Gifford Medical Center

Industry

Healthcare

Challenge

Since hospitals are critically important infrastructure that needs to operate around the clock, they are known for their high energy usage. Gifford Medical Center sought out the opportunity to reduce costs while also creating a healthier environment.

Results

The impact your customer saw. Two to three sentences are a good standard for the right amount of content.

SEM Partner

Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP)

neep.org/

11.7K

annual fuel oil savings (gal)

42K

sustained annual electric savings (KWH)

$52.9K

Annual Savings

Gifford Medical Center uses Energy Star Portfolio Manager to track progress on energy management to calculate savings and return on investment for projects.

About Gifford Medical Center

Gifford Health Care is a nationally recognized health care system that serves the rural communities in Central Vermont and the Upper Valley. It has a history that spans 119 years. Since its humble beginnings, the hospital has grown in size and reputation. In 1977, Gifford Medical Center opened New England’s first hospital-based birthing center, and between 1989 and 1994, it became one of the first hospitals in the country to offer primary care in rural areas.

The Challenge

Over time, Gifford Health Care has expanded its offerings to include state-of-the-art services like critical care, women’s health, a birthing center, surgical services, adult day care, nursing home, independent living, and primary care. The healthcare providers employs 600 people across the state.

Since hospitals are critically important infrastructure that needs to operate around the clock¹, they are known for their high energy usage. Gifford is acutely aware of its energy usage and sought out the opportunity to reduce costs while also creating a healthier environment.

The Solution

The healthcare organization has had a long relationship with Efficiency Vermont, who approached Gifford in 2018 about joining its year-long Strategic Energy Management Program (SEM). This cohort program offered Gifford the chance to rethink its approach to energy management, build organization-wide support for energy efficiency, and achieve long term savings. In this model, Gifford was part of a cohort of peer organizations that formed a supportive community for collaborating and sharing SEM best practices. Gifford’s cohort included a total of nine Vermont hospitals.

Gifford worked with experts at Efficiency Vermont to identify opportunities for energy saving capital upgrades and process improvements. For example, along with a mechanical contractor, a steam trap survey was completed to evaluate the performance of the system with estimated savings of nearly $10,000. A big lighting project converted all of the lights to LED and connected them together with a back-net control system that allows for advanced monitoring.

“We’re making a real difference and our employees are engaged. Being more energy minded not only helps us achieve our goals, but also decreases our carbon footprint and contributes to improved air quality in Vermont.” - Patrick Giordano, Gifford Director of Facilities

The Results

SEM has proven to be incredibly valuable for Gifford Medical Center. Employees of the organization are engaged and excited about their improvement, and the facilities managers see the results of savings in the data. The improvements create a healthier environment and allow the hospital to spend the savings on their facility and clients.

The healthcare organization has a five-year energy saving plan to sustain savings and ensure continued improvement of building performance. The plan contains projects such as replacing rooftop units, chillers, heating systems, and other equipment such as improved lighting and HVAC controls. Gifford plans to get re-evaluated for an ENERGY STAR Score to account for the work done over the past six years.