Overview
St. Michael’s Hospital (SMH) has been positioned as a leader in energy conservation and green strategies through its success of sustainability projects and initiatives. We strive as a healthcare facility to continuously work to reduce our ecological footprint. The hospital has incorporated and implemented numerous green initiatives, which drive efficiency and sustainability, resulting in saved resources and providing a safe, resilient environment for our patients. SMH has been recognized nationally for being environmentally conscious and a green organization,. We are motivated to continue our strategic energy planning; increasing awareness of environmental impact, establishing cost savings, managing disposal of waste , demonstrating leadership in energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction, and most importantly contributing to a healthy community.
The engineering and plant services department has taken the lead across all three sites of Unity Health Toronto (SMH, Providence Health Centre & St. Joseph’s Healthcare) to strive for more energy-efficient practices. Manager of Project Engineering Katelyn Marie Poyntz undertook the responsibility of hosting a monthly greening meeting with environmental services across the sites, along with Dr. Syed Ali Akbar Abbass, chief of environmental stewardship and sustainability. These meetings provide an opportunity to look at the current state of practices and resources, verify energy consumption data month to month, and review progress of environmental strategies and initiatives.
A full time energy project manager was brought on board in February 2019 to act as a dedicated resource to focus on energy efficiency and sustainability initiatives. Part of this role is to develop an energy management plan in order to successfully achieve an annual energy savings target. The annual target for the current year is 2.0 million equivalent kilo-watt hours (ekWh), which is approximately 1 percent of the network’s energy consumption. This KPI will also be reported on in the corporate scorecard in order to bring visibility and awareness to the executive team (see attached document).
Bringing the various teams together, we are providing a platform for operations, engineering, and environmental services to determine the root causes for energy consumption going up or down and proactively analyzing utility consumption. Having all three sites together results in a collaborative approach of sharing and leveraging knowledge, driving a positive effect across communities and Toronto. Providence Health Care is part of the OpSaver program through Toronto Hydro (local electricity distributor) and hosts monthly energy meetings with their facilities team to review utilities consumption and on-going energy management projects; updates to boiler plant controls, retrofitting existing lighting to LEDs.
Knowledge transfer and communication is key to driving change and innovation. St. Michael’s hospital is an active member of Greening Healthcare and Partners for Project Green, which allows the organization to stay up to date on strategies and new technologies that enable energy savings and reduced utility costs, and it also allows for us to compare energy and water usage with other hospital facilities, and share industry knowledge and best practice. With two other sites under the same umbrella, it allows the entire network to positively change and challenge stakeholders and employees to actively reduce our carbon footprint.
The Greening webpage (http://www.stmichaelshospital.com/about/greening/) was developed by the engineering and facilities, outlining the organization’s environmental stewardship, green-friendly practices, and what we are doing to minimize our impact on the environment. We were the first hospital to participate in the Toronto’s WaterSaver Program. For every liter saved, we received a 30 cent rebate. SMH followed through with this initiative by reusing water to cool MRI machines.
Energy savings achieved since 2014 is approximately $810,000 in consumption savings and 15.4 million ekWH. SMH’s recycling program turned waste from two former buildings into reusable or recyclable material, which was in turn used as part of the new development construction as road base, landscaping, or erosion control material, or sold as clean aggregate. 96 percent of 14,041 metric tons of waste are being reused on site or recycled from 2016.
Having been awarded the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care Green Hospital of the Year award for both 2016 and 2017, outranking 54 other organizations, St. Michael Hospital continues to take care of the community that we are a part of. SMH has initiated various green initiative and sustainable programs including a water management group and a comprehensive recycling program, leading to a healthier environment for our patients and community.
Greening Strategy Mission Statement: “St. Michael’s Hospital will, through its environmental stewardship practices, become a green leader among its peers by reducing its impact on the environment through promotion and establishment of green-friendly practices within the organization.”
In-House Participants
Emily Y. Huang, Energy Project Manager; Katelyn Marie Poyntz P.Eng, Manager, Project Engineering; Dr. Syed Ali Akbar Abbass, Chief, Environmental Stewardship and Sustainability
