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G/BA's 2017 Hospital Energy and Water Benchmarking Survey accepting submissions! Click here!
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Hospitals' water/sewer use down, but costs keep rising
G/BA 2016 Benchmarking Survey Released

Part 2: Water/sewer use and costs, carbon footprint, and energy per bed
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Since 2001, when G/BA first started tracking water/sewer data, hospital usage of these resources has steadily declined. But there's still quite a range of usage patterns among survey respondents.

To participate in our 2017 survey (CY2016 data), click here.
 
 
                                                                      
Water is a fast-emerging environmental concern. Costs for access to this precious resource continue to rise as availabilities are threatened.
Combined water and sewer costs now account for as much as 20% of the total utility bill of some hospitals. Grumman/Butkus Associates expects this trend to continue.

When the G/BA healthcare benchmarking survey was initiated in 1995, we only tracked energy use and costs. Water/sewer usage and costs were added to the survey in 2006. This addition, and our decision to rename the report to Hospital Energy and Water Benchmarking Survey, reflected our understanding that water and energy use are inextricably linked, and the growing importance of water as an environmental concern.

Reducing water consumption saves energy:
  • The extraction, treatment, and delivery of water accounts for as much as 15% of energy consumption in some parts of the country.
  • Energy can account for as much as 80% of a typical water bill.
 Reducing electricity and gas consumption saves water:
  • Power plants use lots of fresh water (45% of nationwide total), and nearly half of that evaporates (per the latest U.S. Geological Survey water use report).
  • The production of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing uses large quantities of water.
Although costs for water and sewer are considerably less than those for electricity and natural gas, many parts of the country are experiencing price hikes, and there are new concerns about water supplies and quality. Water prices also vary considerably depending on location.

The following is a summary of water use and cost information reported in the 2016 survey (2015 water use from 82 participants). As with the energy summary table in Part 1 of this report, states for which fewer than five participants sent data are not broken out:



Our findings are discussed in two parts: fossil fuel and electricity consumption and costs (Part 1, released last week) and water and sewer usage and costs, as well as carbon footprint data and energy-per-bed data (Part 2, below).

All of our charts, including data not published in this bulletin, are available using the link below:

2016 G/BA Hospital Energy+Water Survey Results
Water and sewer trends, usage, and costs

The water usage trends chart below indicates that hospitals have been reducing their water consumption since 2006 (about 45 gal/sf/year in 2015 compared with more than 60 gal/sf/yr in 2006). Nevertheless, these facilities continue to experience rising costs on a $/sf/year basis, with the pattern especially evident since 2011. Hospitals spent about $0.40 per square foot on water/sewer in 2015, compared with about $0.27 in 2006.

 


 

Water/sewer utility prices ($/kgal) paid by survey participants are up about $1 per kgal in the past year alone, and have more then doubled since 2006 (chart, below).

 

 





“G/BA expects the trend of rising water and sewer costs to continue,” says Chairman Dan Doyle. “Price hikes not only reflect increasing costs to extract and treat the water, but also the fact that cash-strapped governmental entities may view water as a revenue source.”

Among the participants in our survey, a few hospitals are using more than 70 gallons/sf/year, compared with some that use less than 3 gallons/sf/year (chart, below).



In some cases, these patterns may reflect significant facility operations differences – for instance, presence of in-house laundry services or the purchase of chilled water and/or steam.

Most of our participants are currently paying between $6 and $12 per 1,000 gallons of water, resulting in square-foot costs between $0.20 and $0.50 annually. Download our charts for complete water/sewer report data.
 
Carbon footprint trends and results

Based on world sentiment for more regulatory emphasis on greenhouse gas emissions, in 2008 G/BA started including a chart to show carbon footprint attributable to survey respondents' electricity and natural gas use. The graph below presents the normalized carbon dioxide equivalent based on state average emissions factors for 2015's electricity purchases and EPA standard factors for combustion equipment.

The survey reveals that the average participating facility's carbon footprint is virtually unchanged since 1999. however, respondents did manage to arrest an upward trend evident in the early 2000s, slowly pulling back CO2 equivalents from the 2002 peak.


 

As in prior years, the survey results indicated quite a diverse carbon footprint among our participating facilities, with most falling into the 50 to 70 pounds/sf/year range (data shown in the complete chart set available at the G/BA website). Outliers have footprints less than 40 pounds/sf/year and more than 90 pounds/sf/year

“If we are going to address the very daunting issue of climate change, the healthcare industry must make greater strides in reducing its carbon footprint," says Doyle. "As the trend data shows, not enough progress is being made thus far."
Energy and water costs per bed

Finally, this year’s survey provided a comparison of energy cost per bed for responding hospitals. Some facilities were not able to provide bed counts with their surveys; we hope to obtain more precise data from respondents in the future.

A number of factors contribute to the differences in cost per bed for each group of hospitals:
  • Varying fuel prices in each state
  • Varying state ventilation requirements
  • Relative bed density
Respondents to the 2016 survey represent more than 97 million square feet of facilities, with approximately 25,000 staffed beds reported. The average cost for all utilities (excluding water) was $10,300 per staffed bed for respondents from all states that included bed counts. This represented a slight decrease compared with the 2015 survey (2014 data), where average utility cost per staffed bed (excluding water) was $10,620 per year.

As with carbon footprint, annual energy cost per bed varied widely, from a high of more than $30,000 to a low of less than $3,000.

The chart below shows these costs broken out among the participants’ states, for better analysis of any regional patterns.



For respondents that included water data, the average water/sewer cost per staffed bed was $1,370 per staffed bed (data not shown). This is an increase of more than $100 per bed compared with the prior year, when reported water/sewer cost per bed was $1,220.
 
Benchmarking: Step 1 Toward a Comprehensive Energy Plan

Tracking and benchmarking your hospital’s energy use is just the first step in establishing a comprehensive energy management program. What must be addressed in a comprehensive approach?
  • Utility tracking
  • Managing energy purchases / supply side
  • Operations and maintenance
  • Retro-commissioning (RCx)
  • Retrofit of existing building systems/equipment
  • Building infrastructure planning
  • New buildings, major additions and renovations
  • Commissioning and monitoring-based commissioning (Cx and MBCx)
  • Equipment purchasing policies
  • Grants and rebate opportunities
  • Recognition opportunities
  • Financing options
G/BA has been helping hospitals develop and manage their energy management programs for more than 40 years. Please contact us if we can assist you in your efforts.

We are currently collecting data for the 2017 survey (compiling data from CY2016). To participate (it’s free!) or to find more information, visit our website.


 
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