A Higher Level of Care
St. Joseph’s systems analyst Phoebe LaClair adjusts a computer screen at a workstation in the “ballroom” of St. Joseph’s new emergency services building. Energy-saving technology in the ED includes the use of eco-friendly “thin clients” that replace personal computer towers, drastically reducing the amount of electricity used. Left: About the size of a paperback book, “thin clients” are small devices that perform like personal computers and connect to servers in St. Joseph’s data center. They use approximately 90 percent less energy and eliminate the need for individual PC towers, saving valuable space.
Green, Greener, Greenest Hospitals, despite all the healing and hard work that goes on inside them, have a bad reputation when it comes to energy usage. They run 24 hours a day without stopping. Air conditioners in the summer and boilers in the winter devour electricity and natural gas in the process. Lights never dim. Thousands of laptop computers and sterilizing equipment slurp electricity like thirsty camels. It’s no wonder that Kevin Flegal, St. Joseph’s director of maintenance services, calls them “energy hogs.” Well, at least he used to. St. Joseph’s new emergency department has been designed purposely to be as frugal as possible when it comes to energy consumption. The focus on energy efficiency has been so sharp that the hospital expects to earn a coveted silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council’s LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program. That’s quite a stretch from “energy hog” to “green neighbor.”
12 caring Connection
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St. Joseph’s hospital Health Center
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“We’ve viewed this project as a real opportunity to reduce our energy usage and take the load off the local electricity grid,” Flegal says. “We spend more than $4 million a year on electricity and natural gas in the main hospital alone. So anything we can do is a plus.” Edward Grabowski, St. Joseph’s facilities engineer, says the hospital has tried to do everything possible to reduce energy consumption by relying on both large and small improvements. Perhaps the most noticeable, he says, is the use of “daylighting.” “Our goal,” Grabowski says, “is to bring as much daylight as possible into the ED’s interior spaces. The more daylight we can bring into the building, the less electricity we have to use during the day—and that saves money. Windows around the perimeter of the treatment areas admit light to patient rooms, but the most spectacular elements are large skylights in the center of the emergency department’s “ballroom” that, on bright days, virtually eliminate the need for electric lights. The windows admit light but at the same time reflect heat. During the winter months, they keep warm air from escaping. Perhaps the most unique element of the new ED is its 40,000-square-foot vegetative roof. The roof is
spring 2012
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