by Brianna Crandall — November 16, 2020 — The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) of the American Hospital Association (AHA) recognized hospitals for saving energy this year at its first-ever 2020 ASHE Virtual Conference in October.
Energy Champion and Energy to Care Awards
ASHE named the Atrium Health Cleveland plant operations and maintenance team in Cleveland, Ohio, as the 2020 Energy Champion for demonstrating strong leadership in becoming a more energy-efficient facility and using saved resources to support patient care. In addition, hundreds of hospitals earned an Energy to Care Award this year for lowering energy use.
The Energy Champion Award is given out once a year to honor a single facility that has demonstrated outstanding leadership in energy efficiency. ASHE recognized Atrium Health Cleveland in Shelby, North Carolina, for this prestigious award. This team and their leadership united around the goal of increasing energy efficiency while improving patient safety and comfort and saw a 19% source EUI reduction at their hospital, in addition to an enhanced culture of energy efficiency.
View all the 2020 Energy to Care Award Winners on the ASHE website.
Energy to Care 2020 Chapter Challenge
Through the Energy to Care program, ASHE affiliated chapters can participate in a challenge, competing to demonstrate the highest reductions in energy consumption. A full 18 ASHE affiliated chapters participated in the Energy to Care 2020 Chapter Challenge. ASHE congratulated the winners of the 2020 Chapter Challenge and thanked all participants for their work to save energy.
- Large Category Winners: California Society for Healthcare Engineering and Ohio Society for Healthcare Facilities Management
- Small Category Winner: The New England Healthcare Engineers’ Society
Energy to Care is an energy reduction program for healthcare facilities management professionals who want to add value to their organizations through energy savings. ASHE is working hard to help members set and achieve sustainability goals.
Resources for healthcare FMs
To meet this objective, ASHE created trusted sustainability resources that are specifically tailored for healthcare facilities.
The ASHE resources enable healthcare FMs to:
- Benchmark their facility’s energy consumption, establish a baseline and track over time;
- Educate themselves and their team on energy consumption trends and best practices;
- Participate in exercises to save energy and resources that can be put back into patient care; and
- Participate in a national energy awards program and be acknowledged for their hard work.
The site also provides Energy to Care Success Stories for exemplary hospitals that detail their energy efficiency best practices.
