Hospital Energy Alliance is launched

The U.S. Department of Energy says it’s starting the Hospital Energy Alliance — a program designed to promote energy efficiency in the nation’s hospitals.

The partnership between the Energy Department and national healthcare sector leaders is expected to promote the integration of advanced energy efficiency and renewable technologies in hospital design, construction, retrofit, operations and maintenance.

Hospitals are among the nation’s most complex and energy-intensive facilities, said Richard Moorer, Department of Energy associate undersecretary for energy. “The Hospital Energy Alliance was created to spur energy efficiency and lower costs in the healthcare sector by accelerating the adoption of high-performance technologies while preserving or enhancing healthcare delivery.

Under the new alliance, hospitals and healthcare organizations will have access to the resources and technical expertise available at (the Energy Department) and its national laboratories to develop and deploy innovative solutions to cut costs, lower energy usage, and reduce pollution across the country.

Officials said hospitals use 836 trillion British thermal units of energy annually and have more than 2.5 times the energy intensity and carbon dioxide emissions of commercial office buildings.