by Shane Henson — May 2, 2012—Through taking advantage of an Energy Savings Performance Contract (ESPC) offered by Ameresco Inc., an energy efficiency and renewable energy company, the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada (UMC) will soon benefit from more than $4.5 million of energy efficiency improvements. UMC anticipates that these energy efficiency improvements will save them at least $200,000 annually while also addressing critical infrastructure needs. The project is expected to be completed in early 2013.
UMC is Nevada’s only public hospital and Level 1 trauma center that is equipped to handle any level of trauma severity with operating rooms ready at all times. Like many other public entities, UMC must be very careful with how it spends its diminished budget and still address its aging equipment.
Energy efficiency is a way for the hospital to quickly reduce both energy and maintenance costs, says Ameresco. The ESPC model gave UMC an assurance that the improvements will have a guaranteed minimum savings. The infrastructure improvements are expected to increase efficiency and lifespan of the equipment, thereby avoiding any potential unexpected equipment failures from deferred maintenance.
UMC’s contract with Ameresco includes replacing old equipment that has reached the end of its useful life, some original to the building, with new efficient equipment and systems. These improvements include new lighting systems and controls, condenser pumps, variable frequency drives, server room cooling systems, boilers and air handler units across the hospital’s 975,624-square-foot footprint.
With Ameresco implementing these energy-conservation measures, UMC is expected to reduce its carbon footprint by more than 600 metric tons of CO2 annually. The reduction is equivalent to removing 118 cars from the road or powering 161 homes with clean, renewable energy per year, says the company. Additional benefits of Ameresco’s energy-conservation measures include reducing UMC’s operation and maintenance costs by more than $28,000 annually, as well as the potential to receive a rebate of at least $65,000 from NV Energy’s incentive program.
According to Ameresco, in addition to its work with UMC, the company has a solid track record of energy efficiency projects with hospitals and healthcare facilities located throughout North America. Because hospitals and healthcare facilities typically use more than twice as much energy per square foot as office buildings, these facilities are usually good candidates for energy efficiency upgrades and retrofits. As part of a budget-neutral ESPC, Ameresco can modernize a single facility or provide comprehensive campus-wide energy management systems, built from best-in-class energy efficiency and renewable energy solutions and financed entirely with future savings from energy conservation.
