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Ramped Up

Most of us don’t see buildings or structures as people, but they have personalities, too.

at affinity health system, sustainability teams work to identify ways to reduce the energy and emissions impact of

our hospitals and clinics. in 2010, we discovered just how much energy the parking garage at st. elizabeth hospital was spending. after aggressive benchmarking, data revealed that the lights in the garage emitted enough electricity to power 21.4 homes in a year (248,720 kilowatts).

so what’s the personality of this structure? definitely the silent type! By utilizing root cause analysis, energy demands of the parking

garage pointed to inefficiencies in electric heaters in a stairwell and the

Newly-installed lED lights at st. Elizabeth Hospital’s parking garage is a bright improvement By iQBAl MiAN, Sustainability Team leader at Affinity Health System

get green

Did you know 17 percent of the emissions of an organization come

from its employees’ cars? At Affinity Health System, we go to great lengths to reduce emissions by lowering energy usage and using more efficienct technologies. Now, St. Elizabeth Hospital will be the first in the Fox Valley to offer patients, visitors and staff a recharge of electricity for their electric vehicles.

ChargePoint (based in California) ran a national program focusing on organizations with aggressive sustainability initiatives and awarded St. Elizabeth Hospital with an electric vehicle charging station. Through innovative, web-based software and a mobile app, users will be able to access and reserve a time to recharge their vehicle. Wisconsin currently has dozens of electric vehicle charging stations in Madison, Green Bay and Milwaukee, and now the geographical gap is filled with Appleton’s first at St. Elizabeth Hospital!

Many domestic and foreign manufacturers offer hybrid and fully-electric vehicles that can take advantage of the recharge. Makes and models that can take the charge include: Ford Focus Electric, Chevy Volt, Tesla Model S, Toyota RAV 4 EV, Honda EV, Nissan Leaf, and Toyota Prius (PHV).

lighting system. set-point adjustments were made to the electric heaters in order to tame usage in 2011.

in november 2012, a huge improvement occurred with the installation of light emitting diode (led) fixtures, which each use 41 watts (one-third less than a traditional 60-watt incandescent light bulb). The biggest difference is the light output and the safety it provides for patients, visitors and staff, especially during winter seasons when days are short of sunlight.

Behind the scenes, another major difference is in the energy reduction. The parking garage structure now uses 75 percent less energy, dropping its energy equivalency to the electrical needs of 5.2 homes.

Most consumers have become familiar with led lighting through tV manufacturers, but the energy-saving bulbs have been around since 1962 when they emitted low-intensity red light. Versions today are available across the visible, ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths with very high brightness. They use a fraction of the energy and are proving to outlast the life expectancy of their predecessors by thousands of hours.

The energy and lighting enhancements certainly make this quiet structure louder, but it no longer has to be shy about using energy!

ChargePoint Electric Vehicle Charging Station at St. Elizabeth Hospital

Iqbal Mian heel-clicking in jubilation

for energy savings