Tomah Health is meeting the health care needs of area residents while helping to protect the environment and reduce its carbon footprint.
Officials from Focus on Energy® presented Tomah Health officials with a $100,670 check Wednesday to help offset the nonprofit group’s investment in building infrastructure during construction of the new hospital which opened Oct. 2.
“Anything that we can do to reduce our carbon footprint we should be able to do that and it saves us money that we don’t have to pass along to our customers is always a win-win situation,” Tomah Health CEO Phil Stuart said of the efficiencies that included LED lighting with occupancy sensors to energy-efficient chillers, boilers, buildings and walls.
Stuart said hospital officials began planning for the energy savings in 2017 when meeting with building architects and construction firms and Focus on Energy® and its utilities, Alliant Energy and We Energies, to ensure that the 140,000 sq. ft. building was designed around current state-of-the-art energy efficiencies.
Originally formed by the Wisconsin Legislature in 1999 and funded by the Utility Public Benefits fund, Focus on Energy® delivers energy efficiency and renewable energy services for residential, business and renewable customers throughout the state.
Focus on Energy program manager Francisco Sayu said the combined energy efficiency measures built into the facility are expected, over their lifecycles to save 20,172,860-kilowatt hours of electricity and 359,720 therms of natural gas. He said that is enough energy to power 1,736 homes for a full year.
“It (Energy savings) is important because those resources will serve the community instead of going to the utilities,” Sayu said. “We partner with the utility and we know that revenues are important for them, but the most important thing is to serve the customers, and the customers can grow their business and serve the communities, so we are helping these customers to put their money to serve their mission instead of putting that money to pay utilities.”
Sayu worked with building architects and engineers to help identify energy efficient measures available for the new hospital. He said the efficiencies are expected to help the hospital see more than $108,000 in annual energy cost savings.
In 2001, the Department of Administration rolled out the Focus on Energy Program statewide. In partnership with consumers, utilities, businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental agencies, the programs help residents and businesses make smart energy choices. Focus on Energy has helped Wisconsin residents and businesses save more than $319 million and 2,191,607,052-kilowatt hours.