By Healthcare Facilities Today

For most health care systems, the question is not why to put resources into sustainability efforts, But how? The issue is finding the resources and time to invest in such projects.

According to an article in Healthcare Facilities Management managment, returning value through sustainability seems to be more important than ever.

"Hospitals are increasingly moving toward sustainability, which provides real improvements for the environment and furthers the health care industry's goal of creating healthier communities," says Dale Woodin, CHFM, FASHE, executive director of the American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE). "But unless sustainability efforts also can reduce operational costs, they may be short-lived. To ensure that sustainability initiatives are sustainable, they need to deliver value back to their organizations on multiple fronts."

Whether a health care facility is struggling with inefficiency or has a top energy rating, the key is to keep moving forward on the path toward sustainability.

While more health care facilities understand the benefits of sustainability projects, finding solutions that work in the real world sometimes can be a challenge, according to the article.

 "One of the barriers facilities face right now is that they don't have someone in charge to coordinate sustainability efforts," said Laura Brannen, senior sustainability consultant at the engineering firm Mazzetti, San Francisco. "Those positions more than pay for themselves. We're going to look back in 15 years and ask ourselves how we managed all this without a sustainability manager."

Read the article.

http://www.ashe.org/