Featured Image: The EM & FMO teams at Mission Memorial Hospital
Success for Fraser Health’s Energy Management (EM) team is linked to increased collaboration and a coordinated approach.
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Fraser Health celebrates a coordinated approach to energy management
“Over the years, we have made an effort to build relationships with Facilities Maintenance & Operations (FMO) teams across Fraser Health. Where we have established strong relationships and good communication, we have been rewarded with a better understanding of facility needs, and greater opportunity to identify and implement projects that enhance operations and improve health-care facilities,” said Robert Bradley, Energy Manager for Fraser Health.
Most recently, Fraser Health celebrated the success of these coordinated efforts at Delta Hospital and Mission Memorial Hospital. In both hospitals, FMO teams worked closely with the energy management team, as well as external partners, to replace obsolete heating hot water and domestic hot water systems with new, more energy-efficient boiler plant and plumbing infrastructure that improves occupants’ comfort to support patient care, and reduces energy and emissions.
The FMO and energy management teams, with guidance from an engineering consultant, worked closely to determine viable and reliable energy saving solutions. Funding from the Carbon Neutral Capital Program (CNCP), internal capital, and financial incentives from both FortisBC and BC Hydro were instrumental in completing these projects on budget and on time.
The project at DEH was completed in March 2015, and collaboration between energy management and FMO continued throughout the year. Monitoring and continuous commissioning has resulted in increased savings beyond the original estimations. The overall natural gas and electricity savings are approximately 1,900 GJ, resulting in emission savings of over 80 tCO2e. The Mission Memorial Hospital project was completed in March 2016, and we will be copying the successful approach used at Delta Hospital to ensure we maximize the energy and emission savings!
Coordinating energy savings for a positive impact
In B.C., health authorities and affiliates are collectively the second largest consumers of energy in the province. This is due to the 24-hour operations of health-care facilities, specialized equipment and the nature of services that health care provides. By replacing, upgrading and continuously commissioning equipment, such as replacing these boiler systems at Delta Hospital and Mission Memorial Hospital, we are reducing our annual energy costs and carbon dioxide emissions. These savings have a positive impact, decreasing emissions, reducing air pollution, increasing efficiencies and ultimately ensuring that hospital infrastructure has a longer life with reduced cost in the long term. All of this is made possible by the coordinated efforts of the FMO and energy management teams.
