Metroplex Adventist Hospital in Killeen, TX is Top Hospital for Energy Reduction

EPA/ENERGY STAR Announced Metroplex Adventist Hospital in Killeen, TX Takes Top Honor Among More Than 80 Hospitals for Energy Reduction In EPA’s 2013 ENERGY STAR Battle of the Buildings
By: Ridgecrest Energy Advisors
 
April 28, 2014 - PRLog -- Killeen, TX (April 17, 2014): Built in 1978, Metroplex Adventist Hospital (https://www.mplex.org/patients-visitors/before-my-stay/metroplex-adventist-hospital) is a five-story, 172-bed, not-for-profit, church-operated acute care facility in Killeen, Texas.

Like most hospitals, Metroplex strives to operate with the greatest possible energy efficiency while ensuring patient and staff safety and comfort. With the help of Ridgecrest Energy Advisors, the hospital’s initiative in 2013 has resulted in its first-place finish among hospitals in EPA’s 2013 ENERGY STAR National Building competition (http://www.energystar.gov/buildings/about-us/how-can-we-help-you/communicate/energy-star-communications-toolkit/motivate-competition-0) – called “Battle of the Buildings” – the final results of which were released today, April 17. Metroplex Adventist beat the other 82 hospitals nationwide that began the competition a year ago with a 14.7% overall reduction in energy use, a savings for the year of about $240,000 and a reduction in carbon emissions of more than 1,200 metric tons. In addition, Metroplex received a bill correction adjustment of over $4,000 for electrical demand over-charges discovered by Ridgecrest. Because of the drop in usage the electricity utility for Metroplex thought that the hospital’s electric meter was malfunctioning and sent an engineer to troubleshoot. After testing and verifying that the meter was fine and reviewing the monthly savings reports provided by Ridgecrest, the Oncor engineer agreed that the drop in energy now made perfect sense.

When Ridgecrest Energy Advisors (http://www.ridgecrestenergy.com/) first approached Metroplex, offering to perform a no-cost/no-obligation energy analysis of the hospital, Tom Riddle, Director of Facilities Maintenance, and Carlyle Walton, CEO, were skeptical. Unlike the traditional energy analysis, which nearly always results in recommendations for capital-intensive Energy Conservation Measures (ECMs), Ridgecrest’s approach is to identify and implement no-cost or low-cost ECMs that use only existing infrastructure and result in short payback periods, typically months, not years. This approach is completely different from that of the firm’s competitors.

However, allowing Ridgecrest engineers to at least perform the no-cost analysis made sense to Tom Riddle and Carlyle Walton. It would provide them with a perspective they would not get elsewhere. Also, although Metroplex has plans to replace some old air handling units and associated controls, they wanted to determine and implement all possible no-cost/low-cost measures first.

Ridgecrest completed the analysis and presented its findings to the hospital, which agreed to Ridgecrest’s implementation of five major ECMs with an organized, phased approach. Because Ridgecrest’s business model consists of sharing only “actual” savings achieved after ECMs are implemented, this proved to be a true win-win for Metroplex Adventist and Ridgecrest.

Control Program Enhancements. Throughout the analysis and implementation of the ECMs, control issues were identified and either corrected or brought to the attention of the engineering staff. Many of the ECMs were somewhat unique to the industry. The programs were “automated” so that the engineering staff did not have to consistently monitor or manually make changes. A technician provided by the control system manufacturer assisted Ridgecrest with programming the control sequence improvements prescribed by Ridgecrest. Equipment for which programming was optimized:

·       Air handling units
·       Zone VAV boxes and thermostats
·       Chillers
·       Cooling towers
·       Boilers and associated pumps

It was important to ensure that comfort and indoor air quality would not only be uncompromised, but actually improved where possible.

Challenges. The chiller plant and boiler plant configurations and controls presented challenges. A total of four chillers had been installed at different times, all with different cooling capacities and flow requirements. The boiler system included multiple back-up boilers which needed to be kept warm, so they were available in stand-by mode. And the central controls system included three different age/technology control panels, one of which had no capacity for programming enhancements. Although a majority of controls were digital, some of the equipment still included old pneumatic controls which limit programming to reduce energy use.

Achieving ENERGY STAR Certification. Prior to implementation of ECMs by Ridgecrest, Metroplex Adventist had an ENERGY STAR score of 62 and was a very well maintained and operated facility. Implementation of ECMs without capital improvements or using proprietary technologies was completed by Ridgecrest within four months. Approximately 10 months after implementation began, Metroplex’s ENERGY STAR score jumped to 77, making the facility eligible (minimum 75, out of 100) for ENERGY STAR certification, and was still climbing in February with a score of 83. Metroplex is in the top 25% of hospitals nationwide for energy efficiency.

Looking Ahead. Ridgecrest assisted the facility in developing means to better manage its energy use and spend for years to come. These included:

·       Setting the annual utilities budget based on projected savings
·       Establishing monthly block natural gas purchases
·       Developing guidelines for addressing HVAC complaints
·       Creating step-by-step instructions to ensure that any problem is addressed in a manner that permanently corrects the problem while maintaining energy-efficiency objectives.

Since Ridgecrest monitors energy usage and cost beyond implementation of ECMs, they are able to identify abnormalities in usage, which can result in rectifying problems quickly.

About ENERGY STAR and the Competition. The ENERGY STAR program is jointly sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy. ENERGY STAR began in 1992 as a voluntary labeling program designed to identify and promote energy-efficient products in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The ENERGY STAR label was extended to commercial buildings in 1995, and the labeling program for these buildings began in 1999. The Battle of the Buildings competition began in 2010 with 14 buildings participating. This year more than 3,000 buildings competed.

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Ridgecrest Energy Advisors (www.ridgecrestenergy.com) provides clients with unique solutions for achieving significant energy reductions with little or no capital expenditure. Providing expert insight and thorough understanding of building performance, Ridgecrest brings its clients average savings of 10-30% annually and implements processes to sustain those reductions long-term.

Contact
Ben Whitsett
***@ridgecrestenergy.com
281.484.8600
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Source:Ridgecrest Energy Advisors
Email:***@ridgecrestenergy.com Email Verified
Tags:Energy Reduction, Hospital Management, Faciliies Management, Reduce Energy, Energy Services
Industry:Energy, Health
Location:United States
Subject:Awards
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