(Credit: Pixabay)Over the past 25 years, hospitals have decreased fossil fuel use, but electricity use isn’t declining as much. According to a survey by Grumman|Butkus Associates, the average combined Btu/ft2 (electricity plus gas/steam) for participating facilities was 236,743 in this year’s survey, up from 233,491 in 2019.
Square-foot prices for gas/steam fell ($0.65 in 2020, compared with $0.67 in 2019), but square-foot prices for electricity were up ($2.44 in 2020, compared with $2.32 in 2019). The overall result is that total reported ft2 costs for energy (gas/steam plus electric) increased: $3.09 for 2020, compared with $2.99 for 2019.
Hospitals’ average carbon footprint has remained fairly steady at 50 to 60 pounds of CO2 equivalent per ft2 per year since GBA began calculating carbon data in 1999. CO2 footprint in 2020 was up from a low in 2019 (likely attributable to a change in respondents for the 2020 survey), but still shows an 18% decrease from 2018.
Participating facilities displayed a broad range of energy usage patterns. For instance, a few of this year’s survey participants reported fossil fuel consumption of more than 200,000 Btu/sf/year, compared with the general mid-range of facilities (about 130,000 Btu/sf/year) and those that used the least (75,000 Btu/sf/year or less). These variations mean that hospital fossil fuel energy costs may exceed $1.50/sf/year or come in at less than $0.50/sf/year.
Similarly, several hospitals were consuming more than 40 kWh/sf/year in electrical energy, compared with a mid-range of about 27 kWh/sf/year. A few survey participants squeaked in at less than 20 kWh/sf/year. The wide differences in usage mean that some participants are paying well over $4.00/sf/year for electrical energy, while many are getting by at less than $2.50 and a few at less than $1.75.
Hospital water/sewer use is also gradually declining, averaging about 36 gallons per square foot per year in 2020 (compared with more than 60 gallons/ ft2/year in 2006, the year GBA began tracking water/sewer use). Costs for water/sewer are generally rising, however. The 2020 data reported by respondents, with an average annual water/sewer cost of $0.34 /ft2, represents a significant drop from 2018 but is still up slightly from 2019, and is considerably higher than the $0.27/ft2 that hospitals were spending in 2006.
Health care centers are trying to improve these numbers. Gundersen Health Systems is a group of hospitals based in Wisconsin. It says that it is energy independent, producing its renewable energy on-site as well as procuring it from producers. It then pairs the energy produced by solar, wind, and biomass with energy efficiency measures. The hospital’s goals are to reduce its energy cost, remain energy independent, and be an environmental steward in the healthcare sector. The Orange Health Care Center in Connecticut was audited and got a $12,825 incentive from the Connecticut Energy Efficiency Fund. The center says that it can expect an annual energy savings of 71,414 kWh.
