A recent energy savings project at McKay-Dee Hospital has wrapped up after two years, having achieved significant operational cost savings and energy benefits to the hospital and community. The Strategic Energy Management project, sponsored by Rocky Mountain Power, involved utilizing low to no cost activities throughout the entire hospital campus. The McKay-Dee maintenance team was critical to the success, along with hospital leadership, and Intermountain's Corporate Energy Management Program.
"The goal was to optimize existing equipment to reduce costs and improve performance," says Chris Workman, Intermountain's Corporate Energy Program Manager. "McKay-Dee Hospital's two main utility bills, electricity and natural gas, have gone down approximately 10 and 20 percent respectively. The operational cost savings are still growing, but projected to be a total of approximately $220,000 by the end of 2017. The hospital saved $176,000, in 2016, and $90,000 in 2015 at the beginning of the project."
These dollars are coming back to benefit patients.
“These are great numbers and great work,” says Mike Clark, McKay-Dee Hospital Administrator. “What I love about energy savings is that we not only reduce pollution, but also reduce costs for our patients. It’s exciting to see where we can harvest these significant savings and opportunities.”
(McKay-Dee Hospital Maintenance team, hospital leadership, and Rocky Mountain Power staff who were involved in the project.)
Improvements were made to mechanical systems and controls for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems (HVAC), as well as the installation of LED parking lot lights. The McKay-Dee maintenance team members, led by Clint Tubbs, McKay-Dee Engineering Manager, and consisting of Brent Hayes, Charles Woodward, Travis Iverson, and Richard Peek all implemented the changes and will continue to maintain the efficiencies and seek out new opportunities.
The entire hospital, from the surgical suites to the Child Development Center, is benefiting from improved HVAC operations. In addition to the utility bill savings, Rocky Mountain Power presented McKay-Dee with a cash incentive of $60,616 for the project – which equates to 2 cents for every one of the approximately 3 million kilowatt-hours saved during the 2015-2016 project duration.
“This electrical energy savings is the equivalent of taking 182 average U.S. houses completely off the grid,” says Chris, who adds that the average household in the U.S. uses about 12,000 kilowatt-hours of energy per year. “Previously, many of these HVAC systems operated at nearly full capacity 24 hours per day, seven days a week, regardless of system load,” says Chris. “The HVAC systems now have greater modulation and load tracking capability, so cooling and heating is there when needed, and backs off to save energy and maintenance when demand is low.”
This is the highest energy savings project the Rocky Mountain program has made to date, other than water system projects.
"This project has created a cultural shift in energy efficiency among the McKay-Dee maintenance team," says Chris. "It really takes a savvy team to better understand the impact that their decisions and operations have on the costs our patients incur."
McKay-Dee is the first hospital in the Intermountain system chosen by Rocky Mountain Power to participate in Strategic Energy Management. Due to the huge success, it is likely the first of many energy savings projects at our Intermountain hospitals between Rocky Mountain Power and the Corporate Energy Management Program.
The maintenance team will continue to maintain the efficiencies and seek out new opportunities. The hospital expects to see the energy cost savings continue to grow until the end of 2017.
