It is hard to imagine an institution more critical to public health and safety than a hospital. Unfortunately, hospitals are also vulnerable to the wide range of threats — floods, hurricanes, wildfires — that can cause electric power outages. The loss of power at a hospital, however, can be particularly catastrophic. In addition to the ordinary functions performed by electrical service such as lights, communications, and heating and cooling, hospitals also need electricity for critical functions, including life support systems such as ventilators and dialysis machines, emergency room equipment, and diagnostic equipment and monitoring systems for everything from heart monitors to oxygen delivery systems. The loss of power to these critical systems could be life threatening. Hospitals also often function as a focal center for the surrounding community during emergencies by providing shelter from the elements.
Hospitals not only have a more urgent need for electrical power than many other institutions, but they also use more power. Large hospitals account for less than 1% of all commercial buildings and 2% of commercial floor space, but they consume 4.3% of the total delivered energy used, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. And, despite energy efficiency inroads over the last two decades through the U.S. economy, hospital energy use is not declining. Nor is the overall carbon footprint of the industry.
Hospitals have high rates of energy consumption because they are open 24 hours a day, every day of the year, serving thousands of patients, employees and visitors who all require light, heat and cooling resources. In addition, hospitals also house many energy intensive activities such as laundry, food services and refrigeration as well as medical and lab equipment, sterilization machines, computers and servers, which also need energy to run. In general, hospitals use up to 2.5 times as much energy as commercial buildings of similar size.
Hospitals house many energy intensive activities such as laundry, food services and refrigeration as well as medical and lab equipment, sterilization machines, computers and servers, which also need energy to run.
Criticality and high use mean that hospitals have to take extra care to make sure they have reliable energy supplies. Regulators require hospitals to have some form of backup power, and they have more stringent and complex requirements for backup power than most commercial institutions. In short, hospitals must identify all loads whose failure can lead to patient injury or death, i.e., essential electrical systems, and back them up with a reliable source.
At the most basic level, hospitals must be able to provide essential electrical service to equipment whose loss would result in major injury or death —in addition to the direct supply of power to that equipment. Diesel generators are a common source of backup power but, as discussed earlier, they have several potential weaknesses, including limits on how much fuel can be stored on-site, potential fuel delivery issues, and the possibility that they will not perform when needed.
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