An energy efficiency retrofit completed at Arnot Ogden Medical Center (AOMC) in Elmira, New York, will deliver nearly $9 million in energy and operational savings over the next 20 years and save the 256-bed facility an estimated $14.5 million in energy and operating costs over the life of the contract.

The 127-year-old facility had been expanded over the decades, resulting in a hodge-podge of building designs and disparate systems that didn’t work together. AOMC selected ABM’s Building & Energy Solutions Group to implement a comprehensive energy retrofit program with financing options that would allow the healthcare organization to leverage future savings to fund the project. The program, called the Bundled Energy Solutions program, packages infrastructure improvements, equipment upgrades, implementation and ongoing maintenance costs into a single turnkey project that produces guaranteed operational and energy savings.

After conducting a complete audit of AOMC’s building infrastructure and equipment needs using a standard Energy Star Scorecard to compare AOMC’s energy efficiency with similar buildings nationwide, ABM used the US Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) Technology Deployment Matrix to identify the energy conservation measures that would have the greatest impact on the hospital’s energy consumption.

The following upgrades were performed at AOMC:

- Outdated and unreliable boilers were replaced with new energy efficient boilers.

- Old and inefficient chillers were replaced with energy efficient chillers and automated controls.

- The outdated manual energy management system (EMS) was replaced with a new automated, web-based system that incorporates remote access from smart devices.

- Existing mechanical systems were repaired or replaced to increase efficiency, save energy and water, and avoid capital costs from unexpected failures and downtime.

- Building envelope repairs were performed, including weather stripping, window caulking and duct work to reduce the load on chillers and boilers.

- Outdated and inefficient electrical transformers were replaced with energy efficient transformers to reduce electricity waste.

- Mechanical equipment was retro-commissioned to reduce building operating costs.

- Power management tools were implemented for the hospital’s more than 4,800 personal computers to save energy, reduce plug loads and provide more cost-effective asset management.

The hospital is expected to reduce its annual energy use by about 20 percent and raise its Energy Star score from 21 to 70 out of 100. The retrofit will provide AOMC with guaranteed annual energy savings of $283,000 and annual operational savings of $164,000.

Anh Tuan