Seattle Puget Sound HCS

Seattle Puget Sound HCS
1660 S. Columbian Way
Seattle, WA 98108

The VA Puget Sound Health Care System, located in Tacoma at American Lake and in Seattle on Beacon Hill, is the largest and most comprehensive VA facility in the region. The Seattle Division, which earned the ENERGY STAR label in 2002, contains 1.7 million square feet of health care, research, and office space in 16 buildings. Some of the medical center's services include the VA' s first Bone Marrow Transplant Unit; a Geriatric Research, Education and Evaluation Unit; a Same-Day Surgical Unit for outpatient procedures; and a Center of Excellence for Alcohol, Substance Abuse Treatment, and Spinal Cord Injury.

The VA Puget Sound Health Care, Seattle Division, has been active in energy projects for many years, achieving its goals incrementally while maintaining the primary goal of quality patient care. Energy efficiency upgrades have included the replacement of exit sign lamps with LEDs, electronic ballast and lamp replacements, and installation of variable frequency drives and high efficiency motors on HVAC equipment. The facility also extended the central plant chilled water loop and expanded the energy management system (EMS) to most of the campus outbuildings.
An Energy Awareness Campaign in 2001 produced a 3-percent reduction in annual electricity use. The project costs have totaled $2.5 million dollars, saved approximately 14,000 MBtu's, and produced annual cost savings of $225,000. The VA Puget Sound Health Care System is an outstanding example of an energy team in action---implementing projects, reducing government costs, and maintaining quality service in their core mission.

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Testimonial:
VA Puget Sound Health Care System is delighted to have earned national recognition for superior energy performance. We have made this a priority, and earning EPA's ENERGY STAR signals to patients, their families, and our staff that we are protecting the environment through energy efficiency. Such an achievement is a reflection of our employees' hard work and commitment to making environmental protection part of their everyday activities.