WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has announced the launch of the Hospital Energy Alliance (HEA), an industry-led partnership between national health care leaders and the DOE to promote the integration of advanced energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in hospital design, construction, retrofit, operations, and maintenance. DOE said U.S. hospitals use 836 trillion Btu of energy annually and have more than 2.5 times the energy intensity and carbon dioxide emissions of commercial office buildings. The total annual energy bill for U.S. hospitals is more than $5 billion, often equaling 1-3 percent of a hospital’s operating budget or an estimated 15 percent of profits. The HEA Steering Committee includes representatives from eight health care networks operating in 32 states and the District of Columbia, as well as representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; the American Society for Healthcare Engineering; the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE); the Global Health and Safety Initiative; and the Illuminating Engineering Society of North America.

HEA is the third energy alliance launched by DOE as part of its Net-Zero Commercial Building Initiative, which aims to achieve market-ready, zero-energy commercial buildings by 2025. In 2008, DOE joined with large retail stores to form the Retailer Energy Alliance, and in early April, DOE joined with commercial real estate companies to launch the Commercial Real Estate Energy Alliance (CREEA). The energy alliances are designed to connect building owners and operators with research, advanced technologies, and analytical tools emerging from DOE and its national laboratories. The alliances serve as forums for creating and sharing evidence-based strategies and best practices, thus ensuring greater consistency in energy-efficiency program design and delivery. Each alliance’s collective buying power will also encourage the production of more energy-efficient equipment by providing manufacturers greater clarity on the business needs for that sector.

For more information on the Hospital Energy Alliance, visit www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/hospital/.

Publication date: 06/01/2009