August 23, 2006—The American Society for Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) of the American Hospital Association (AHA) recently joined the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Energy Star Challenge by committing to improve energy efficiency by 10 percent in member facilities.
ASHE is launching a two-year campaign called E2C to educate its members about the environmental and financial benefits of pursuing energy efficiency improvements in healthcare facilities. ASHE estimates that in the first year of the campaign, members will save more than $65 million on energy costs while helping to protect our environment by reducing nearly three million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions.
As a participant in the Challenge, ASHE is agreeing to:
- identify hospitals with successful energy programs;
- develop case studies of their energy management methods;
- produce an energy-efficiency section on ashe.org;
- develop a chapter-focused energy program; and
- recognize members for energy efficiency improvements of 10 percent or more.
Energy Star is a government-backed program helping businesses and consumers protect the environment through superior energy efficiency. More than 8,000 organizations currently partner with EPA in the program. Energy Star partners with building portfolios achieving energy-efficiency improvements of 10 percent or more qualify as Energy Star Leaders.
