The Ottawa Hospital Energy Management Program

Abstract

ABSTRACT The Ottawa Hospital (TOH) began its energy reduction program in 1991 when it became one of the first hospitals to install a heat recovery heat exchanger for the boiler plant flue gases at the Civic campus. With the exchanger, sized to recover 12 MMBH, the Civic campus has accrued gas savings since that time. In 1996 an audit of the Civic campus lighting and steam traps was completed, and implementation of the recommendations to correct the failing steam traps and redesign several systems resulted in significant gas savings. In 1998, three hospitals—Civic, General, and Riverside—were amalgamated under the new name “The Ottawa Hospital,” with a total area of approximately 3M ft2. In 2001 an energy manager was hired, whose primary role was to review utilities billing, establish projects that flead to energy savings, and prepare for deregulation of the Ontario electricity market. TOH developed an energy savings goal of approximately $2.5M annually to upgrade the infrastructure. A request for proposal (RFP) was posted to secure an Energy Service Company (ESCO) partnership. The successful ESCO implemented $17M worth of upgrades to lighting, HVAC controls, building envelope improvements, and water saving measures. The savings associated with the partnership exceeded the goal of $2.5M and were fully guaranteed. The final contract included a measurement and verification (M&V) component between the parties that would confirm the savings based on the whole building approach.