SPHERE News
Additional Resources
- Press Release (doc)
- Case Study (pdf)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACTS:
Alven Weil,
Premier Inc.
Alven_weil@premierinc.com
704.733.5797
-or-
Nick DeDominicis,
Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange
888.688.3332×7
Ingalls Health System achieves green energy savings, reduces carbon footprint
Takes step to go beyond state-mandated renewable energy requirement; Premier
healthcare alliance SPHERE collaborative to reduce
healthcare’s $8 billion
annual energy costs
and greenhouse gas emissions
Charlotte, N.C. (October 2, 2008) – Ingalls Health System has taken a
significant step towards reducing its carbon footprint, achieving an estimated
3,433-ton reduction of carbon dioxide, a significant greenhouse gas, from the
purchase of 5 percent of its electricity from renewable, or “green,” energy
sources. Ingalls also realized an $840,000 savings on its purchase of renewable
electricity and natural gas.
The Chicago-based Ingalls achieved these savings as part of the Premier
healthcare alliance’s SPHERE collaborative, which focuses on reducing the
healthcare industry’s energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
Healthcare ranks as the country’s second most energy intensive industry,
spending more than $6.5 billion each year while experiencing double-digit cost
increases. According to the EPA, 30 percent – or $1.95 billion – of the
healthcare industry’s energy usage could be reduced without sacrificing quality
of care through the use of renewable energy sources, such as solar,
hydroelectric and wind power.
Ingalls was able to realize significant savings on its purchase of both
renewable and traditional electricity, as well as natural gas, through
participation in an industry first, large-scale, Web-based reverse auction
focusing on renewable energy.
With the roles of the buyer and seller being reversed, the reverse auction
establishes competition among energy suppliers who bid downward against one
another in real time to reduce the price of energy. This enables hospitals to
lock in more stable pricing and use the savings to increase their percentage of
green energy purchases.
“Through the reverse auction process we were able to include electric energy
produced from renewable resources in our purchase and do so at a cost
competitive level with conventionally-produced electricity,” said Harold
Richards, Ingalls’ director of Materials Management. “This is an important
objective of our overall strategy for reducing our carbon footprint and making a
positive contribution to public health.”
The auction was led by Premier, in collaboration with Practice Greenhealth and
its Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange (HCEE).
HCEE Director Nick DeDominicis observed that “a reverse auction goes a long way
toward achieving the goals of Premier and Practice Greenhealth: to help
hospitals cost-effectively lock in stable pricing and increase their percentage
of green/renewable energy purchases, thereby reducing greenhouse gases and the
negative health impacts of burning fossil fuels.”
Ingalls realized an estimated $375,000 savings in electricity over the life of
their 36-month contract and an estimated $460,000 natural gas savings over the
17-month contract, compared to a traditional paper-based procurement process and
their annual budget.
“We applaud Ingalls for proactively reducing its carbon footprint by
contributing to the use of renewable energy to improve the health of the
communities it serves,” said Premier Purchasing Partners President Mike Alkire.
“By participating in SPHERE, the savings our members achieve in energy use and
costs can be used to further improve the quality of care they provide their
patients.”
Purchase exceeds Illinois Renewable Portfolio Standard
Ingalls’ purchase of 5 percent of their energy from renewable sources goes
beyond the current Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) bill in Illinois, which
required utilities to supply 2 percent of their power from renewable energy
sources by June 2008, escalating to 25 percent by June 2025. Through SPHERE,
Ingalls will be one of the first healthcare facilities in Illinois to achieve 7
percent green by May 2009. This number will expand to 11 percent by the third
year of their electricity contract.
About the SPHERE collaborative
SPHERE – Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction (for the) Ecosystem –
builds on Premier’s award-winning environmental leadership program,
GreenHealthyTM, which includes the organization’s Environmentally Preferable
Purchasing program, as well as its internal employee-led, corporate-wide Yes to
Green program.
SPHERE will enable Premier members to support patient care and public health
through cost-effective, environmentally sensitive energy procurement, use and
management practices. It will also bring hospitals together to share best
practices and benchmark their energy use to positively impact climate change and
public health.
For more information regarding SPHERE, please visit
www.premierinc.com/sphere.
About Ingalls Health System
Serving south suburban Chicago, Ingalls Health System includes a 563-bed
hospital and a network of comprehensive outpatient centers that feature a full
array of high-tech diagnostic and treatment services and the area's only Urgent
Aid Centers for 24/7 access to minor emergency care. Ingalls Family Care Centers
and Urgent Aids are located in Tinley Park, Flossmoor, and a currently expanding
campus in Calumet City. Ingalls Health System also includes a Wellness Center in
Homewood, Same Day Surgery in Tinley Park, Ingalls Center for Outpatient
Rehabilitation in Calumet City and Ingalls Home Care & Hospice which provides
skilled nursing, support and therapy services throughout the area. For more
information, visit www.ingallshealthsystem.org.
About Practice Greenhealth
Practice Greenhealth is the nation’s leading membership and networking
organization for institutions in the healthcare community that have made a
commitment to sustainable, eco-friendly practices. Members include hospitals,
healthcare systems, businesses and other stakeholders engaged in the greening of
healthcare to improve the health of patients, staff and the environment.
Practice Greenhealth combines and builds on three powerful initiatives to
improve environmental performance in healthcare. It is the successor to
Hospitals for a Healthy Environment (H2E) that has joined forces with the Green
Guide for Healthcare (GGHC) and the Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange (HCEE) with
the combined goal of creating programs designed to improve environmental
performance in healthcare. For more information on Practice Greenhealth, visit
www.practicegreenhealth.org.
About Premier Inc., 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient
Serving more than 2,000 U.S. hospitals and 53,000-plus other healthcare sites,
the Premier healthcare alliance and its members are transforming healthcare
together. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier operates one of the leading
healthcare purchasing networks and the nation's most comprehensive repository of
hospital clinical and financial information. A subsidiary operates one of the
nation's largest policy-holder owned, hospital professional liability
risk-retention groups. A world leader in helping healthcare providers deliver
dramatic improvements in care, Premier is working with the United Kingdom's
National Health Service North West and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in San Diego, Premier
has offices in Charlotte, N.C., Philadelphia and Washington. For more
information, visit www.premierinc.com.
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