UC DAVIS HEALTH SYSTEM
SUSTAINABILITY PROGRAM
UPDATE: OCTOBER 2013
JOHN DANBY, SUSTAINABILITY ADMINISTRATOR
A monthly review of the variety of sustainability issues and initiatives being pursued at the UC Davis
Health System follows. The links below are active.
GREEN BUILDING/CLEAN ENERGY
FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICES
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SMUD Savings by Design program
Benchmark-based Energy Performance
New Energy Consultant
Davis PCN Lighting Efficiency
Lighting Retrofit Pilot Projects
Central Plant Lighting Project
Parking Structure Lighting Retrofits
Cafeteria Lamp Replacement
Wash Bay Lighting Retrofit
SMUD Incentive Program
Title 24 Updates
Policy 1615 Revision
SUSTAINABLE WATER SYSTEMS
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Sustainability IT Steering Committee
Data Center Energy Efficiency
Replacement of CRAC Units
IT Efficiency Pilot at Broadway
MedShare Partnership
Reprocessing of SUDs
Waste Diversion Program Staffing
Compactor for Recycling
Red Bag Waste Reduction
Linen Initiatives
GENERAL ISSUES
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CLIMATE ACTION PLAN
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Sustainable Water Systems Work Group
UCDMC Water Action Plan
Water Use Metrics for Medical Centers
WASTE REDUCTION
IT ENERGY EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES
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Kitchen Waste Management
Compostable Ware Issues
Climate Action Plan Revision
Campus Energy Conservation Challenge
LEED EBOM
Strategy 7.5
Healthier Hospitals Initiative
TRANSPORTATION
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Alternative Transportation Coordinator
Transportation Survey
GREEN BUILDING/CLEAN ENERGY
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I’ve arranged a meeting to introduce FD&C Project Managers to the SMUD Savings By Design
Program. SbD provides support in incorporating energy efficient equipment and processes into
the design of new buildings and building renovations. Rebate incentives for a project can be as
high as $150,000. A wide array of projects could be SbD targets, including North Addition,
Translational Science, ASB School of Nursing Remodel, and perhaps smaller, unit-specific
remodel projects.
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UCOP and the California Institute for Energy and Environment, in support of the UC/CSU Energy
Efficiency Partnership Program, have developed Benchmark-based Energy Performance
Targets for UC Buildings. The unique energy attributes of healthcare facility have, in theory,
been incorporated into this program. Joel Swift and I, along with other FD&C personnel, will
attend the January 28 workshop at UC Merced.
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Sustainability Update – October 2013
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FD&C has retained Jim Doolittle as Energy Consultant. Jim will provide expertise in the design
of energy efficiency initiatives throughout the Health System.
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Facilities Planning has initiated a retrofit program to improve lighting efficiency at the Davis
PCN clinic. This effort follows last year’s successful retrofit of the HVAC and energy
infrastructure at the facility, which yielded a $38,000 rebate from PG&E via the Strategic Energy
Partnership Program. Ken Waller, with support of lighting equipment vendor Rexel, has initiated a
trial of proposed lighting upgrades in office and clinical areas as a precursor to the facility-wide
changeout.
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At the direction of Mike Boyd, Joel Swift and the Lighting Efficiency Work Group, with the support
of Energy Consultant Jim Doolittle, will be evaluating locations for lighting retrofit pilot projects.
The Broadway Building has been selected as a pilot site for administrative operations, and the
Cardiology Clinic in ACC is the likely candidate for clinical operations. The group will evaluate the
Broadway Building on November 7th.
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Lighting equipment supplier Rexel has developed proposed approaches to retrofitting the
expensive and inefficient High Intensity Discharge fixtures at the Central Plant with LEDs and
occupancy sensors. Given the 24/7 operation of the Plant, lighting efficiency can yield significant
benefits. A team will be evaluating the proposed options on November 7th.
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Energy Consultant Doolittle, supplier Rexel, and the work group will be evaluating options for
upgrading the lighting systems in Parking Structures I and II in order to prepare Statements
of Probable Costs in advance of soliciting RFQs. The parking structures are currently illuminated
24/7 with inefficient fixtures, so a retrofit to contemporary LEDs with occupancy sensors should
yield a payback of less than three years. It’s anticipated that a SMUD rebate will pay for 30% of
the project cost.
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A project has been initiated to replace the inefficient halogen MR-16 lamps in the SESP
cafeteria and other first floor locations with LED MR-16s. The halogen lamps have a short life,
requiring frequent maintenance. In addition, the LED MR-16s use only 10 watts of power,
compared to 50 watts for the halogens, creating a significant energy savings in this 24/7
environment. It’s anticipated that a SMUD rebate will pay for 30% of the project cost, yielding an
ROI of 0.6 years.
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A lighting retrofit program has been completed in the Wash Bays at Fleet Services. The existing
lights were very inefficient and were fully illuminated 24/7. New LED fixtures with occupancy
sensors reduced electricity use by approximately 95 percent. A SMUD rebate paid for 30 percent
of the $8600 project cost.
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SMUD is very willing to work with us on energy efficiency projects and rebates. Note that lighting
rebates are capped at 30 percent of project cost. Potential rebates for the projects listed above
were well above 30 perfect, but subject to the SMUD cap.
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SMUD and Leviton/Rexel are sponsoring a seminar which will explore the lighting-related
requirements associated with the new revisions to Title 24 (go into effect January 1). Nancy
Gordon and I will be in attendance.
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A work group, led by Joel Swift, has been formed to direct the revision of Policy 1615, Energy
Management and Conservation. A working draft is near completion, but the document will drive
the development of design specifications that address energy efficiency. The new policy will
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Sustainability Update – October 2013
address some items that may prove controversial, as the emphasis on plug load reduction will
drive a prohibition on personal heaters and mini-fridges.
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IT ENERGY EFFICIENCY INITIATIVES
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IT’s Amy Panoushek has established the Sustainability IT Steering Committee, which includes
supervisors and managers responsible for a wide range of IT activities, and, therefore, energy
efficiency opportunities. I also sit on the Committee.
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I brought in SMUD’s energy advisors to the Committee’s second meeting earlier this month. One
of the advisors focuses on data center efficiency, which led to wide-ranging discussions on
potential opportunities.
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The SMUD advisors were invited to tour the data center in ASB in order to provide
recommendations for both the existing operations, as well as the proposed data center expansion.
Hot Isle Containment and CRAC chimneys suggest a potential for significant energy savings and
thus proved to be projects of great interest to IT; SMUD incentives will be requested to support the
pursuit of such projects.
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Two CRAC (computer room air conditioning) units are failing and will be replaced early next
year. It is expected that the significant improvement in energy efficiency of the new units will
qualify for a SMUD rebate, which is currently being investigated.
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The Committee identified the Broadway Building as a potential pilot for IT energy efficiency
efforts, largely because the building has been on SMUD meter for many years (yielding energy
use history) and there are a number of data- and printer-intensive operations at the location. Amy
will participate in the Broadway tour on November 7th.
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CLIMATE PROTECTION PRACTICES
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The UCD Climate Action Plan, which includes the Health System, is in the early stages of
revision, associated with the updating of the UCD Long Range Development Plan. Mike Boyd
appointed an ad hoc work group to provide support to the UCD Environmental Stewardship and
Sustainability office, which is the home of the CAP. For now, I will be the liaison to primary author
Camille Kirk.
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Once the UCDHS Utility Master Plan is released in final form, the ad hoc CAP work group will
evaluate the impact of its recommendations on our climate action goals.
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TRANSPORTATION
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Newly hired Sarah Janus is hard at work updating our Transportation Demand Management
Plan, as well as facilitating the improvement of the alternative commute options. More details
will be available in the minutes of the October meeting of the Sustainability Subcommittee, but one
very obvious improvement in our alternative transportation program is the significant increase in
the subsidies available for use of public transit.
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The Climate Action Plan, discussed above, depends on good information on staff commute modes
to inform Scope 3 emissions impacts. Such information typically is obtained via transportation
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Sustainability Update – October 2013
surveys. Camille Kirk and I arranged a meeting between UCDHS Parking and Transportation
Services (Duane Hicks and Sarah Janus) and the UCD Institute for Transportation Studies. ITS
has performed high quality transportation surveys for campus for several years, so it seemed
natural to see what ITS could do for the Health System. The meeting had a successful outcome,
as Duane will contract with ITS to perform the upcoming transportation survey.
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FOOD AND NUTRITION SERVICES
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Chamayo Yniguez and I have been working to improve waste management in the main
kitchen, where inconsistent practices send much compostable and recyclable waste to the trash.
A meeting is planned with Danny Vorasaph to assess the feasibility of assigning an InAlliance staff
member to specific waste management processes.
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Chamayo and I met with representatives from Republic Services and CleanWorld to discuss the
management of compostable waste. CleanWorld operates a biodigester which produces
biogas that can be used in Republic’s new CNG trucks. While CleanWorld is very interested in
food waste, and perhaps in the waste stream which now goes to the pulper, compostable
serveware is not used in their process. Republic reports that very few waste facilities in the area
are willing to use compostable ware in their composting programs. This means that the expensive
compostable ware could be going to landfill, which could mean an end to our compostable ware
program. Options are being investigated.
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SUSTAINABLE WATER SYSTEMS
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The Sustainable Water Systems Work Group has met twice, most recently to review options in
specific areas for reducing water use. One of the challenges is to determine which buildings are
metered separately, then determine use patterns associated with changes in facility utilization.
We will also try to leverage water savings that have come about via process improvement in the
10+ years since the water use baseline was established.
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Our Water Action Plan is due to UCOP on December 31. It is not likely that our WAP will be
complete by that time, but a solid working draft should be available. I will soon send out
assignments to work group members, and will begin working up a first draft based on available
information.
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UCOP has yet to agree on a metric useful for measuring water use at the medical centers. The
campuses use a “weighted campus user”, which seems to be well accepted. The UC group
grabbed on to Adjusted Patient Day for medical centers, which makes sense for some locations
but not for those of us with a substantial amount of non-patient care related activities. I’ve been
advocating the use of Average Daily Population, and others have suggested a hybrid between
ADP and APD. Discussions continue.
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WASTE REDUCTION
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The MedShare program is moving forward, with weekly pickups at the warehouse to collect the
materials returned from the PHS exchange cart stocking process. To date, operations at the
hospital have largely consisted of clean outs of periop storage. Regular collection in periop and
the ED is, at this time, hit and miss, but the ED’s Ann Bennett has started to push out information
on the program to ED staffers. Children’s Surgery has requested a collection drum. TICON I is in
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Sustainability Update – October 2013
the process of a surplus supply cleanout, and will initiate a regular collection pickup. Several
acute care units have expressed interest, but there are challenges in establishing a collection
process. What the program really needs is unit-based champions, but those have been hard to
come by to date.
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Although both of our reprocessing vendors have seen some staff turnover, our program for the
reprocessing of single-use medical devices is doing well. Reprocessing savings for first
quarter 13-14 approached $100,000, with 3,500 pounds of devices diverted from the red bag
waste stream. In an apparent change of direction, Stryker Sustainability reportedly will only collect
device lines that we will repurchase; previously Stryker would collect anything that they were
licensed to reprocess.
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A new cart tipper and self-contained compactor has been purchased with Worker
Compensation funds to resolve the safety risk associated with EVS staff manually transferring
recyclable materials from toters to the dumpster. As the Back Dock is OSHPD territory, planning
for installation is no easy task. As the assigned Project Manager has too much on his plate, I’ve
been strongly advocating for a work around to get this thing installed. It now appears that Mike
Mosca will handle the electrical side of things, and contractor Will Davis will manage the project.
I’m hoping it’ll be up and running for New Year’s. Yes, I’m hopeful. Note also that with the
compactor, we’ll get rebates for recyclables instead paying for processing from dumpster
collection. Win-win.
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EVS is supporting a survey in acute care areas to determine the number of red bag and regular
waste containers. This is an essential first step in reducing red bag waste generation. Next
step will be to develop a comprehensive list for items to show appropriate disposal and have it
vetted and approved by Infection Prevention. Danny Vorasaph and I will be presenting on red bag
waste reduction at PCS Council sometime soon.
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Graduate Student Researcher Joanne Brasch is helping us make good progress with linen
initiatives. The ScrubEx vending machines have begun a trial in the Main OR; these are
designed to prevent scrubs from “walking away”. The reusable pillow program has seen many
areas of success and good cost savings. The program to reduce bed linen changes has been
embraced in most patient care settings, leading to significant cost savings.
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GENERAL ISSUES
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Representatives from campus (Allen Doyle, Josh Morejohn, Sid England, Allen Tollefson) visited
to present on the Campus Energy Conservation Challenge, as well as on Green Office and
Green Building efforts at UCD. CECC is interesting, but would be difficult to implement at the Med
Center, as we have so few metered buildings from which build a historical energy use benchmark.
Additionally, several elements are supported by students and/or courses at campus, resources
which we lack at the Med Center. There are good ideas here, which will likely be integrated into
our processes.
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Interest in LEED Existing Building Operations and Maintenance (EBOM) has been indicated in
a variety of meetings, but it’s understood that this is a big undertaking. The UCOP Sustainable
Practices Policy requires the certification of campus wide EBOM credits by July 2013, but I believe
this has been pushed to July 2014. Campus wide credits would be very useful for LEED New
Construction as well as EBOM, but there’s lots of work involved, and few people available to
participate.
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Sustainability Update – October 2013
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I’ve been trying to figure out what has happened with Strategy 7.5, Environmental Stewardship
and Sustainability, as it seems to have vanished after the second year of the Strategic Plan.
There’s an opinion that it has been blended into the Sustainability Subcommittee, but 7.5 was
active while the SusSubComm tends to be passive, just a “reporting in” body. I’ve discussed this
with Leslie Moore and Mike Boyd, and neither had many insights on the fate of 7.5. However,
Mike has a concept by which sustainability initiatives can be initiated and promoted. I’ll report on it
when it comes to fruition.
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The Healthier Hospital Initiative is stagnating somewhat, as the recent surge in interest in
energy efficiency and the development of the water action plan have left me with little time to
pursue this.
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Questions can be directed to John Danby at sustainability@ucdmc.ucdavis.edu.
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