For the last three and a half years, Ripon Peace Memorial Hospital in Victoria, Australia, has been heated solely from woodchip waste supplied from local sawmill, according to an article on the ABC website.
It took two years and $600,000 to complete the government-funded bioenergy project. The wood chip fuelled boiler itself, housed in a repurposed shipping container outside the hospital, cost almost $430,000.
The project has saved the hospital approximately $27,000 each year in energy savings.
"We wanted to show people that in fact bioenergy, using locally produced wood, can work successfully in the modern world and produce a credible result," a project organizer said.
Life Sciences and Healthcare: Reshaping Institutional Design
Arnprior Regional Health Upgrades Building Controls to Improve IEQ
Oregon Health & Science University Opens Vista Pavilion
The Growing Crisis in Rural Healthcare Facilities
A Cleaning Alternative: The Benefits of Steam Technology