Overview
Our energy efficiency program supports our commitments to community health and resilience, as well as resource stewardship, which enables us to invest more resources into the patient and caregiver experience. Our efforts include building system automation and controls, equipment retro-commissioning and upgrades, engaging caregivers in behavior change and incorporating energy efficiency measures into our design standards for new construction.
Goal Progress
Our goal is to reduce our Energy Use Intensity (EUI)—or energy use per square foot of conditioned space in our facilities—by 40% from our 2010 baseline by 2030. Our cross-functional Utility and Energy Management Committee met monthly throughout calendar year 2022 to refine our energy efficiency strategy, review progress, collaborate on initiatives and share ideas for improvement. In support of our goal, in Q3 of 2022, we:
- Established a dedicated team focused on energy and utilities for our facilities, including the addition of two positions to support this important work.
- Developed monthly energy report cards for key stakeholders at our main campus and regional hospitals, which include key metrics for each facility (EUI, utility rates and spend on utilities) and summaries of monthly energy meetings.
We maintained our monthly, facility-level energy performance reporting for facility managers to keep them informed on goal progress and changes in consumption. In addition to internal reports, we continued to provide progress reports to the Department of Energy in 2022.
Cleveland Clinic uses a weather-normalized source Energy Use Intensity (EUI) metric, which measures the efficiency of our facilities relative to their size and accounts for annual weather variances. This metric includes transmission, delivery and production losses of fuel used to generate energy. It also enables us to compare year over year performance even as our building portfolio continues to expand.
There was no significant change in our EUI from 2021 to 2022.
Energy Efficiency Engagement
We regularly engage our green teams in sharing ideas for energy efficiency, championing energy efficiency efforts at their facilities and engaging their fellow caregivers in energy-saving behaviors. In 2022, we provided resources on our Sustainability Connect Today Community to help caregivers celebrate environmental holidays, such as Earth Hour, Energy Efficiency Day and Earth Day, held a Quest for Energy Efficiency campaign and hosted multiple Energy Treasure Hunts at our family health centers.
Quest for Energy Efficiency
Energy efficiency is a team effort, and engaging caregivers in daily energy-saving behaviors is an important part of our energy program. In July of 2022, we launched a Quest for Energy Efficiency for caregivers via our Sustainability Community on Connect Today, our online learning and collaboration platform. To complete the quest, caregivers had to complete the following actions:
- Review a list of 10 tips for saving energy at work.
- Review a list of 15 tips for saving energy at home.
- Pledging to adopt one new energy-saving behavior for the remainder of the year.
- Sharing one idea for saving energy.
Upon completing the quest, caregivers received a unique trophy for their Connect Today profile and were entered into a drawing to win prizes. During the campaign, quest materials received more than 10,000 views and 500 comments from caregivers, who shared ideas and success stories with one another related to saving energy at work and at home.
Energy Treasure Hunts
Cleveland Clinic began conducting Energy Treasure Hunts (ETHs) in 2020 to harness the expertise and creativity of our caregivers on energy efficiency. Created by ENERGY STAR, the ETH framework helps building occupants understand the factors that contribute to energy consumption at their facility, and promotes a team-based approach to identifying low- and no-cost energy savings opportunities. During an ETH, an interdisciplinary team of caregivers rounds a facility to ask questions, note areas for improvement and share ideas related to energy use. The team then compiles a report with their findings, including the cost and return on investment of different initiatives they identified, recommended timelines for implementation, caregiver engagement opportunities and observations that warrant further exploration. ETHs encourage caregivers to collaborate, learn from one another and take ownership over energy use at their facilities. Outcomes of our ETHs to date include:
- More than $600,000 in savings opportunities identified.
- A new green team created at one of our facilities.
- New internal marketing materials developed to promote energy-saving behaviors, which were distributed to more than 75 administrators for display across our facilities.
In 2022, our ETH teams focused on low- and no-cost energy savings measures at our family health centers, completing walkthroughs at Westlake Medical Campus, Brunswick Family Health Center and Lorain Family Health & Surgery Center. Our ETH team leaders then identified common themes from these walkthroughs and shared best practices with teams at other family health centers. We also made ETH checklists available to all caregivers on Connect Today to empower them to conduct their own ETHs and identify energy-savings opportunities at their facilities.
Greening our ORs
Operating rooms (ORs) are very energy intensive spaces due to the equipment and lighting they contain, as well as temperature, humidity and air exchange requirements when they are in use. Through our building automation system and caregiver engagement, we have been able to decrease the number of hourly air changes in ORs when they are unoccupied. This initiative has resulted in significant energy savings while ensuring we continue to meet or exceed all regulations for OR operations. In 2022, we evaluated our OR setback program and reinstated setbacks in some locations that paused this initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Cleveland Clinic also has a cross-departmental Greening the OR Committee, which actively works to steward resources in our ORs. Committee members identify opportunities to reduce waste, improve energy efficiency, conserve water, procure greener products and enhance our understanding of the environmental impacts of different instruments and procedures.
Committee members also provide support to surgical residents in our Ken Lee Fellowship program, who develop and lead projects to green our operating rooms each year. The Ken Lee Fellowship was created in memory of Cleveland Clinic surgeon, Kenneth Lee, MD, to continue his legacy of environmental stewardship in the operating room. The Ken Lee Fellowship supported its first surgical resident in 2013, and projects to date have included: regulated medical waste reduction, energy efficiency, scrub sink water reduction, medical device reprocessing, reduction and recycling of expired items, carbon footprints of anesthetic gases and reducing waste in surgical procedure packs.
Building Systems
In 2022, we continued to identify and implement energy conservation measures (ECMs) in our facilities to improve energy efficiency and occupant comfort. Initiatives implemented included:
- Weekly energy surveys throughout the facilities located on our main campus.
- LED lighting retrofit at Wooster Family Health Center.
- Setting back HVAC systems supplying our ORs when unoccupied.
- Replacing aging windows where needed to increase efficiency and reduce thermal loss.
- Ongoing steam trap audits and repairs throughout the enterprise.
- Control optimization and continuous review of mechanical equipment operations and setpoints, including making adjustments as needed to reduce energy consumption and maintain thermal comfort.
- Retro-commissioning of air handling units (AHUs).
- Continued validation, calibration and replacement of sensors that control AHUs.
To save energy and costs, our facilities team throughout the Akron region replaced older, inefficient lighting with LED lighting and controls in common areas at our health and wellness facilities. Controls we added included advanced motion sensors (IR and sonic sensing) in areas where lights were commonly left on, such as restrooms.
