GE Healthcare - Surgery

In December 2006, GE Healthcare Surgery (GEHC – Surgery) completed a company re-lamping project in partnership with our local utility provider Rocky Mountain Power. By switching T12 lamps to T8 lamps, the company’s projected annual usage reduction is 621,787 kWh, a 52% and 62% kWh reduction over the previous year’s usage in building 2 and 1 respectively. Projected expenditure savings equate to $33,080 annually. Projected CO2 savings are 622 tons annually. These CO2 savings equate to not driving 1,332,178 miles or planting 244 acres of trees a year. The company spent $155,242 for the two-month project and was reimbursed $51,615 (~33% of the cost) by Rocky Mountain Power. Projected payback period for building 2 is 3.3 years and for building 1, 2.7 years.

GEHC – Surgery completed this re-lamping project through Rocky Mountain Power’s FinAnswer Express program (http://www.utahpower.net/Navigation/Navigation2806.html). Tara Kelly, a GEHC – Surgery employee, saw a monetary and environmental benefit in saving energy. Through research as to how to best save energy for the company, she came across the conservational FinAnswer Express program and presented it to company leadership. The company embraced the initiative. Through partial reimbursement for re-lamping, this program allows companies to reduce conventional energy-savings costs while also allowing the utility provider to reduce the need to bring coal-fired power plants on line.

GEHC – Surgery also shared this initiative with employees and local sister companies. The 2006 Environmental, Health, and Safety (EHS) Fair featured the re-lamping initiative as well as handouts as to how employees could save energy at home. The November 2006 monthly EHS billboard topic again highlighted the initiative and home energy savings programs. Local GE Energy and Capital EHS contacts were e-mailed FinAnswer Express details and information about GEHC – Surgery’s positive experience. GE accepted the initiative as a GE EHS Best Practice and listed the details of the initiative on the company EHS Best Practice web site. Finally, GEHC – Surgery and Rocky Mountain Power have initiated the possibility of doing a case study on the project for publication to GE and Rocky Mountain Power customers.

Having increased energy efficiency through conservational re-lamping, GEHC – Surgery also supports energy efficiency through clean, renewable wind energy. Since November 2004, GEHC – Surgery has purchased 900,000 kWh of wind-generated power through Rocky Mountain Power’s Blue Sky Quantity Savings program (http://www.utahpower.net/Article/Article22009.html). Subsequently, the company saves 900 tons of CO2 emissions annually, equivalent to not driving almost 2 million miles or planting 354 acres of trees, a year.

GEHC – Surgery has also shared this initiative with the community, employees, and local sister companies. The company participates in Rocky Mountain Power and the EPA’s green power partner lists (http://www.utahpower.net/Navigation/Navigation7726.html and http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/partners/fortune500.htm). The company accepted a Thank You ad in the Salt Lake Tribune (~200,000 reader circulation) and coordinated an article with the Park Record (~7,500 reader circulation). The company published an article on the intranet (received 1,500 hits and an average rating of “Great”) which included the Green Power Locator link http://www.epa.gov/greenpower/locator/index.htm. The 2006 EHS Fair and November 2006 monthly EHS billboard topic again highlighted the initiative as well as how employees could participate at home. The November 2006 company newsletter also highlighted the initiative. Local GE Energy and Capital sites received presentations about the initiative from GEHC – Surgery and, by March 2005, also joined the Blue Sky QS program. GE accepted the initiative as a GE Best Practice and listed the details of the initiative on the company EHS Best Practice web site. The three GE sites and Rocky Mountain Power did a case study on the project and publicized it to GE and Rocky Mountain Power customers. Finally, GEHC – Surgery applied for and was just awarded, out of 4,600 GE sites, eCO2 Star Certification for their strong greenhouse gas (GHG) management program from 2004 through 2005. Certification was for sites that drove an absolute emissions reduction of at least 5 percent. GEHC – Surgery’s Blue Sky QS program participation allowed us to reduce absolute emissions by 36.8%.