by Rebecca Walker — December 3, 2010—Regional differences in how healthcare professionals perceive progress on sustainability and bottlenecks on cost related issues stood out in a recently completed survey conducted by the IFMA Healthcare Council and Corporate Realty, Design & Management Institute (CRDMI).
The survey was conducted as part of a seminar series on “Energy, Economics & Environment: Making the 3Es Work Together in Healthcare.” The seminar series traveled to 10 U.S. cities throughout 2010.
The survey results can be downloaded on CRDMI’s Web site. Also available for download at the same site is a podcast series on Energy, Economics & Environment. The survey, podcast and seminar series are part of the IFMA Healthcare Council’s mission to keep healthcare professionals abreast of the most critical trends in 21st Century hospitals.
Among the findings:
- Midwest healthcare pros (and Boston) think they’re just as sustainable as other industries. Other regions think they’re doing worse;
- First cost dominates purchasing decisions with two notable exceptions;
- Everyone thinks energy costs are going up. If their predictions are accurate, rates will jump twice as high as federal government forecasts;
- Far too many underestimate financial impact of energy savings;
- When retooling for sustainability, 69 percent say appoint a Sustainability Manager;
- Green washing is worse than ever say 81 percent;
- There’s stunning lack of confidence in new technology.
- Reliability of infrastructure outweighs other concerns – except in Chicago;
- The majority of healthcare pros take time to research scientific sources prior to buying.
- First cost dominates purchasing decisions with two notable exceptions;
Sustainability is on virtually everyone’s radar screen, but a bottleneck on first cost issues continues to hinder progress. More than 80 percent said “initial cost” takes precedence in final selection of equipment and materials on recent projects.
While facility professionals and their suppliers understand the need to emphasize value rather than low first price there’s a gap in communicating that value proposition to the C-Suite. Rays of hope shine in two cities: Denver and Chicago. One-third in Denver said durability/expected life takes precedence. Nearly 50 percent in Chicago said sustainable features or durability/expected life were the critical criteria.
The survey indicated, however, that healthcare industry professionals are doing their homework. One-third said they research scientific sources prior to selecting new products or equipment, and over 60 percent said they conduct research at least occasionally.
