Premier launches initiative to reduce energy costs for healthcare industry

The Premier healthcare alliance has launched an initiative to address energy costs by increasing the use of renewable energy and reducing the industry's carbon footprint.

Premier's initiative, Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction for the Ecosystem (SPHERE), will work to reduce energy costs, overall energy use and greenhouse gases (GHG), while increasing the use of cleaner renewable energy.

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. Hospitals are the sector's largest energy consumer and producer of GHG.

"Reducing our carbon footprint and contributing to the use of renewable energy to improve the health of the communities we serve are goals we share with Premier," said Kenneth Ferron, vice president of administration at Covenant Health Systems, Inc., in Lexington, Mass. "By participating in Premier's energy initiative, the savings we achieve in energy use and costs will go directly to improvements in the quality of care."

Premier's initiative will use recognized experts and organizations in the environmental and energy field to share goals to bring best practices, solutions and programs to its members.

SPHERE will work to establish measurable targets to assist members with calculating, tracking, analyzing and benchmarking their energy use, GHG emissions/carbon footprint and energy costs.

"There is an urgent need for an intensified national healthcare-focused program to share expertise, tools and services," said Premier Safety Institute Vice President Gina Pugliese. "SPHERE will help hospitals measure their energy usage and carbon footprint, implement cost-effective strategies for reducing both energy usage and cost, and increase the use of clean and renewable energy."

SPHERE will also offer reverse-auction purchasing of lower cost energy to include cleaner and renewable energy through a partnership with Practice Greenhealth and their Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange. The healthcare-focused, Web-based, electronic energy auction will establish competition among energy suppliers to reduce prices of energy and environmental commodities (e.g., renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets), enabling hospitals to lock in more stable prices and increase their percentage of green/renewable energy purchases.

"Through collaboration in SPHERE, members of the Premier alliance will demonstrate their leadership and commitment to their communities as they effectively address the energy and climate crisis," said Premier Purchasing Partners President Mike Alkire. "SPHERE will save healthcare institutions money while decreasing healthcare's carbon footprint through measurable reductions in the amount of greenhouse gases and related illness and disease."

What is your healthcare organization doing to reduce energy costs? Send responses to molly.merill@medtechpublishing.com.