Industry: Healthcare
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Powering healthcare facilities with district energy
Hospital administrators have one key concern that drives all decision-making: how to provide the highest quality care to their patients cost-effectively and efficiently. In today’s challenging environment, hospital leadership is thinking of ways to reduce costs while maintaining high patient care and safety standards.
Unique energy demands require reliable, green solutions
It’s no secret that hospitals have unique energy needs. Given the critical care that hospitals and healthcare facilities provide, any disruption to energy delivery can have dire consequences.
In addition, hospitals serve patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Their operations depend on energy for heating, cooling, and, importantly, sterilization to ensure patient safety. These demanding energy needs mean that healthcare facilities consume nearly 10% of the total energy used in U.S. commercial buildings and spend more than $8 billion annually.
Many leading U.S. cities also have aggressive climate action goals. Hospitals typically have an energy use intensity nearly three times that of the average commercial building, so sustainable energy has become a non-negotiable requirement for hospitals and medical facilities that provide cutting-edge care.
How Vicinity can help
Today, lighting, space heating, and water heating represent about 65% of hospital energy use. Hospitals and healthcare facilities must have a reliable energy partner that provides continuous energy delivery while keeping costs low and reducing carbon emissions.
Vicinity currently serves nearly 28 million square feet of healthcare facility space in the U.S. By connecting to Vicinity’s district energy systems, healthcare teams have access to reliable, sustainable, and clean energy and are supported by a team of experts to ensure their property is always running smoothly and efficiently. Our specialists include experienced licensed engineers, operators, and financial professionals.
In Baltimore, leading healthcare providers at Mercy Medical Center have relied on Vicinity’s district energy system to power their critical care since 1963. One of the top hospitals in Baltimore, Maryland, Mercy Medical Center is renowned for excellence in primary care and specialty care in women’s health, cancer, digestive health, liver disease, and more. While Vicinity provides chilled water and steam for the hospital’s daily operations, Mercy can focus on fostering a community of compassionate care for their patients.
Robert Beckwith, vice president of support services and construction at Mercy Medical Center, offered his perspective on the partnership: “The steam and chilled water services that Vicinity Energy provides are crucial to the operational efficiency of our hospital and support our mission to provide excellent and compassionate clinical care to all citizens of Baltimore.”
Additionally, Vicinity has partnered with Oklahoma State University (OSU) to provide chilled water and steam service to a new medical campus. This project will combine multiple existing buildings into a state-of-the-art hospital. Vicinity will serve the entire 58-bed medical-surgical inpatient hospital for Oklahoma veterans, totaling over 275,000 square feet of building space. District energy will allow the medical campus to provide the highest level of care for Tulsa’s veteran population.
Vicinity’s long-term partnerships with healthcare institutions in Baltimore and beyond enable healthcare teams to focus on providing quality clinical care to patients.
How district energy supports optimal patient care
By relying on our energy experts to manage energy infrastructure and ensure an uninterrupted supply of service, healthcare providers can focus on what matters most: advancing human health and saving lives.
- Increased reliability and sustainability – District energy is safer and more sustainable than onsite chillers or boilers.
- Maximized critical space – District energy service eliminates the need for in-building boilers, chillers, and cooling towers so that healthcare facilities can free up space for life-saving equipment. Hospitals connected to district systems can make smart, economical use of all the space that would otherwise be dedicated to large, costly equipment.
- Optimized sterilization and humidification – The CDC recommends steam sanitation over conventional sanitation methods. Hospitals use our high-pressure steam for space humidification to support infection control and patient comfort. Our clean steam solutions provide proper air and comfort for healing, empowering hospital staff to provide patients with top-quality care.
- Uninterrupted energy supply – Healthcare facilities with existing onsite energy plants require experienced O&M experts to ensure that they are operating correctly, and that energy is supplied at all times. Proper O&M of energy infrastructure is essential to ensuring that healthcare facilities have the energy to operate 24/7.
Get started with district energy today to decarbonize your healthcare facilities and access reliable, uninterrupted service.
Powering Sustainable Futures
Powering Sustainable Futures
On this episode of the Claims Never Sleep podcast, Meghan and Jen chat with Vicinity Energy’s Director of Risk Management Rachel J. Thuerk.
About Claims Never Sleep podcast
Attorney and partner Meghan Henry, who also hosted a podcast, has joined Cruser Mitchell, and is launching a new podcast that delves into the world of Claims. With a wide range of guests from across the industry, the podcast learns about the claims process, through anecdotes from many perspectives of the insurance business.
Vicinity Energy Delivers eSteam™, First Carbon-Free Thermal Energy Solution in U.S.
Cambridge, November 20, 2024—Vicinity Energy, a decarbonization leader with the nation’s largest portfolio of district energy systems, announced the launch of eSteam™, the first carbon-free thermal energy solution in the United States. This milestone follows a swift two-year journey from concept to execution. Vicinity’s inaugural 42MW industrial-scale electric boiler is now operational at its Cambridge, MA, facility. This achievement underscores Vicinity’s Clean Energy Future commitment to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The electric boiler will enable Vicinity to deliver its award-winning carbon-free thermal energy product, eSteamTM, to its customers starting this heating season, marking a pivotal advancement in urban sustainability. Boston and Cambridge-based customers have partnered with Vicinity to use eSteam™ in their buildings as an immediate solution for reducing carbon emissions.
Vicinity will import renewable electricity through its co-located substations to power the electric boiler, generating carbon-free eSteam™. Leveraging its established underground steam network, Vicinity delivers eSteam™ directly to customers, enabling cost-effective compliance with performance standards, accelerating clean energy adoption and the broader energy transition.
“The delivery of eSteam™ marks a pivotal moment in advancing urban decarbonization,” said Kevin Hagerty, president and CEO of Vicinity Energy. “The strong interest we’ve received from customers underscores the growing and urgent need for carbon-free thermal energy. As we approach capacity, the enthusiasm of early adopters reaffirms that district energy electrification is not only a viable solution but also the most efficient and cost-effective pathway to decarbonize a city quickly.”
Vicinity is contracted to supply eSteam™ to leading organizations like Emerson College and life sciences leader IQHQ, emphasizing the unprecedented demand for carbon-free thermal energy in Boston and Cambridge. Their adoption of eSteamTM reflects its broad, transformative impact on industries focused on advancing sustainability goals.
“I grew up not too far from this location, and I have seen the transformation of this community from this site in particular, which is now going to reduce our neighborhood’s carbon footprint.” said Massachusetts State Senator Sal DiDomenico. “I want to thank Vicinity for choosing Cambridge, because we need to show the rest of the nation and the world that innovation is happening here in our great city. We are changing lives, and we’re doing work here that is not happening anywhere else in this country or the world.”
“The launch of eSteam™ marks a major step forward in our journey toward cleaner energy,” said Jennifer Lamy, associate director of sustainability at Emerson College. “Starting this semester, eSteamTM will begin heating campus buildings, and in the next several years, all of Emerson’s steam-heated buildings will be heated with carbon-free eSteamTM. Our use of eSteamTM will contribute significantly towards our goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.”
“This project is a terrific example of the leadership and vision of businesses seizing the opportunities of the clean energy transition,” said Brad Campbell, president and CEO of the Conservation Law Foundation. “The commercial heating and power sector has long been considered ‘hard to decarbonize,’ but Vicinity is showing it can be done with existing technology in a competitive environment.”
“We at the Environmental League of Massachusetts know that technological innovation can both tackle climate change and create opportunities for our communities,” said Elizabeth Turnbull Henry, president of the Environmental League of Massachusetts. “Vicinity’s commitment to decarbonization with the launch of eSteamTM is exactly the kind of leadership we need to build a resilient, sustainable future for generations to come.”
About Vicinity Energy
Vicinity Energy is the largest owner and operator of district energy systems dedicated to decarbonizing its operations and investing in innovative renewable thermal energy technologies to offer carbon-free eSteam™ to its customers. Operating 19 district energy systems in 12 cities, Vicinity delivers reliable and sustainable steam, hot water, and chilled water to 250 million square feet of building space nationwide. As Vicinity advances its electrification efforts across its locations, the goal to achieve net zero by 2050 is more than a commitment—it’s a mission. Learn more about Vicinity’s vision for a clean energy future at www.vicinityenergy.us.
Media Contact
media@vicinityenergy.us
