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SVH goes green with CEC loan

A desire to green the facility, paired with an innovative funding strategy, has launched a new campaign to save financial resources, and greenhouse gases, at Sonoma Valley Hospital.

Last month, the campaign officially began, with the first of three projects: the replacement of 1,645 florescent light fixtures throughout the hospital with more efficient models. The move will not only provide uniform lighting for patients and staff, but will also save 146 tons of greenhouse gases every year.

“We have the most efficient lamps available,” said Norman Gilroy, a longtime hospital supporter who is spearheading the project. “The lighting retrofits will pay for themselves … all out of money that would be spent anyway on the purchase of power if nothing had been done.”

Even better, the upgrades will save the hospital money. While the lighting retrofit cost $30,000, Sonoma Valley Health Care District board Chair Peter Hohorst said, “We’ll basically save $10,000 a year in electricity (on lighting), and we have 15 years to pay it back. You do the math.”

Three years ago, in an effort to find ways to upgrade the dated facility with minimal impact on the hospital’s bottom line, Gilroy began searching for funding options. With a long career in land rights, construction and architecture, Gilroy has the unique expertise to understand the special needs of the hospital.

“It’s a question of knowing what you need and finding opportunities,” he said.

The California Energy Commission received $314.5 million in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act specifically for programs that help homeowners and businesses decrease their energy consumption. While not directly designed for hospitals, Gilroy saw an opportunity in the 1-percent-interest loans the CEC was offering to upgrade existing buildings with energy efficient improvements.

“You pay it back with money you would otherwise be paying for energy costs,” Gilroy said.

Gilroy explained that, working with hospital officials, he went through the facility to find areas where the money saved on energy costs would cover the cost of the loan. He identified three areas with potential savings: overhauling the lighting system, upgrades to the hospital’s computer system and changes to the air handlers. The hospital received a $476,000 loan from the CEC to implement these projects.

“It doesn’t cost the hospital anything, ultimately, but you get all of the energy savings,” Gilroy said, explaining that the improvements will pay for themselves inside of 11 years, plus PG&E offers energy savings incentives that will cover any additional costs.

The lighting retrofit was completed in January and the hospital is now focused on installing 97 new computer workstations along with two new servers. The upgrades will save the hospital an estimated $10,000 a year in energy costs, not to mention improving equipment for staff.

“I am told that some of the workstations they replaced dated so far back that some of them still used DOS as an operating system,” Gilroy said.

Hohorst added, “We had been planning on replacing them anyway, but now we get $100,000 to do it.”

Next up, Gilroy said the hospital would reduce the use of the oldest air handler in the hospital, which provides filtration to the two operating rooms. Two new, freestanding air handlers will be installed to cover the operating rooms, taking pressure off the existing air handler.

“Working conditions are way better for the surgeons and staff in the ORs, and the potential of equipment failure in such a key location is greatly reduced,” Gilroy said. “And we save energy in the process.”

Gilroy said there is even more potential for the hospital to benefit from CEC loans when it comes to the new building being constructed in the west parking lot to house the emergency room and new operating suites, and to bring the facility into seismic compliance. He is still analyzing the specific savings that the hospital could reap, but expects the facility will seek a loan between $1 million and $1.2 million to upgrade the central utility plant, including energy efficient boilers and air circulating systems.

Hohorst said active volunteers such as Gilroy are critical to the hospital’s success.

“For this project, he (Gilroy) wrote a document that was this thick,” Hohorst said, holding his fingers a full inch apart. “Norman (Gilroy) is wonderful. He’ll chase things down (about which) other people say, ‘There’s no way in hell.’”