ASHE celebrates healthcare facilities excelling in energy reduction efforts; sees record-breaking participation in its Energy to Care program

CHICAGO — The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE), a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association, has announced the winners of its 2026 Energy to Care Awards, which recognize healthcare facilities that have significantly reduced their energy use and emissions and advanced their sustainability goals.

This year, 70 healthcare facilities across 13 healthcare organizations have earned the Sustainability Champions Award, the program’s highest distinction, for demonstrating strong leadership in pursuit of reducing healthcare’s environmental footprint and using saved resources to support patient care. The winners represent just 1.4% of the total facilities participating in ASHE’s Energy to Care Program, which allows organizations to track, benchmark and reduce their energy usage.

The following hospitals and healthcare systems will be recognized at ASHE’s Health Care Facilities Innovation Conference taking place Aug. 2-5 in Minneapolis:

Advocate Health, representing 23 winning facilities
Ascension Healthcare, representing 11 winning facilities
Bon Secours Mercy Health, representing eight winning facilities
Children's Hospital Colorado – Anschutz
Hawaii Pacific Health, representing two winning facilities
Memorial Hermann Health System, representing nine winning facilities
OhioHealth, representing two winning facilities
OSF HealthCare, representing two winning facilities
Parkland Health
Prime Healthcare, representing seven winning facilities
Sutter Health, representing two winning facilities
UF Health Shands South Campus
UPMC Northwest

The program also recognizes past Energy to Care Award winners who have continued to meet their sustainability goals by maintaining or further reducing annual emissions and energy use intensity. This year, 328 facilities have earned the Sustained Performance Award, accounting for less than 7% of the total facilities participating in the Energy to Care Program.

ASHE congratulates these Sustainability Champions and Sustained Performance award winners. In addition to these awardees, ASHE recognizes its other 2026 Energy to Care Award winners, who cumulatively represent 2.8% of facilities enrolled in the Energy to Care Program. All 140 winning facilities have earned ASHE’s Energy to Care Award by demonstrating a 10% or greater reduction in energy use intensity over the previous year or 15% over two years, as tracked by reporting verified energy and water consumption data in the Energy to Care Dashboard.

In addition, through the Energy to Care program, ASHE Chapters can participate in a challenge to demonstrate the highest reductions in energy consumption. Seventeen ASHE Chapters participated in the Energy to Care 2026 Chapter Challenge. ASHE congratulates the winners of the 2026 Chapter Challenge and thanks all participants for their commitment to saving energy.

Large Category Winner: North Carolina Healthcare Engineers Association
Small Category Winner: Healthcare Facility Managers Association of Delaware Valley

The Energy to Care Program has seen consistent growth since its inception in 2006. Key enhancements to the program since 2018, including the introduction of new awards categories, have led to a 600% expansion in participation over the intervening years; to date, more than 4,900 facilities have participated in Energy to Care. Throughout the entire life of the program, healthcare facilities have seen a combined savings of over $550 million dollars reallocated to patient care, showing strong evidence for the material benefit of investing in energy reduction even in the face of rising energy costs.

View the complete list of 2026 Energy to Care Award winners, including all Sustainability Champions and Sustained Performance award-winning facilities, at energytocare.org/EnergyAwards.

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About ASHE
The American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE) is a professional membership group of the American Hospital Association. More than 12,000 members rely on ASHE as a critical source of professional development, information and advocacy, including representation on key issues that affect their work in the health care physical environment. For more information about ASHE, contact 312-422-3800 or visit ashe.org.

About Energy to Care

Energy to Care is ASHE’s award-winning sustainability program that empowers healthcare facilities management professionals to add value to their organizations through an environmental sustainability focus. The program offers participants resources to help facilities management professionals reduce their organization’s energy consumption, improving operational efficiency while optimizing patient care. To learn more, visit energytocare.org.