Our commitment to energy conservation
At Rochester Regional Health, we’re firmly dedicated to reducing our energy usage and environmental footprint through refined operations, on-site renewable energy systems, and purchasing renewable energy from off-site sources.
Understanding that climate change presents augmented risk factors for human health, we accept responsibility for the part we have played and commit to lowering our current and future impact.
As a member of the healthcare industry, which collectively contributes 8% of U.S. emissions due to 24/7 operations, we are proactively working to mitigate our part. Hence, we've formed an energy procurement and efficiency resource group to strategize on achieving long-term energy conservation and renewable energy goals. Concurrently, we are initiating numerous energy-saving and renewable-energy production projects across our system.
Energy Efficiency upgrades from past years have significantly reduced our annual electric consumption.
Our Initiatives
We prioritize energy efficiency when choosing new equipment thanks to the growing availability of efficient technologies. We've completed projects involving lighting and HVAC upgrades that have notably reduced our electricity consumption. Our focus is now on replicating these best practices across our services. We're also upgrading our existing equipment with devices to optimize their energy usage.
We're transitioning to LEDs for our internal and external lighting to save energy and reduce maintenance costs. Retrofitting work is ongoing at sites across our services, including acute care hospitals, long-term care facilities, medical office buildings, senior housing, and more.
When sourcing new equipment, we give importance to ENERGY STAR and EPEAT-certified products. These certifications assure us of the product’s energy-efficient design and environmental friendliness.
We're exploring opportunities for on-site solar installations to power our facilities. At our headquarters, the Riedman Campus, we're in the process of setting up a large photovoltaic array. This move should offset a significant amount of CO2 emissions annually.
We're always upgrading to variable speed fans, a smarter and more energy-efficient solution. Reducing fan speed can offer significant energy savings. Plus, these fans have a longer lifespan than traditional fans.
To manage energy use across over 250 locations, we've implemented an advanced software system. This automated tool assists in tracking and auditing our energy consumption across all our sites, making it less daunting to keep track, identify high-potential areas for energy efficiency upgrades and verify the success of energy reduction initiatives.