Proposed Addendum Modifies ASHRAE’s Building Performance Standard Requirements

The American Society for Health Care Engineering’s (ASHE’s) Regulatory Affairs Team is calling on members to comment on proposed changes that set greenhouse gas intensity (GHGi) targets for hospitals.

ASHRAE’s proposed Addendum j to its Standard 100, Energy and Emissions Building Performance Standard for Existing Buildings, updates site energy use intensity (EUI) and GHGi targets for many building types, including healthcare. All healthcare facilities professionals should carefully evaluate what the new requirements could mean in practice if adopted by their jurisdiction and share their feedback with ASHRAE.

The proposed change would lower the carbon emissions targets that buildings are expected to meet through ASHRAE Standard 100. Those targets are based on a formula that treats all building types similarly. However, a concern is that hospitals are not typical buildings — they must run around the clock, support patient care and maintain backup systems that consume significant energy. 

ASHE is asking healthcare facilities professionals to evaluate whether the new targets are realistic for hospitals or whether hospitals should receive a customized target that reflects their unique mission and energy needs. This can be done by comparing the new targets with a facility’s current carbon emissions.

To assist, ASHE has implemented a GHGi calculator in the Energy to Care Dashboard. To view their facility’s GHGi, Energy to Care users can navigate to the ENERGY STAR® widget displayed on the dashboard’s homepage; underneath the ENERGY STAR® Score is the GHGi for the selected building. The facility’s GHGi as presented in the Energy to Care Dashboard should then be compared to the proposed GHGi targets in Addendum j’s Table 7-4a.

Addendum j is now open for public review and comments as part of a 45-day review period that closes on October 19. The public review period will play a critical role in determining how these GHGi targets are applied across the healthcare physical environment by collecting feedback from stakeholders on their building's or campus’s ability to comply with the proposed GHGi target. For healthcare facilities, where operational requirements, patient safety considerations and resilience needs often drive energy use, stakeholder feedback is essential to ensure the final ratios and targets included in the standard accurately reflect healthcare operations and are reasonable to achieve. 

Healthcare facilities managers, engineers and building owners should review the proposed GHGi targets, compare them against actual facility performance and consider potential implementation challenges. ASHE encourages members to report any concerns regarding the methodology, targets, climate-zone assumptions or healthcare applicability of Addendum j through ASHRAE’s public review process.

Click here to review Addendum j and click here to submit comments before the deadline of October 19.