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Press Release
Trane - January 14, 2008
Georgia Hospital and Nursing Home Improve Quality of Patient Care While Saving Significant Energy and Operating Costs
Claxton, Ga., Jan. 14, 2008 — Improving the quality of patient care while saving energy and being operationally efficient is a “three-legged” stool that many U.S. hospitals continually work to balance.
The board of Evans Memorial Hospital in Claxton, Ga., and Glenville Nursing Home in Glenville, Ga., part of the Hometown Health Network, found a solution for all three by engaging in a performance-based contract that will fund much-needed renovations through energy savings.
By reducing energy and operating costs, it is anticipated that the $1.84 million in renovations will pay for themselves over 13 years.
“Healthcare facilities are constantly trying to find ways to cut costs while continuing to provide quality, compassionate healthcare. This usually means maintenance and upgrades to facilities end up at the bottom of the list,” said Martha Tatum, CEO of Evans Memorial Hospital. “We recently found ourselves in this exact situation with aging facilities lacking modern, energy-efficient technology and a very real possibility that some of our systems would fail and not work again. We saw an opportunity to solve this, save on energy and improve building systems through an energy project with Trane.”
Energy and operating cost savings will be achieved through redesign of the mechanical and electrical systems; lighting and plumbing upgrades; and installation of highefficiency heating, ventilation and air conditioning units at Glenview Nursing Home; and a new chiller and cooling tower with supporting systems; lighting upgrades; and heating, ventilation and air conditioning upgrades at Evans Memorial Hospital.
The improvements at the facilities result in a kWh reduction of 17 percent at Evans Memorial Hospital and a 36 percent kWh reduction at Glenville Nursing home. This is equivalent to saving 725 tons of carbon dioxide annually, the equivalent of taking 143 cars off the road or eliminating 85 households’ electricity use for one year.
In addition, the new systems will reduce repair costs and increase reliability – which was a challenge with the previous aging systems. The existing HVAC system design at Evans Memorial had numerous points at which a single failure could eliminate the ability to provide chilled water to critical areas in the hospital.
This could result in higher than acceptable temperature and humidity levels that could significantly increase infection rates from surgical procedures. The new system allows for back-up system to provide continued space conditioning.
“The project is underway with several areas already completed. We look forward to the completion of the project and the realization of savings, said Tatum. “We feel, however, that the most beneficial improvement will not be measured in savings but will be realized by our patients, residents and personnel, and we are proud of that.”
Systems installations are expected to be completed in April 2008. Evans Memorial Hospital and Glenville Nursing Home are achieving this through Trane’s performance contracting, which is a guaranteed energy savings contract that helps building owners create high-performance environments and significantly reduce energy and operating costs. Cost savings fund facility enhancements included in the contract.
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