Kali Gieben

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:

Kelly Drennan, Third Eye Media

P: 416-458-1491

Creating Greener Building Operations with the Green Energy Act

The Ministry of Energy and Infrastructure are working hard to turn the Green Energy Act into a practical piece of governance, allowing them to cut millions of dollars off the operating budgets of our hospitals and other health care providers by greening building operations.

Recent survey findings reveal many potential opportunities for energy efficiency improvements in the health care sector. With the help of the Green Energy Act, Ontario will be driven into a new era of energy conservation and green jobs. This in turn, will lead to new energy conservation measures and the appointment of energy managers, which will have a significant impact on utility costs and will save millions of precious health care dollars leading to improved patient care.

For example, recently, a leading rehabilitation centre in Southern Ontario performed an energy audit and saved $60,000 on utility bills in the first year. This was done simply by readjusting the heating, lighting and air cooling controls in one wing. Another major Toronto hospital successfully saved $50,000 on utilities through the identification and repair of a concealed (and potentially dangerous) leaky steam valve.

There is even more good news. Many conservation measures can be quickly implemented with little or no cost or disruption to service, and will reduce Green House Gas emissions. And the cherry on top? The addition of much welcomed jobs, created in the process.

However, energy conservation is not always taken seriously. Health service providers generally have little knowledge regarding the potential value of energy conservation programs, which in turn creates huge misconceptions about costs and challenges.

An easy and cost-effective remedy to this is to appoint an experienced energy manager. The energy conservation program that the manager will craft, will lead to the creation of a significant number of jobs in a handful of areas.

With the Green Energy Act and much anticipated leadership from the Ministry, the engagement of energy managers to reduce operating costs should now become a reality. If not, potential jobs and potentially significant cost savings will lost.

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For more information on the Centre for Environmental Sustainability in Healthcare please visit www.thecesh.com.