Illustration: An Atlas of Anatomy, FF Miller, 1879

When hospitals are pressured to cut costs and improve patient care, going green seems like a difficult task. But it turns out finding ways to reduce resource use improves operational efficiency and, more importantly, saves millions of dollars. The Ontario government’s largest expenditure is health care, and hospitals are the bulk of the bill. Finding ways to go green and improve energy efficiency reduces some of this burden.

Around the world, hospitals have seen healthy savings from retrofits. Thanks to led lighting retrofits across its facilities, Hawai’i Pacific Health —including four nonprofit hospitals and 44 outpatient clinics—estimates it will save more than usd 1.2 million. In southern Sweden, energy efficiency renovations in hospitals have saved 13 per cent on electricityand 30 per cent on heating. In Denmark, a recently built, energy-efficient hospital improved staff and patient health. Due to better air quality, they saw a 35 per cent reduction in absenteeism due to illness and an 18 per cent reduction in the number of infections. The Danish Chamber of Commerce estimates its hospitals could save over cad 30 million annually if they follow Sweden’s lead.

Here at home, several initiatives push hospitals to pursue resource efficiency. The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) created the Green Hospital Champion Fund to help hospitals improve environmental performance and reduce operating costs through green infrastructure projects. The OHA found “considerable cost-saving opportunities” when improving resource use practices. Now they subsidize up to 80 per cent of a waste audit or energy assessment.

Greening Health Care, an initiative of the Toronto Regional Conservation Authority (TRCA), has more than 40 hospitals as members. The initiative uses a building performance management system to benchmark and monitor energy and water use. Since 2005, 13 Greening Health Care hospitals have lowered their energy use by 10 per cent or more, together saving millions of dollars annually. While the 40 hospitals together spent more from 2008 to 2009 and increased their energy use, Bernie McIntyre, TRCA’s Manager of Community Transformation Programs says it’s because there’s a wide range between the program’s most and least efficient hospitals.