Energy-saving improvements to Gundersen Lutheran-Decorah Clinic save $40,000 a year

Changes were made to this computer equipment room

The Gundersen Lutheran--Decorah Clinic was built five years ago.  Despite that fact, it was costing the clinic around $90,000 a year in energy costs.

Now a comprehensive review of building operations is resulting in savings of more than $40,000 a year in energy costs.  Gundersen Lutheran Executive Director of Efficiency Improvement Jeff Rich says Gundersen officials have discovered that recently built facilities have the biggest opportunities for energy savings. 

Rich says until recently architects have not been asked to design buildings with energy efficiency in mind.  "Nobody was doing anything wrong...(but) we became so numb" to energy costs, says Rich.  Now a new focus on energy conservation is paying benefits for Gundersen.

At Gundersen's Decorah clinic, one big energy saving measure involved isolating the room where computer equipment, including a data hub, was located.  The equipment needed to be in a room with a 50 degree temperature, to prevent the computer equipment from overheating.  But Gundersen officials were able to save energy for the entire clinic by adding an exhaust fan and isolating that fan from the system serving the rest of the building, meaning the rest of the building didn't have to operate in the same way as the computer room.

Gundersen officials also discovered they were wasting electricity during the hours the clinic wasn't open.  New "Night Watchman" software helped to power down lights, computers and other electrical loads during overnight hours and on weekends.  Hot water boilers in the clinic were scheduled to shut down during nights and weekends.

Interior lights were downsized and exterior lighting was reduced.

In all Gundersen has been able to save almost half of the money it had been spending on energy costs.  "This is not unusual," says Rich, who points to Gundersen's Prairie Du Chien clinic, where similar changes saved $35,000 a year.

The money not spent on energy costs helps to keep costs lower for Gundersen Lutheran and that helps patients as well.  Says Rich, "We can't waste health care dollars."

Hot water boilers were scheduled to shut down overnight and on weekends

Interior lighting was reduced, but still is adequate