ecomagination

Given their unique mission and 24/7 operation, hospitals are very heavy consumers of energy and water. Around the world, hospital executives face increasing financial, regulatory, and community pressures to decrease the environmental impact of their facilities.

GE is responding to this need with a program that brings together the breadth and depth of GE’s ecomagination capabilities and provides our customers with solutions that include on-site renewable power generation, high-efficiency lighting and electric distribution equipment, building management systems and water saving technologies. In addition to infrastructure products, GE offers a growing family of clinically state-of-the-art medical equipment — such as digital X-ray machines — that impact the environment less.

GE’s hospital solutions are designed to lower operating costs and help create a better experience for patients and staff. Hospitals in the U.S., Europe and Asia are already deploying GE ecomagination technology to capture these benefits.

There have been increasing efforts to develop highly efficient energy projects to support emissions reduction, one of which is the St. Marianna University School of Medicine Hospital. This hospital in Kawasaki, Kanagawa, near Tokyo, is a respected and long-standing center for community healthcare. When the hospital and university’s previous energy center began deteriorating with age, the hospital teamed up with Tokyo Gas Group and Kawasaki City to collaborate jointly on refurbishing the hospital’s on-site energy center. The new center began operations in February 2008 with the objectives of energy reliability, emissions savings and economic efficiency. So far, the center has achieved 14 percent primary energy savings and 24 percent less CO₂ emissions compared to previous operations.

The new center is powered by two of GE Energy’s Jenbacher Type 6 2,430 kW gas engines, fuelled using natural gas in a highly-efficient combined heat and power (CHP) application. These supply energy to the extensive hospital and university facilities encompassing 85,800 square meters. Exhaust heat from this power generating system is used to produce hot and cold water as well as steam. In recent years, there has been increasing attention focused on the efficiency of co-generation systems that produce electricity and heat simultaneously to be used for different purposes. This highly efficient energy project is an exemplary model for achieving the Kyoto Protocol’s greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.

Energy Advance Co., Ltd., a Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. subsidiary, manages and operates the Energy Center. This hospital has become an excellent example of collaboration between end-user corporations, solutions providers and national and local governments, successfully achieving energy and cost savings.