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Energy efficiency can enhance human health by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving outdoor air quality and decreasing acid rain. The energy needed to run commercial and industrial buildings in the United States produces 19 percent of U.S. carbon dioxide emissions, 12 percent of nitrogen oxides, and 25 percent of sulfur dioxide, at a cost of $110 billion a year.
The health care sector is in need of cost-effective solutions to address the rising cost of energy and the health implications of energy use. Once a facility has developed an energy baseline by tracking and measuring its… Read More
Type: Resources
Each year, Practice Greenhealth collects and reviews comprehensive sustainability data from hospitals that report through the Environmental Excellence Awards. We provide the sector’s best sustainability performance benchmarking data to hospitals and health systems working to integrate sustainability into their mission, and to the health care supply chain partners that are integral to this work. This is the 14th report in a series stretching back to 2009. This report lays out sustainability performance data for 2022 collected through the 2023 Environmental Excellence Awards.
The 370… Read More
Type: Resources
(Less waste toolkit) Hospitals are pouring, burying, burning and cooking garbage made up of plastics, chemicals, paper, food, needles, packaging and lots of electronic equipment. With rising waste removal fees, beach wash-ups, medical waste incinerators identified as a major source of mercury in the environment and the Associated Press’ recent investigation on pharmaceutical waste in the country’s drinking water, it’s undeniable that “away” is a rotary that loops right back to where we started. Steps hospitals take to make less “stuff” can reduce dollars thrown in the trash and help to… Read More
Type: Resources
Practice Greenhealth’s Healthy Interiors goal promotes public and environmental health and helps accelerate the transformation of the furnishings market to safer products.
What is Practice Greenhealth’s Healthy Interiors goal?
Ensure that 30% of the annual volume of furnishings and furniture purchases (based on cost) eliminate the use of formaldehyde, perfluorinated compounds, polyvinyl chloride (PVC), antimicrobials*, and all flame retardants**.
When chemical flame retardants are necessary to meet code requirements, use chemicals that meet GreenScreen Benchmark 3 or 4 or… Read More
Type: Resources
A total cost of ownership and Sustainable Health in Procurement Project case study
Name of facility, location
Mayo Clinic
Rochester, Minnesota
Highlights
The Mayo Clinic had a fleet of over 1,000 lab freezers that use as much energy as about 1,000 homes.
They standardized purchasing practices for their fleet of ultra-cold lab freezers to buy more energy-efficient models.
By selecting the most energy-efficient model, rather than the lowest price, they will achieve a 60% energy-use reduction and long-term savings of more than $6 million over 10 years.
Ultra-cold laboratory freezers… Read More
Type: Resources
Hospitals and health systems around the world are investing in clean, renewable energy to protect the health of their patients and communities, attract and retain top-tier talent, increase the resilience of their operations to disasters, and reduce energy costs and price volatility. Combining renewable energy with electricity storage can help hospitals remain operational during extreme weather or other disruptions to the electric grid.
According to the EPA, renewable energy includes resources that rely on fuel sources that restore themselves over short periods of time and do not diminish.… Read More
Type: Resources
For hospitals unable to access any of the recommended certifications for a valued workforce, Health Care Without Harm and Practice Greenhealth have created a list of questions to ask food suppliers. Although these questions are most appropriate for direct purchases, we encourage you to consider how they might apply to distributors and other intermediaries.
Learn more about ethical food purchasing and health care's role in protecting workers
General
How do you incorporate the concerns of your farmworkers into your practices and policies?
What steps are you currently building into your… Read More
Type: Resources
In the operating room, the stakes are high and moments count. Great measures are taken to prevent bad outcomes. At the same time, the most recent and conservative Practice Greenhealth (PGH) estimate places annual hospital waste at 5.9 million tons per year in the United States alone. Perioperative services is the single largest clinical generator of trash in all of health care, responsible for upwards of 30% of hospital waste, and making the operating room a critical target for sustainability efforts. Surgeon, Anesthesiologist, and OR Nurse decision making play primary roles in resource… Read More
Type: Resources
The governance structure of the Environmental Impact & Sustainability program extends from the executive Steering Committee to Green Teams at each site of care in order to create a continuum of engagement for Ascension associates.
Type: Resources
Please consider tthese environmental questions for the RFP/RFI for mattresses. These questions also apply to overlays, therapeutic surfaces, critical care beds, low beds, medical/surgical beds, and bariatric beds.
Type: Resources
Join Practice Greenhealth
Practice Greenhealth is the health care sector’s go-to source for information, tools, data, resources, and expert technical support on sustainability initiatives that help hospitals and health systems meet their health, financial, and community goals.
Who We Are
Practice Greenhealth is the leading sustainable health care organization, delivering environmental solutions to more than 1,700 hospitals and health systems in the United States and Canada. Partnership opportunities include hospitals, health systems, community health organizations, NGOs, nonprofits, government, academic institutions, and the health care value chain.