STATE COLLEGE — The Geisinger Healthplex State College is one of five Geisinger facilities to receive an Energy to Care Award this year from the American Society for Health Care Engineering of the American Hospital Association.
“This award is a significant achievement for health care facilities taking meaningful steps toward decarbonization, and I congratulate the Geisinger team for reaching this milestone across several sites in their sustainability journey,” said Kara Brooks, senior associate director of sustainability at the American Hospital Association.
The five facilities were recognized by ASHE for tracking their emissions, energy and water reduction efforts, as well as going beyond their sustainability goals.
“The facilities are among 102 participating facilities to receive this distinction in 2024, representing just 2.3% of facilities enrolled in the Energy to Care Program,” shared a statement from Geisinger. “Participants record and report their energy and water consumption, as well as greenhouse gas emissions, in the Energy to Care Dashboard. Energy to Care Award-winning facilities demonstrate a 10% greater reduction in energy use intensity over the previous year, or 15% over two years.”
Geisinger credited the result of the award to its sustainability initiatives.
One of the initiatives, retro-commissioning building systems, saves energy by tracking data and usage, as well as upgrading necessary equipment, to calibrate system parameters and control sequences.
Additionally, Geisinger put into practice a fault detection system and diagnosis software that takes the data and highlights issues in the system while looking for energy saving opportunities. Increasing the efficiency of its medical centers is made possible via a single utility plant constructed by Geisinger that generates energy from a single fuel source.
“When we conserve energy, we’re able to operate more efficiently, but we also impact the health of the communities we serve,” said Bradd Mertz, senior director of facilities operations at Geisinger. “By reducing our emissions and relying less on power plants, we contribute to a healthier region by reducing air pollutants.”
Established in 2006, the Energy to Care program has continued to grow. As of 2010, more than 4,400 facilities participated in the program and over the entirety of the program, the ASHE has reported health care facilities saving a combined $550 million, which was then put forward to patient care.
“These awards are a testament to the effort and dedication our facilities operations team has to lowering our carbon footprint,” said John Hajduk, Geisinger’s associate vice president of facilities operations. “Through this important work, we not only care for our friends and neighbors but also for the environment we all share.”
