Energy kiosk opens public discussion on environmental stewardship

Energy Savings Initiative Coordinator Leo Martineau explains the energy kiosk to visitors.

Photo Courtesy of Central Vermont Medical Center

The Energy Savings Initiative (ESI) team at Central Vermont Medical Center (CVMC) in Berlin meets every other Wednesday for two hours. The team has kept this tradition for the past decade with the objective of finding energy savings in legacy and new facility projects. Its dedication to energy efficiency helped CVMC to move from the bottom 25 percent in terms of hospital energy performance nationwide to now being in the top 20 percent, according to Energy Star. CVMC earned Energy Star certification in 2016. However, Leo Martineau, ESI coordinator, says spreading the word about the medical center’s efforts and, more importantly, helping its community to spur even more energy-saving initiatives has been a challenge.

“We had a huge banner on the front of the hospital that read ‘Energy Star-Rated Hospital,’ but no one seemed to realize it,” he says. “We wanted to entice the public into looking into our energy savings and see why it’s so important.”

The medical center teamed with Efficiency Vermont, Liebert Engineering Inc. and Control Technologies Inc. to create a real-time, interactive energy kiosk. The 49-inch touchscreen sits in the lobby and is open to the public. It not only displays CVMC’s Energy Star score and progress chart, but also gives information on how it has saved more than $800,000 per year in energy costs since 2010.

Visitors exploring the kiosk can take it a step further and view current weather conditions and how they impact energy consumption today and over the past year, live electric and natural gas usage and costs, and tips on how to become energy efficient at home.