Emergency Management Agency (DEMA) to identify more.

While we continue to provide power for essential businesses responding to this crisis like hospitals, grocery stores, and hardware stores, we stand ready to support this moment in any way we can.

We’re emboldened by the 350 businesses in California that have already offered their support to the State.

We’re inspired by the innovative minds coming together to brainstorm new ideas to fight this pandemic, like renowned Stanford Health Care cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Joseph Woo. Dr. Woo and his team are currently engaged with Bloom to envision ventilators 2.0.

Unprecedented times call for unprecedented measures, but we remain hopeful, rooted in the knowledge that together, we can be the solution.

Not next week, not tomorrow; the time is now. We as a nation, as employees, as humans, must come together and embody a can do spirit.

#TogetherWeCan #BeTheSolution

Support the cause

We’re working with state agencies and our customers, many of which are hospitals and medical device companies, to identify additional supplies of ventilators that need refurbishing.

We’ve joined forces with Almo Corporation, who is using its national logistics network to ship ventilators to and from our manufacturing facilities in California and Delaware for refurbishment and out to the state agencies and hospitals that need them most.

We need your help too.

If you have or know of any organizations that have out-of-service ventilators or would like to partner with Bloom on this effort, please visit www.bloomenergy.com/ventilators, email ventilators@bloomenergy.com, or call our hotline: +1 (888) 544-2644.

Help us spread the word and close the gap – every ventilator counts.

“Ventilators provide the most effective intervention for COVID-19 patients in critical care, and the units being refurbished here will save lives,” said Governor Newsom.

Photos by Beth LaBerge/KQED

Power Constraints at Existing and Temporary Hospitals

The COVID-19 crisis is overwhelming existing hospitals, necessitating the deployment of temporary tents or secondary locations to treat patients. Powering these new locations is a ‘now’ challenge that cannot be ignored. Respiratory disease requires clean air systems, and traditional backups like diesel generators create pollution and air quality issues that are harmful to patients.

 

Contact Form:

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ASHE 2019: Healthcare Industry Trends and Takeaways https://www.bloomenergy.com/blog/ashe-2019-healthcare-industry-trends-and-takeaways/ Tue, 16 Jul 2019 00:00:00 +0000 https://bloomenergy.wpenginepowered.com/ashe-2019-healthcare-industry-trends-and-takeaways/ How are twenty-first century hospitals achieving next-level patient care? According to the industry’s premier event, the ASHE Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition, trailblazing healthcare facilities cement their leadership in three key areas: technology and innovation, sustainability and community partnership, and cost-effectiveness. Decision makers who are critical to optimizing the healthcare environment in hospitals across the […]

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How are twenty-first century hospitals achieving next-level patient care?

According to the industry’s premier event, the ASHE Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition, trailblazing healthcare facilities cement their leadership in three key areas: technology and innovation, sustainability and community partnership, and cost-effectiveness.

Decision makers who are critical to optimizing the healthcare environment in hospitals across the country gathered at ASHE this week to explore industry challenges and determine the most powerful avenues of growth.

Investing in Innovative Technologies and Tools

The first theme discussed at ASHE was approaching facility design and operation through a lens of innovation. Many speakers talked about adopting the latest technologies and tools to ultimately enhance patient experience.

For example, James Prince of Medxcel Facilities Management spoke on a panel about investing in tech that enables energy efficiency and how this has helped Ascension Health improve patient comfort. He encouraged leaders to think about what these investments “mean for the health of your facility and those who you serve.”

For Ascension, cost savings from energy investments has had the equivalent impact of $3.6 billion in annual patient revenue, while intangible benefits such as brighter, softer exterior lighting that has improved public safety and patient experience.

Beyond this, many leaders emphasized the fundamental importance of bolstering hospital resilience. With extreme weather events such as droughts, forest fires, and storms doubling over the past four decades and other disasters like floods even quadrupling, healthcare resiliency is becoming a top priority.

Communities turn to hospitals in times of emergency for shelter and safety, so technologies that deliver the highest level of performance, reliability, and uninterrupted operations are essential to minimizing negative impacts on patients and staff.

For many hospitals, this means deploying an onsite microgrid system to ensure always-on power for critical buildings, operations, and services. A panel on new technologies for healthcare power highlighted the increasing use of microgrids as a means to mitigate risk, especially as a result of the looming uncertainty of wildfires and pre-emptive power shutoffs across the state of California.

Committing to Environmental Stewardship and Community Partnership

It has been estimated that if considered as a separate country, the U.S. healthcare system would be the seventh-largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world. As of 2017, hospitals emitted 8 percent of the country’s total greenhouse gas emissions, produced 4.67 million tons of waste, and used 7 percent of the U.S. commercial water supply.

Recognizing the broader implications of these environmental impacts, leading healthcare facilities are aggressively investing in sustainable operations. As Seth Baruch of Kaiser Foundation Hospitals put it succinctly during a panel on hospital resilience, Kaiser’s sustainability initiatives enjoy support from the board on down because “we can measure, we know, that climate change is having a tangible, negative impact on the health of our 12-plus million members.”

ASHE 2019 Panel - Seth Baruch
Seth Baruch, National Director, Energy & Utilities, National Facilities Services, Kaiser Foundation Hospitals speaking on the Hospitals Investing in Resilience: Protecting Lives and Margins Panel at ASHE Annual Conference and Technical Exhibition, 2019

The greenest hospitals in the country are embracing sustainable practices such as becoming LEED certified, implementing waste reduction initiatives, and installing renewable or energy-efficient power sources like solar with battery storage or fuel cells. With programs like these put into place, hospitals can improve both community health as well as patient well-being.

What’s more, these programs can actually enhance their business. Sustainability matters to consumers, and hospitals are no exception. In a 2017 study on corporate social responsibility, 88% of consumers said they would be more loyal to a company that supports environmental issues and 92% said they would be more likely to trust a company that supports environmental causes.

By reducing emissions, eliminating harmful air pollutants, implementing energy-efficient technologies, and lowering waste, leading healthcare facilities are solidifying their roles as community partners and leaders – living out a holistic, patient-focused approach to care that ultimately builds a healthier community and stronger business.

Achieving the Highest Level of Cost-Effectiveness

Leadership in technology and sustainability also tends to establish leadership in the area of patient care value.

According to the U.S. Department of Energy, hospitals in the U.S. spend approximately $8.3 billion on energy costs each year, with utility bills making up an average of 1.4 percent of operating revenue. For an individual 200,000 square foot, 50-bed facility, that means spending $13,600 per bed on energy costs.

By implementing energy-efficient technologies and programs, hospitals can significantly lower this spend and reallocate resources to patient care. In fact, ASHE reports its Energy to Care Treasure Hunt, a two-day post-conference event, has been so successful that it’s helped hospitals find over $500,000 in annual energy savings opportunities for participating facilities.

In turn, reducing energy-related costs lowers the total cost of patient care, which oftentimes means further investment in cutting-edge technologies or sustainability programs.

A “No Compromise” Approach for Hospitals

At ASHE, I heard healthcare leaders talk about the importance of these three pillars of leadership, but also the tradeoffs they face each time they make decisions about optimizing their facilities.

When it comes to energy, facility managers expressed they too often have to choose some combination of innovation, affordability, sustainability, and reliability. Said one panelist, “There is no silver bullet.”

But twenty-first century hospitals shouldn’t have to decide between implementing affordable energy solutions, and protecting the health of the environment and their communities.

That’s why Bloom Energy is passionate about providing cost-effective, clean, onsite, no compromise power for hospitals.

Powering some of the most prominent health care facilities across the country, like Kaiser Permanente, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and Partners HealthCare, Bloom’s fuel cell technology is a proven energy solution the healthcare sector needs – it’s the ideal balance of affordability, resiliency, and reduced carbon footprint.

For instance, a five-megawatt Bloom Energy solution installed at a California healthcare facility would reduce carbon emissions by millions of pounds and reduce criteria air pollutants by tens of thousands of pounds each year. This means fewer cases of respiratory symptoms and lower incidents of asthma exacerbation in the facility’s surrounding community.

With today’s uncertainties in the face of extreme weather events, hospitals must be able to operate 24/7, which demands an energy solution that delivers reliably at all hours of the day. Bloom is a trusted partner in the industry, with reliable and resilient power solutions deployed at 45 healthcare locations.

And it’s not just about power resiliency, it’s about economic resiliency. The five-megawatt deployment could provide $666,000 savings in energy costs annually for the facility. A predictable and cost-effective solution subsequently enables hospitals to further invest in innovation and patient care.

At ASHE, industry leaders advocated for multifaceted solutions. Bloom is proud to offer the no compromise energy platform that leading hospitals and healthcare facilities are seeking.

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It’s Time for the Health Care Sector to Think Differently about Electric Power https://www.bloomenergy.com/blog/its-time-for-the-health-care-sector-to-think-differently-about-electric-power/ Fri, 30 Nov 2018 00:00:00 +0000 https://bloomenergy.wpenginepowered.com/its-time-for-the-health-care-sector-to-think-differently-about-electric-power/ Two decades of devastating weather events have exposed a disturbing reality: the industry we trust to protect our health might be one of the most vulnerable to power outages. Worse still, the health care sector’s electric power choices have made it one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and air quality issues. […]

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Two decades of devastating weather events have exposed a disturbing reality: the industry we trust to protect our health might be one of the most vulnerable to power outages. Worse still, the health care sector’s electric power choices have made it one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and air quality issues.

When Tropical Storm Allison hit Texas in 2001, it caused $2 billion of damage to a single medical center. In 2003 during the extended Northeast blackout, the largest outage in American history, nearly half of New York City’s hospitals’ emergency generator systems performed unreliably. A decade later, Hurricane Sandy completely shut down six hospitals, forcing 6,400 patients to be evacuated. Some affected facilities remained closed for more than 100 days. Just last year, Hurricane Irma knocked out grid power to more than 200 Florida hospitals and nursing homes, leaving many running on back-up generators with only enough fuel on hand to last a few days.

With health care providers repeatedly challenged in delivering critical care when it is needed most, the sector has come to recognize a need to think differently about the resilience and reliability of its power.

Hurricane Sandy proved a pivotal moment for health care power strategy.  While flooded critical infrastructure and disruption to travel and communications dominated headlines, in the wake of the storm, the City of New York concluded that a lack of emergency power had the greatest impact on health service delivery.

In New York and elsewhere, the vast majority of health care facilities rely on grid-delivered electric power and diesel-powered electrical generators for back-up. With grid outages due to extreme weather events escalating and diesel generators contributing to the significant environmental impact of the health care sector, it’s time to rethink this energy strategy.

Health Care Sector Power Choices are Impacting Service Delivery and Air Quality

The industry’s back-up system of choice is unreliable. Diesel generators are also bad for the health of the communities health care organizations serve.

According to California’s Bay Area Air Quality Management District, diesel exhaust includes over 40 substances that are listed by the U.S. EPA as hazardous air pollutants. Diesel exhaust can trigger immediate respiratory distress, especially in children, the elderly, and those with asthma and other chronic lung and heart conditions.

Even if you were able to look beyond these significant health concerns, diesel generators should still not be the industry’s “Hail Mary” in an emergency. Mandatory ongoing maintenance and testing help, but diesels remain prone to failure in actual emergencies and oftentimes cannot support full load conditions.

Beyond diesel generators, the sector could be making better choices about sustainability. The health care industry has one of the largest carbon footprints; if the U.S. health care system were considered as a separate country, it would be the seventh-largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world. In 2011 alone the industry accounted for about 10% of the carbon dioxide generated in the U.S., emitting 655 million metric tons of the greenhouse gas.

New Power Choices Can Turn the Industry’s Carbon Profile Around

Health care’s most progressive providers are starting to lead the industry into a new era of clean, reliable, affordable electric power.

Earlier this year, nineteen American health care systems affirmed their commitment to the climate change mitigation goals set out in the Paris Agreement. The systems represent 763 hospitals, 784,778 employees, and $167.2 billion in revenue across 39 states.

Kaiser Permanente of California was one of those signatories. It has already made a commitment to becoming carbon net positive by 2025 through its embrace of renewable energy.

Wind and solar power are certainly part of the solution for reducing the carbon footprint of the sector and diminishing negative air quality impacts.

However, the inherent intermittency of renewables means they are unlikely to account for any major facility’s full power load. Additionally, many urban health care facilities have neither the roof space nor the open space to site sufficient renewable power on-site. As a result, most renewable sources of power are located far off and still rely on the grid for delivery, making them as susceptible to outages as any other form of grid power.

This leaves facilities with a couple of options: deploy solar PV locally for partial load coverage and rely on traditional grid power to meet additional load requirements, or couple on-site solar to energy storage to extend its usefulness beyond peak daylight hours.

The former option tends to undermine emissions reductions goals by forcing a continued reliance on less clean grid power. It also eliminates the protection that grid-independent on-site power might provide against grid failure. The latter option is currently impractical due to the high cost profile of batteries.

Combined heat and power (CHP) systems remain one of the most popular power choices for the industry because of the sector’s high demand for both heat and electricity in its facilities. But CHP’s sustainability and reliability credentials are also dubious.

Because of increased energy efficiency through heat capture and utilization, CHP systems combust less fuel per energy output than conventional sources, resulting in lower carbon dioxide emissions. However, the systems still utilize combustion to produce power, which generates nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate emissions that contribute to smog and respiratory health issues. Additionally, CHP systems require entire system shutdowns during maintenance and are subject to forced power outages, ultimately demanding further reliance on interruptible grid power.

Fuel cells such as Bloom Energy Servers are a clean, on-site, resilient electric power source that is gaining momentum in the health care sector. The technology delivers constant and reliable power, and its modular design provides the always-on electricity solution that the sector is seeking to ensure uninterrupted health care services, even when the grid goes down.

In terms of sustainability, fuel cells can reduce carbon emissions by nearly 60% relative to the average U.S. combustion power generator. They also generate electricity via an electrochemical reaction rather than combustion, which means virtually no criteria air pollutants are emitted.

With the technology being implemented at prominent health care facilities across the country including Kaiser Permanente, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and most recently, Partners HealthCare, fuel cells are on track to becoming the energy solution that offers the ideal balance of affordability, resilience, and a lower carbon footprint.

They just might be the health care sector’s key technology for elevating resilience and sustainability in this post-climate change era.

The post It’s Time for the Health Care Sector to Think Differently about Electric Power appeared first on Bloom Energy.

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