Newswise — HACKENSACK, NJ – April 11, 2023 – This Earth Month, Hackensack University Medical Center is thrilled to announce the hospital's new Central Utility Plant was awarded the Performance Excellence in Electricity Renewal (PEER) Gold certification by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI). This project, designed in collaboration by RSC Architects and Page, with Concord Engineering Group, is the first medical center in the nation to certify at the Gold level, the first PEER-certified project in New Jersey, and the third medical project to be PEER-certified in the United States.
PEER is a metrics-based certification program that evaluates and verifies a power system’s performance across four performance categories – reliability and resiliency; energy efficiency and environment; operations, management, and safety; and grid services. Through certification, PEER recognizes and celebrates industry leaders who are improving their efficiency, day-to-day reliability, and overall resiliency. A PEER certification also signifies that a system is resilient in the face of disasters, reliable in its ability to meet every day needs, and sustainable in a way that prioritizes efficiency and mitigates the impacts of climate risk.
Hackensack University Medical Center’s 44,000 s.f. state-of-the-art Central Utility Plant includes:
- A 180,000-pound-per-hour boiler plant.
- A 12,000-ton chiller plant.
- A 7,500-kilowatt diesel generator plant.
As Mark D. Sparta, FACHE, President & Chief Hospital Executive, Hackensack University Medical Center and President, North Region, Hackensack Meridian Health notes, “Facilities like our Central Utility Plant really serve as the lifeline of our campus, and allow our world-class doctors and nurses to provide the life-saving services that our patients depend on. Achieving and receiving GBCI’s PEER certification validates the environmental resiliency and improvements this plant offers by enabling our hospital to provide advanced patient care and to serve our community when they need us most.”
Since its completion in June of 2020, Hackensack University Medical Center’s Central Utility Plant has achieved the following:
- A 50% reduction in chilled water pumping costs.
- A 75% reduction in cooling tower costs.
These cuts, along with the PEER Gold certification, aline with the Department of Health and Human Services emissions reduction and climate resilience goals for the health sector, which Hackensack Meridian Health committed to by signing this pledge. The objective of reducing emissions 50% by 2030 and be at net zero by 2050.
John P. Capazzi, AIA, President of RSC Architects, comments, “It’s been an honor to design such a vital piece of infrastructure that serves as the foundation for the hospital’s fundamental healthcare services. Achieving PEER Gold certification further solidifies the progressive stance that Hackensack Meridian Health takes when it comes to resiliency, and highlights the importance of integrating sustainable features into architecture early for the benefit of our communities.”
Modeled after LEED, PEER is the first rating system that measures and improves power system performance and electricity infrastructure. PEER encourages the adoption of reliable, resilient, and sustainable practices, and helps utilities solve aging infrastructure, find cost savings, share best practices, build for resiliency, and enhance tracking to determine and prevent failures.
As Peter Templeton, President and CEO of USGBC and GBCI notes, “Access to reliable, clean and affordable electricity is an essential component of quality of life. When power systems fail – lives are immediately interrupted and put at risk.” By achieving PEER certification, Hackensack University Medical Center is investing in the well-being of everyone who relies on their power system by providing reliable, sustainable service.”
Chiller & Boiler Room
ABOUT GREEN BUSINESS CERTIFICATION INC. (GBCI)
GBCI is the world’s leading sustainability and health certification and credentialing body. Established in 2008, GBCI exclusively administers project certifications and professional credentials and certificates within the framework of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating systems, as well as the PEER standard for power systems, the WELL Building Standard, the Sustainable SITES Initiative (SITES), EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies), TRUE certification for zero waste and Investor Confidence Project (ICP) for energy efficiency retrofits. Visit gbci.org.
ABOUT HACKENSACK UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
Hackensack University Medical Center, a 803-bed nonprofit teaching and research hospital, was Bergen County’s first hospital founded in 1888. It was also the first hospital in New Jersey and second in the nation to become a Magnet®-recognized hospital for nursing excellence, receiving its sixth consecutive designation from the American Nurses Credentialing Center. The academic flagship of the Hackensack Meridian Health network, Hackensack University Medical Center is Nationally-Ranked by U.S. News & World Report 2022-2023 in four specialties, more than any other hospital in New Jersey. The hospital is home to the state's only nationally-ranked Urology and Neurology & Neurosurgery programs, as well as the best Cardiology & Heart Surgery program. It also offers patients nationally-ranked Orthopedic care and one of the state’s premier Cancer Centers (John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center). Hackensack University Medical Center also ranked as High-Performing in conditions such as Acute Kidney Failure, Heart Attack (AMI), Heart Failure, Pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Diabetes and Stroke. As well as High Performing in procedures like Aortic Valve Surgery, Heart Bypass Surgery (CABG), Colon Cancer Surgery, Lung Cancer Surgery, Prostate Cancer Surgery, Hip Replacement and Knee Replacement. Named to Newsweek’s World’s Best Hospitals 2023 list, Hackensack University Medical Center is also the recipient of the 2023 Patient Safety Excellence Award™ by Healthgrades as well as an “A” Hospital Safety Grade from The Leapfrog Group in 2022. This award-winning care is provided on a campus that is home to facilities such as the Heart & Vascular Hospital; and the Sarkis and Siran Gabrellian Women’s and Children’s Pavilion, which houses the Donna A. Sanzari Women’s Hospital and the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital, ranked #1 in the state and top 20 in the Mid-Atlantic Region in the U.S. News & World Report’s 2022-23 Best Children’s Hospital Report. Additionally, the children’s nephrology program ranks in the top 50 in the United States. Hackensack University Medical Center is also home to the Deirdre Imus Environmental Health Center and is listed on the Green Guide’s list of Top 10 Green Hospitals in the U.S. Our comprehensive clinical research portfolio includes studies focused on precision medicine, translational medicine, immunotherapy, cell therapy, and vaccine development. The hospital has embarked on the largest healthcare expansion project ever approved by the state: Construction of the Helena Theurer Pavilion, a 530,000-sq.-ft., nine-story building, which began in 2019. A $714.2 million endeavor, the pavilion is one the largest healthcare capital projects in New Jersey and will house 24 state-of-the-art operating rooms with intraoperative MRI capability, 50 ICU beds, and 175 medical/surgical beds including a 50 room Musculoskeletal Institute.
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