New award recognizes energy-efficiency champions

In today’s changing health care environment, hospital leaders are looking for ways to reduce costs without negatively affecting patient care. Becoming more energy-efficient is a key way hospitals can save resources, and a new award will celebrate a facility that leads the way in efficiency efforts.

The Energy Champion Award will be presented for the first time in 2016 to a single facility (hospital or medical office building as defined by Energy Star) that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in energy-efficiency. Applications are now being accepted at www.energytocare.com/awards. The winner will be recognized at the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) Annual Conference in Denver July 10–13.

The new Energy Champion Award is part of the free Energy to Care benchmarking and awards program run by ASHE and sponsored by Johnson Controls. In addition to the Energy Champion Award, the program also gives Energy to Care Awards to hospitals that reduce energy use by 10 percent or more. Energy to Care Awards also recognize previous award winners that reduce energy consumption by 5 percent.

The applications for both the Energy Champion and Energy to Care awards are completed online. The awards are open to Energy to Care participants with ASHE members on staff. Energy to Care Awards require a peer review of data before submitting the application. The Energy Champion Award application requires a licensed professional engineer to review energy use data, and applicants must complete several short essay-style questions. If you are interested in applying for these programs, visit www.energytocare.com/awards today to learn more and view requirements. Applications for both the Energy Champion Award and the Energy to Care Awards are due April 1.

More than 1,400 facilities across the United States are now participating in the Energy to Care program. Since 2009, hospitals participating in the program have tracked more than $67 million in energy savings. To sign up for Energy to Care, visit www.energytocare.com.

Deanna Martin is the communications manager at the American Society for Healthcare Engineering.

ASHE INSIGHTS

Important monographs available from ASHE

Following are two recently released monographs that can be accessed by ASHE members as free PDFs at www.ashe.org/resourcelibrary.

• HCAHPS Scores, the Patient Experience, and the Affordable Care Act from the Facility Perspective. This new ASHE monograph explores how the health care physical environment and facility professionals can improve patient satisfaction scores.

• Risk Assessment of Medical Equipment. A key part of the Joint Commission’s environment of care management plans, risk assessments of medical equipment are covered in this new ASHE monograph. It presents a framework for facilities professionals to follow.

Design guidelines available to industry through ASHE

The 2014 editions of the Facility Guidelines Institute’s Guidelines for Design and Construction of Hospitals and Outpatient Facilities and the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Residential Health, Care, and Support Facilities can be purchased at www.ASHEstore.com