Aged Care Energy Savings e-Book

Prepared by:

SMART Energy Services Pty Ltd
ACN 149 939 257

Level 4, 17-19 Bridge St
Sydney NSW 2000
Australia

July 2016 © Copyright

First Edition

This material is not to be reproduced in whole or in part for commercial use. Smart Energy Services Pty Ltd (Smartesco) has compiled this document in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. It does not accept responsibility for any inaccurate or incomplete information supplied by third parties. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. Smartesco is not be liable for any damage which may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. This toolkit was prepared by Smartesco using its experience, serving the industry and using industry materials including works produced by NSW Office of Environment and Heritage and others. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. This document is for informational purposes only. It is not intended as an offer or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any financial instrument or as an official confirmation of any transaction. All market prices, data and other information are not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and are subject to change without notice.

Letter from our Founder....................................................................................................................................................... 4

Energy Savings in Aged Care - An Overview................................................................................................................ 5

Health & Aged Care - Energy Efficiency Research...................................................................................................... 6

St Andrews Village - Case Study........................................................................................................................................ 12

Kaloma Home for the Aged - Case Study......................................................................................................................... 14

Good Shepherd Nursing Home - Case Study................................................................................................................ 8

BUPA Aged Care - Case Study............................................................................................................................................. 10

About us........................................................................................................................................................................................ 12

Our Customers........................................................................................................................................................................... 17

Letter from our Founder

Dear Reader:

It is my great pleasure to provide you with this e-Book.

We have prepared it for you to encourage improvements in the energy efficiency of your facilities and to help you choose a more sustainable path for your organisation.

Health and Aged Care are two areas to which we are dedicated. This is for a number of reasons but mostly because of the important role it plays in a healthy, responsible and community-driven society. After all, what could be more important than looking after our elderly and infirmed?

I hope that you find this resource informative and useful. I encourage you use the information available in it to implement energy savings at your organisation.

The best way to start is to commit to the goal of either energy savings or improving sustainability. Either path will result in lower costs and more responsible operation, and the best part is that the latest products also perform significantly better than the antiquated equipment installed in most facilities. This means more comfortable environments for residents and patients.

Financial institutions are now more comfortable supporting investment in energy efficiency and renewable energy projects meaning access to capital is easier than it was, even last year. Interest rates have also reduced significantly so there is no reason why even small savings projects should not implemented.

Should you wish to undertake an energy savings or sustainability program at you organisation I hope that this resource can assist you. If you would like any further help or advice on selecting good products or implementation partners then please contact us.

We would love to help you.

Yours sincerely,

David Lukas
Managing Director

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Energy Savings in Aged Care
An Overview

In this eBook we focus on the critical elements to successful energy savings programs in the Aged Care sector. The information in this resource can easily be applied to any sort of property or facility with appropriate variations to the assumptions on operating profiles.

The critical elements to a successful energy saving project are:

Energy efficient infrastructure upgrades (retro-fitting)
Alternative generation
Staff engagement and training
Tariff negotiation

In this document we have focused on the first two: using less energy and switching to alternative generation. We think these are the areas that can make the biggest, easiest and fastest impact on Aged Care facilities.

The first step is to correctly identify the areas where you can make an impact. This is best achieved by conducting an audit, preferably to the Australian Standard. Alternatively, choose a benchmark such as GreenStar, NABERS or LEED and then try to improve it.

Here are some of the features of successful energy savings projects focused on energy efficiency and alternative generation:

Take a look at the results from the market research we conducted. You will see that most aged facilities still have significant value to capture from energy efficient and alternative generation.

Health & Aged Care
Energy Efficiency Research

Comprehensive study

Early in 2014, SMART Sustainability conducted extensive research into the energy efficiency of the health and aged care sector. Extensive interviews were conducted with over 200 facilities. The majority of the interviews were conducted with facility managers.

The primary question asked of health and aged care facilities was simple,

“Have you done anything to improve your energy efficiency? If so, what have you done?”

“We conducted the most comprehensive study of energy efficiency in the Aged Care sector in Australia”

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“The main conclusion is that there is still much to be done to improve energy efficiency in the sector.”

The results tell an interesting story

Here are some of the observations that stood out:

77% of facilities have done something to improve their energy efficiency with almost a quarter of participants having done nothing or not known about any efforts.

Energy efficient lighting was the most common measure used by facilities when seeking to improve energy efficiency (74%). One quarter of facilities still have no energy savings lighting at all despite lighting using 28% of average electricity use in the sector.

Only 38% of facilities have made changes to HVAC systems (or their management) to improve energy efficiency despite heating and cooling using 44% of average electricity use in the sector.

Only 11% of facilities use solar hot water despite hot water being an average 21% of the average energy use in the sector and 60% of gas usage.

Only 9% of facilities have solar photovoltaic panels producing electricity on site despite electricity prices doubling over the past five years.

Furthermore, where SMART visited sites subsequently we’ve found that while some lights have been upgraded, many opportunities for replacing lights have not been implemented.

Conclusions

Analysis of the results provides the following conclusions:

Good Shepherd Nursing Home
Case Study

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Background

The Good Shepherd Nursing Home is an aged care facility comprising 13 residential, staff and service buildings with a total air-conditioned floor space of 10,200 square metres.

It is situated in tropical Queensland, so they require a year-round cooling and dehumidification to maintain a comfortable living environment for its elderly residents.

Project

The home had plans to add an additional wing of 1500 square metres of air-conditioned space in the next five years, which would have necessitated installing a new transformer on site.

Challenge: 60% of electricity cost on air conditioning alone.

Air Conditioning has air-cooled plant which is relatively inefficient during hot weather and the chilled water plant had a history of poor reliability.

High maintenance cost due to multiple plant spread across the entire site.

Some of the split-system air-conditioners were nearing the end of their life and would need to be replaced.

Solutions Implemented the following recommendations in the action plan:

HVAC

Upgraded its air-conditioning plant to a high energy-efficient Central Chiller Plant with base load Thermal Energy Storage

Distribute the chilled water across the entire site by re-using the existing chilled water pipework where possible and adding new reticulation pipes as required.

Outcomes Reduced demand by 178kV

Cost savings of approximately $7.68 million over 25 years

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Bonus outcome

There should be the electrical capacity to power and air-condition an additional 1,500 square metres of living space with no need to upgrade connection to electricity network. Additionally, the cost of the future building program will be reduced as air-conditioning infrastructure is already in place.

BUPA Aged Care
Case Study

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Background

Bupa is one of Australia’s leading private residential aged care providers with more than 65 care homes across the country. Bupa Aged Care provides an extensive range of care and support to more than 6,000 residents, including respite and specialised dementia care.

Project

Bupa has strong commitment to minimising the environmental impact of their operations, concentrating particularly on their use of energy, waste disposal, water discharges and land management. Bupa is committed to reduce their carbon footprint by 20% by 2015 and 30% by 2020.

Challenge: Bupa wants to reduce their carbon footprint by 20% by 2015 and 30% by 2020

Solutions Implemented the following recommendations in the action plan:

Lighting

Lighting replacement and refurbishment
Lighting controls
Boiler optimisation
Energy efficient lighting controls
Lighting voltage reduction and optimization

Building monitoring

Solar hot water

HVAC optimisation

Energy management

Appliance controls

Solar PV

Bill verification

Building sealing

Outcomes Annual savings of $ 1.2 million

Better performing equipment

More visibility and control over energy consumption

St Andrews Village
Case Study

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Background

St Andrews is a mid-sized aged care facility built in 1983. The building covers 8,000 square metres and includes 117 beds located in six brick-veneer buildings. They have 60 independent living units that have been continuously upgraded since 2001.

Project

St Andrews added a 41 bed, high-care wing to its aged care facility in 2007. As a result of the expansion, the centre’s electricity bill doubled.

Challenge: Electricity bill doubled after adding 41 beds and a high-care wing in 2007

Solutions Implemented the following recommendations in the action plan:

Audit – Conducted an audit

Solar PV – Installed 10 kilowatts of solar panels that are connected to the electricity grid

Lighting – Replaced inefficient light fittings

Power factor correction – Installed power factor correction equipment

Skylight Diffuser – Added a diffuser to an existing skylight

Outcomes Found ways to minimise expenses while still providing top quality care.

Power consumption reduced by 10 per cent a year.

Annual reduction in carbon pollution of about 75 tonnes.

Return on investment in five years

Kaloma Home for the Aged
Case Study

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Background

Kaloma Home for the Aged is a non-profit organization so they’re always looking for ways to save money. They maintain a comfortable living environment for 50 person residential community and require a 24/7 heating, cooling, plumbing, and lighting.

Project

An energy audit was conducted and they found out that their biggest expense was water heating, followed by all around high consumption loads throughout the week.

Challenge: High expense on water heating followed by all around high consumption loads throughout the week.

Solutions Implemented the following recommendations in the action plan:

Solar PV – Installed solar power with 6kW each per roof (42kW in total)

Outcomes Monthly performance reports.

Offset large amount of weekly energy consumption.

About us

We help Aged Care facilities become more energy efficient, more comfortable and cheaper to run.

We provide fully-financed energy efficiency and solar solutions for aged care facilities. No capital expenses required, just lower operating expenses from the beginning.