Kosciusko Community Hospital

• Lighting - Replaced magnetic ballast T-12 fluorescent lights with more efficient electronic ballast T-8 lamps.  Occupancy sensors have been placed in areas that are not constantly in use, such as bathrooms and offices.  We also installed sensors in other areas for a trial basis in order to maximize use without disrupting the hospital environment.
• Fan Systems - Installed new motors with more efficient Variable Frequency Drives on our air handlers.  The air handlers have digital controls that adjust for occupancy, and control steam and humidity.  
• HVAC - Installed a new, smaller, and more efficient boiler that produces enough steam to heat the hospital.   This new boiler replaced a larger, less efficient boiler.  The larger boiler remains at the facility and is only used as back-up.
• Domestic Water Heater - Our water is heated with the exhaust gases of our boiler.  As a result, our domestic water heaters remain idle most of the time.
• Planned Upgrades ­­ - In August 2005, we began replacing all windows in the hospital as the old windows had substantial leaking.

Our efforts on the operations and maintenance side include equipment tune-ups and preventative maintenance measures.  We check our air handlers each year to ensure accurate temperature setting and calibrate as needed.
After our energy efficiency upgrade projects in the 1990s, we recorded annual natural gas savings of 10%  - 18%, and electricity savings of 30% when compared to the same month in the previous year.  Our energy savings were so significant that even though we added square footage to create a new front lobby area, our energy consumption continued to decline.
Recently, as part of Triad Health System's energy performance benchmarking initiative, we created a Portfolio Manager account  to track and rate the energy performance of our campus.  The rating system demonstrated that our building was a top performer, and as a result, our campus earned the ENERGY STAR.

Communications:
As part of our employee outreach and community outreach, we had an article about earning the ENERGY STAR in our hospital monthly newsletter and in the local newspaper.

Testimonial:
"Conserving energy is the right thing to do not only because it provides lower operating costs for the hospital, but also because it improves the health of our community, which is one of our core values at Kosciusko Community Hospital."   

-- Mike Scott, Manager of Plant Operations, Kosciusko Community Hospital