Energy Savings Initiative
OSF Saint Anthony Rewarded for Chiller Upgrade
In an effort to be good stewards of our resources and sustainability, OSF HealthCare Saint Anthony Medical Center recently unveiled a new state-of-the-art chiller on its main campus. The cost of the project was $5.8 million.
"The chiller is a heavy piece of equipment that helps chill our water that goes into the facility for the purposes of cooling, so keeping these areas tempered is very important for the safety and comfort for our patients and visitors, especially our critical areas like the ORs, the procedure rooms, our sterile environments," says Chris Bastier, director of facilities and planning for the OSF Northern Region. "Investing in this equipment is very important, especially when you're taking a look at long-term growth for the facility."
The energy avoidance and savings on the new chiller is equivalent to 1,662 tons CO2 per year, which is equivalent to the annual emissions from 320 cars or the amount of carbon sequestered by 1,774 acre of U.S. Forests.
As part of OSF Saint Anthony's efforts regarding energy savings, ComEd presented the medical center with a sizeable check at a recent news conference.
"The ComEd incentive was the sweet icing on the cake," says Chris Bastier, director of Facilities and Planning for the OSF Northern Region. "It tasted good, but what is really going to taste good is the energy savings we're going to see throughout the next 20 years."
"From a business standpoint, energy is a big part of our operating expenses," says Michael Keefe, manager of Energy and Sustainability. "So when we save money from energy conservation, we're also improving our operating margin which is a key result we can all participate in."
The chiller project is just of many ongoing efforts as part of OSF HealthCare's energy program.
"Some actions such as turning computers off at the end of the day in office areas can really add up," says Michael Keefe, manager of Energy and Sustainability. "There's over 20,000 Mission Partners, if we all did a small active of conservation we would see it in the bottom line."