CHW Sets Ambitious Energy Goals

Health System Will Reduce Consumption by 20%, Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 40%, and Increase Use of Renewables

San Francisco, CA - April 21, 2011 - Catholic Healthcare West (CHW), the nation's eighth largest health system, has been a leader in environmental advocacy since its founding in 1986. With a longstanding commitment to environmental stewardship, the organization has been issuing detailed sustainability reports since 1997. On the eve of 2011 Earth Day celebrations, CHW has announced the following goals for its sustainability program:

2020 Energy Goals:

By the end of the year 2020, CHW will achieve the following energy benchmarks:

  • 20% reduction in system wide energy consumption
  • 35% of system wide energy use will come from renewable sources
  • 40% reduction in overall greenhouse gas emissions from energy used at each hospital campus.

The organization will achieve these results through a combination of investments in energy efficient equipment, as well as increasing the use of power produced from renewable sources such as photovoltaic, solar hot water, cogeneration, and fuel cell technology.

2010 Successes:

In 2010, CHW continued to make significant strides in environmental stewardship, including (but not limited to): 162,000 lbs of medical equipment diverted from landfills, resulting in overall savings of $5.4 million; 7.2% reduction of energy intensity over FY09, bringing three-year reduction to 13.2%; 45,000 electronic devices diverted from landfills, or the equivalent of saving enough electricity to power 6,343 houses for a year, removing 812 cars from the road, and preventing 2,881 tons of carbon dioxide emissions

2011 Ecology Goals:

CHW will continue to set broad goals for the 2011 fiscal year, and has committed to

  • Divert 140,000 lbs of waste from landfills and reduce costs by $6 million
  • Reduce Styrofoam use across CHW by 20%
  • Submit and certify CY2010 emissions data through The Climate Registry
  • Collect, trend, and report water consumption for each hospital

Additional Resources:

By the year 2020, CHW will reduce overall energy consumption by 20%, greenhouse gas emissions by 40%, and fully 35% of energy use will come from renewable sources.

Publish date: 

Thursday, April 21, 2011