Health system goes off the grid

Gundersen Health first hospital to offset all fossil fuel use with locally produced, green energy


Gundersen Health, based in LaCrosse, Wis., is the first hospital to offset all fossil fuel use with locally produced, green energy, according to an article on the Healthcare Finance website.

“We did an energy audit in February of 2008 and it revealed some pretty stunning opportunities as far as cost savings and reducing our energy consumption,” said Jeff Rich, executive director of Envision, Gundersen’s energy subsidiary.

After Gundersen’s $2 million dollar one-time spend on conservation, they had reduced energy costs by $1.2 million each subsequent year.

Gunderson has installed green systems including biomass boilers that replaced natural gas ones, wind turbines farms on several farms, geothermal heat pumps to replace traditional heating and cooling systems, two dairy digesters that turn cow waste into biomass fuels that it can use in other systems and a landfill energy program that turns methane captured in a nearby landfill into an energy source.

Read the article.

 

 



February 11, 2015


Topic Area: Energy Efficiency


Recent Posts

Alleged Ransomware Administrator Extradited from South Korea

The Phobos ransomware has been used globally to target over 1,000 organizations, including healthcare.


Design Plans Unveiled for New Intermountain St. Vincent Regional Hospital

The new hospital will be a 14-floor, 737,000 square-foot facility in Billings, Montana.


Ground Broken on New Pediatric Health Campus in Dallas

The new campus will replace the existing Children’s Medical Center Dallas.


Pre-Construction Strategies for Successful Facilities Projects

Savvy decisions can help facilities meet long-term goals by creating consistency and eliminating waste.


Geisinger Finds Success with Violence Prevention Efforts

Their safety measures included training staff in de-escalation, active-shooter response drills and equipping 6,000 employees with duress notification badges.


 
 


FREE Newsletter Signup Form

News & Updates | Webcast Alerts
Building Technologies | & More!

 
 
 


All fields are required. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

 
 
 
 

Healthcare Facilities Today membership includes free email newsletters from our facility-industry brands.

Facebook   Twitter   LinkedIn   Posts

Copyright © 2023 TradePress. All rights reserved.