By Healthcare Facilities Today

Gifford Medical Center in Randolph is working to become the first hospital in Vermont to earn a national "Energy Star" rating by the end of 2014, according to an article on the VTDigger.org website.

The Energy Star label is a program by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that benchmarks energy use. For hospitals that means looking at energy use per square foot and then taking into account factors such as number of hospital beds, number of employees and climates. Hospitals are then ranked nationwide.

No Vermont hospital has yet achieved the 75th percentile ranking required for the Energy Star rating. Gifford is currently at 65 percent and the most energy efficient hospital in the state.

Gifford would have to reduce its energy usage by 6 percent to reach the 75th percentile. 

The energy efficiency projects are already under way. Last month, Gifford changed out parking lot lights from 250-watt metal halide bulbs to more efficient 78-watt LEDs.

Other projects planned include replacing a large kitchen stove hood with one that runs on demand using heat sensors rather than running more constantly, according to the article. In addition to electricity savings, the hood would remove less air that has already been heated or cooled. Heating and ventilation systems in parts of the building are also being rebalanced to run more efficiently.

Read the article.