We’ve often joked about acronym bingo, what with all the BRBs, IMOs and OMGs, but have you heard of MUSH? Not the bowl full in Goodnight Moon, but Municipalities, Universities, Schools and Hospitals … that MUSH.

Turns out this is a pretty important category when it comes to energy, since we are large and use a lot. So if and when we do things to use less, it really counts across Toronto, Ontario, Canada and the world.

With that, the Energy Into Action Innovation Awards recognize these good deeds (and great projects like this, this, this, this and this). We are extremely proud to announce that UHN won #1 in the large MUSH category (technically, tied for #1 with the City of Mississauga, but who’s counting?).

Mike and I clutch the shiny new award from Energy Into Action. Thanks so much to Jana for nominating us. (L-R) Natalie McLauchlin (Alectra), Lisa Vanlint (UHN), Mike Kurz (UHN), Jana Jedlovska (Toronto Hydro), Michael Marchant (Toronto Hydro).

ready for a close up

This wasn’t just an awards presentation, it was an opportunity to learn, mix and mingle with all people and things energy conserving. As it took place the day before Halloween, there were plenty of costumes and candy.

Rockin’ the Lobster look

If you missed it, we got your back. You can find all of the presentations online. I particularly liked Paul Leitch’s take on energy efficiency amid changing government policy, showcasing the great GHG-busting work at University of Toronto.

Another favorite was Cara Clairman’s presentation on electric vehicle charging in condos and workplaces (EV, for more acronym bingo). We know that the switch from gas guzzlers to electric cars has already begun, though it could pick up the pace a little. Expanding charging stations takes care of a major barrier … range anxiety.

The other bigger barrier is knowledge. People don’t always get that the EV’s fewer moving parts means way less maintenance costs. Between that and saving on gas, that’s about 2K/year. Pretty good, even without government incentives. And if you want to drive without Global Warming Guilt (GWG) or Green House Gas Guilt (GHGG), EV’s are it. You can test drive them at Plug n Drive.

EV’s fewer moving parts means way less maintenance costs. Between maintenance and gas savings, that 2 K less/year.

My son is 4 years from getting a learner’s permit. I hope by that time, EVs will overtake gas engines. That will make me breathe easier, though teaching him to drive will not :).

-Lisa

Links to some of the reasons why

• Deep Lake Cooling
• BAS
• Fixing the accidental steam room
• Bickle Chiller
• All the energy and cost savings in 1 graph
• Green Team and Golden Light Switch
• This blog

Before we get going, a final shout for the Interhospital Waste Reduction Week Challenge. It’s neck-in-neck. If you work at UHN, Sinai, SickKids or Sunnybrook, give it a whirl before midnight on Friday, Nov 2. 

And now, back to our regularly scheduled program…

On the day after Halloween, most of us have had plenty of “fun-size” treats. What’s better than going door-to-door for candy? How about going unit-to-unit, collecting medical supplies to donate to communities in need? That’s what our fantastic team from Operation Green does every month.

Meghan and our UHN Volunteers collecting supplies

Nicole and Meghan, the new Operation Green Leads, are both medical students who volunteer from their already packed schedules to coordinate and collect supplies. This year, they worked with our friends from UHN Volunteer Resources and Transportation Department to get the largest haul yet! Over 50 boxes of still good supplies will stay out of landfill and go around the world to where they are really needed.

Nicole and Meghan also signed up several more departments onto their monthly collection schedule. If you work at UHN and want to start your own collection box in your unit, contact operationgreen@uhn.ca. They can help you set up a box and tell you what’s needed (or scroll down to see the wish list).

Next collection dates: 

• November 27th 2018
• December 18th 2018
• January 29th 2019
• February 26th 2019
• March 26th 2019
• April 30th 2019
• May 28th 2019

Here’s an idea of what they might need:

All 50 boxes have gone to Not Just Tourists, a great group that sends a suitcase of medical supplies with travelers already headed to these locations. By carrying an extra suitcase, these travelers become helpers, not just tourists (thus the name 🙂 ). You can help them pack bags, donate a suitcase, or volunteer to take a suitcase with you next time you travel. I’ve heard their packing parties are legendary!

Now isn’t that better than candy?

UHN had major representation at this year’s national CHES (Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society) conference, which was hosted in St. John’s Newfoundland (hence, the blog title). I was honoured to speak at the conference discussing some preliminary energy results of TGH’s new central cooling plant. I was lucky to share the stage with our former colleague, Chad Berndt, who was the mastermind behind the project. Chad is now working with the company that delivered the project, Enwave Energy Corp.

The presentation focused on the process of the project from initial data collection to approvals to design and construction to preliminary results. There was a heavy emphasis on data-based decision making as well as some of the key issues tackled by the new system, including:

• Energy cost stabilization
• Increased system capacity
• Improved system reliability
• Redundancy and resiliency of hospital cooling systems
• Reduction in CO2 emissions
• Simplification of building operation

Chiller Plant Renovation Project Process

You can read more about the technical information related to the project here. I would like to focus this blog on the huge energy and water savings that have been achieved. Check out the graphs below that show our utility consumption for our base case year, 2015, compared to data from summer 2018. On all three of the charts, you will notice a bump in May. There was an unusual heat wave very early in the year that required us to run chillers before the deep lake system was fully online. It is also important to point out that these charts are not weather corrected and, in fact, 2018 had 48% more cooling degree days compared to 2015. It follows that during a typical year, savings would be higher.

Electricity Peak Demand Savings:

Electricity Consumption Savings

Water Savings

These preliminary savings results suggest that the project is on the right track to outperforming the conservative estimates of $22M savings over the life of the project. I will post an update to the blog with final savings numbers upon the completion and approval of the final measurement and verification report.

What are people Saying?

The facilities operations team provided feedback on the project, including “the deep lake is rockin” and given the extreme heat, “the system really saved us this summer.” Even senior management took notice:

This past Monday I had the pleasure of participating in “Food on the Public Plate: Lessons from Canada, US and Denmark”, an event put on by Nourish and hosted by the MaRS Solutions Lab.

It was a chance to share the work UHN’s Energy & Environment Team has done looking into local food at UHN, assessing hospital readiness for climate change’s impact on food, as well as some of the existing and planned gardens we have.

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