Targeting 100!

One day I stopped to think about how much energy the types of projects I work on consume. It turns out that Healthcare is the second most energy intensive building type in the country, accounting for almost 10% of all building energy use according the US Energy Information Administration. Looking out even further, that’s about 4% of all energy consumed in the United States today including energy for industry, transportation, and building infrastructure.  Could I do anything to help ease this massive burden?

When I came across a growing body of research by the University of Washington Integrated Design Lab that could help reduce energy use in hospitals, I knew that I had to share it. Begun several years ago as an interdisciplinary effort, it looked at how a number of overlapping techniques could contribute to lower energy usage and achieve a target: 100 kBtu per square foot per year.

This goal is a 60% energy use reduction from the current US average and it would fulfill the 2030 Challenge. Adopted by PAYETTE, the AIA and many other organizations, the challenge looks to reduce energy consumption incrementally over twenty years. The Targeting 100! research took contemporary European hospitals as a starting point, adapting their current “best” practice to present tools to achieve this here at home – in a practical, affordable way.

PAYETTE has already incorporated much of their research to help guide our projects to lower energy usage. I think the opportunity to share it here in Boston – with owners, engineers, utility providers and product manufacturers – will help us to make healthcare a little better for tomorrow.

Targeting 100!
Tuesday, October 9 | 5:15 pm | BSA Space (290 Congress Street, Boston) 
The BSA Healthcare Facilities Committee and the BSA Committee on the Environment, with generous support from PAYETTE, present a presentation and panel discussion at BSA Space (290 Congress Street, Boston): “Targeting 100!: How Healthcare Can Meet the 2030 Challenge.”

Speakers:
Joel Loveland, University of Washington—Integrated Design Lab Professor; Director, Integrated Design Lab
Heather Burpee, University of Washington—Integrated Design Lab, Research Assistant Professor, Health Design & Energy Efficiency
Panelists:
Hubert Murray FAIA, RIBA, Partners Healthcare Manager of Sustainable Initiatives
Carlos Alonso-Niemeyer, NStar Electric and Gas, Northeast Utilities Program manager—Energy Efficiency Services
Ben Shepherd, Atelier Ten—Environmental Design Consultants Associate Director
Moderator:
Michael Hinchcliffe AIA, PAYETTE Associate Principal

Free and open to the public; RSVP required. Please email rsvp@architects.org with “Targeting 100” in the subject line by October 5.

Related Links:
Targeting 100!: How Healthcare Can Meet the 2030 Challenge