Project Address

Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Bayview Campus
2075 Bayview Ave, Toronto

Key Contacts

Laura Bristow, Communications Advisor,
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
Laura.Bristow@Sunnybrook.ca

Project Background

As a teaching hospital, Sunnybrook leads by innovation and learning in both their medical practices and the maintenance of their three campuses. Sunnybrook’s environmental principles are part of the organization’s corporate culture.

Desired Outcomes

In an effort to reduce the hospital’s environmental impact and to create safer, more comfortable conditions for patients, staff, and visitors and a greener Toronto, a comprehensive energy efficient retrofit plan was developed for the Bayview Campus. Also, with increasing pressures on the cost of patient care, there was a desire to reduce non-patient care costs such as energy operating costs.

Solution and Results

To help cut operational costs and utility expenses, and reduce environmental impact, Sunnybrook teamed up with Honeywell Energy Solutions to implement a $28 million facility renewal program. The renewal program included the installation of new lighting and heating, ventilation and cooling equipment, and has ongoing plans to make improvements to mechanical and building automation systems.

Sunnybrook also accomplished an innovative solar photovoltaic installation. More than 140 solar panels spanning two stories of a parking garage were installed and are expected to generate nearly 27,000 kilowatt-hours of electricity annually – enough energy to power 150 medical ventilators. Serving as a visual reminder of the hospital’s commitment to conserving energy, and producing clean renewable energy, the solar panels are mounted vertically on the wall of the parking garage. In addition, a display near the parking garage educates visitors and staff on photovoltaic technology, and provides real-time information on power generation and carbon emissions reduction.

Sunnybrook engaged with the City of Toronto’s Better Buildings Partnership to determine the availability of zero interest loans through the City’s Sustainable Energy Funds (SEF) and incentive grants through BBP’s Energy Conservation program. Since the overall project included both energy conservation measures and a renewable energy installation, the hospital was able to arrange loans through both available SEF loan funds – the Toronto Energy Conservation Fund and the Toronto Green Energy Fund to a total of $1.78 million, in addition to BBP incentives of almost $960,000 for energy savings achieved.

Upon completion, the facility renewal program is expected to result in cost savings of approximately $2.6 million per year and reduce annual greenhouse emissions by an estimated 10,000 tonnes, the equivalent of taking over 2,000 cars off the road per year.

Project Snapshot

Energy Conservation

• Project Cost: $26,400,000
• Annual electricity savings: 10,500,000  kWh
• Electricity demand reduction: 787 kW
• Annual cost savings: $2.6  million
• Annual CO₂ savings: 10,000 tonnes
• Incentives received: BBP $960,000
• Toronto Energy Conservation Fund zero interest loan: $1 Million
• Simple Payback: 10 years

Solar Panels

• Project Cost: $ 1,605,000
• Annual electricity generated : 111,500 kWh
• Annual ‘Feed in Tariff’ revenue: $80,000 approx
• Toronto Green Energy Fund zero interest loan $787,000
• Simple Payback: 20   years

About the City of Toronto

Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto’s government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and livability for all its residents.

For more information please contact:

Better Buildings Partnership
Tel: 416-392-1500
bbp@toronto.ca

Click here to download this case study in a PDF format

PROJECT ADDRESS

Joseph and Wolf Lebovic Health Complex
600 University Avenue, Toronto, On

KEY CONTACT

Altaf Stationwala – Senior Vice President, Operations and Redevelopment, Mount Sinai Hospital

PROJECT BACKGROUND

Mount Sinai Hospital (MSH) is one of Canada’s leading academic health science centres affiliated with the University of Toronto. It is recognized internationally for its excellence in the provision of compassionate patient care, innovative teaching and research. MSH has taken a leadership role in environmental sustainability, and has made a commitment to reduce its environmental footprint through energy conservation and a reduction of energy use.

Desired Outcomes

After almost 35 years, the Hospital’s conventional chiller was due to be replaced. When MSH looked at the cost and environmental impact of a new conventional system versus Enwave’s deep-lake cooling system, the business case was clear. A 20-year forecast revealed that energy costs using chillers would reach $13.5 million; whereas the cost of using Enwave is $10 million – an accumulated cost savings of $3.5 million.

Solution and Results

To achieve the goal of energy conservation and reduction, MSH converted to the Enwave Deep Lake Water Cooling (DLWC) program, providing participants with chilled water through an underground piping distribution network, instead of cooling their buildings with in-house chillers.

The primary challenge with this project was the installation of the revised chilled water piping that was required for the system changeover. MSH’s chillers and cooling towers are located on the top of the building, while the Enwave heat exchanger had to be installed in the base of the building.

It was not possible to create an interior piping route from the top of the building to the basement. As a result, Mount Sinai installed a new exterior shaft along the south face of the building in order to run the piping from the chillers and cooling towers down to the heat exchanger.

By removing the chillers and converting to DLWC, MSH will achieve significant economic and environmental savings. The costs of purchasing new transformers and the replacement costs of chillers will now be avoided, resulting in savings of about $600,000. By converting to DLWC, MSH is helping to free up over 61 megawatts of electricity from the city’s electrical grid, equal to the energy needed for 6,800 homes annually. Over the next 20 years, the conversion will result in $3.5 million in energy cost savings.

Removing the chillers from the facility has created additional space for infrastructure upgrades, now being used to house energy power diesel generators; a critical upgrade that would not have been possible without removing the chillers. Removing the chillers also reduces the amount of waste produced by MSH, with no need to dispose of the unit at the end of its useful life. BBP provided an added incentive to Mount Sinai Hospital’s Enwave project, helping to ease the initial investment in the Enwave technology, giving the Hospital a one-time grant of over $722,000.

PROJECT SNAPSHOT

• Project cost: $ $6,077,431
• Annual electricity savings: 2,400,000 kWh
• Annual CO2 Savings: 2,309 tonnes
• BBP incentives received: $722,693

About the City of Toronto

Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto’s government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and livability for all its residents.

For more information please contact:

Better Buildings Partnership
Tel: 416-392-1500
bbp@toronto.ca

Click here to download this case study in a PDF format

Toronto Board of Trade.

For more information contact (416) 392-1500 or email us at bbp@toronto.ca

Project Address

825 Coxwell Avenue. Toronto ON

Key Contact

Project Manager: Betty Best, Toronto East General Hospital

Project Background

Toronto East General Hospital (TEGH) is a large urban community teaching hospital serving a diverse, multi-cultural population of 400,000, representing over 45 cultural and linguistic groups in East Toronto. Home to 2,600 employees, and 400 physicians and midwives, TEGH annually admits 20,000 acute care inpatients, delivers 3,500 babies, has over 60,000 emergency visits and provides service to over 220,000 outpatients.

Originally built in 1929, TEGH has grown from a 110-bed general hospital to a 515-bed full service healthcare facility. After 80 years of expansion, TEGH was ready for an infrastructure renewal program that would significantly reduce energy and water consumption.

In 2006, the TEGH partnered with Honeywell to begin an extensive energy savings and facility renewal program, centered on infrastructure upgrades that would reduce its carbon footprint, resulting in substantial cost savings.

Desired Outcomes

As a publicly funded institution, TEGH must manage its resources carefully to ensure that its facilities are operating as efficiently as possible. Faced with an aging infrastructure, and utility prices trending higher, (with the possibility of significant increases at any time) there is an increased pressure on institutions to reduce the risk of unanticipated future costs.

“We started out with the goal of improving our facilities while being fiscally and environmentally responsible,” said Rob Devitt, President and CEO, Toronto East General Hospital.

With the help of Honeywell, TEGH wanted to develop a program that would use the energy cost savings to pay for the work, creating a self-funded renewal program with minimal risk.

Solution and Results

TEGH developed a $9.5-million (CAD) energy savings and facility renewal program, centered on infrastructure upgrades that will help the hospital reduce energy and water consumption. Toronto’s Better Buildings Partnership and Toronto Water were consulted to potentially access the energy and water savings incentives that the programs offer, enabling the hospital to do more with its budget. The projects implemented included:

• Power quality improvements
• Lighting redesign
• Variable speed drives on cooling towers
• Improved building envelope
• Replacement of leaky steam traps
• Chiller plant upgrade
• Replacement of plumbing fixtures
• Replacement of medical vacuum pumps
• New boiler draft controls
• Installation of a new building automation system (BAS)

“The program is going to save a substantial amount of energy and water annually — a major achievement for the hospital,” adds Devitt. “The program is expected to trim utility bills by $880,000 per year while creating a better, more modern environment for our patients, physicians and staff. In addition, we’ve reduced our environmental footprint by nearly 3,000 tonnes of CO2 annually – that’s the equivalent of taking 475 cars off the road.”

The energy efficient upgrades to the hospital’s facilities resulted in 3,108,335 kWh of annual electricity savings, and an annual greenhouse gas savings of nearly 3,000 tonnes of CO2. By replacing plumbing fixtures and medical vacuum pumps, as well as eliminating city water waste in the cooling equipment, the hospital will save 114,471 m³ of water annually; enough water to fill about 40 Olympic-size swimming pools.

In reducing annual utility costs and utilizing financial incentives of $241,901 from the Better Buildings Partnership, $130,538 from Toronto Water and $47,000 from Enbridge, TEGH has succeeded in lowering the payback period to just 9.5 years, reaching a new standard in fiscal and environmental responsibility.

Project Snapshot

• Project cost: $9.5 Million
• Annual electricity savings: 3,108,335 kWh
• Annual cost savings: $880,000
• Annual CO2 savings: nearly 3,000 tonnes of CO2
• Annual water savings: 114,471 m3
• Incentives received: BBP ($241,901); Toronto Water ($130,538); Enbridge ($47,000)
• Payback period: less than 10 years

About the City of Toronto

Toronto is Canada’s largest city and sixth largest government, and home to a diverse population of about 2.6 million people. It is the economic engine of Canada and one of the greenest and most creative cities in North America. Toronto has won numerous awards for quality, innovation and efficiency in delivering public services. Toronto’s government is dedicated to prosperity, opportunity and livability for all its residents.

For more information please contact:

Better Buildings Partnership
Tel: 416-392-1500
bbp@toronto.ca

Click here to download this case study in a PDF format

Project Address

82 Buttonwood Avenue, Toronto, ON

Key Contacts

Building Manager: Michael Bonnah, Director Operations and Logistics, West Park Healthcare Centre

Project Background

Toronto’s West Park Healthcare Centre began its journey to improve energy efficiency on the 27-acre campus of its rehabilitation, complex continuing care and long-term care facility in 1986. The hospital provides 487 beds to patients who are overcoming health barriers, to help them live the fullest lives possible. West Park employs 920 healthcare staff, and operates 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

With its ongoing commitment to energy conservation, West Park was interested in additional ways to reduce its electrical demand and environmental footprint through energy-efficiency retrofits. Following an engineering review in 2008 conducted by HH Angus and Associates, an opportunity to improve the cooling system was presented that would garner significant savings.

The engineering study revealed the need to replace an outdated, 30-year-old chiller that would annually reduce West Park’s environmental footprint by 127 tonnes of CO₂ and air-conditioning use by an estimated 37 per cent.

Desired Outcomes

Over the years, West Park has incrementally reduced its electrical demand and carbon footprint to be a leader in energy conservation. Both staff and patients share in the hospital’s advocacy for environmental stewardship and West Park has received several awards to recognize their long-term commitment to conserving energy.

As a respected healthcare facility within the community, West Park must continue to manage its resources carefully to ensure that the hospital maximizes its efficiency.

Solution and Results

For its most recent retrofit project, West Park teamed up with the City of Toronto’s Better Buildings Partnership (BBP) to upgrade the cooling system. The BBP facilitated the replacement of West Park’s outdated, 30-year-old chiller with two smaller, energy-efficient units that better matched the building’s needs and allowed the hospital to cut their air conditioning energy use by 37 per cent. With the overall project costing more than $1 million, the BBP helped to offset the expense by providing an incentive of $47,480.00 based on demand savings of 118.7 kW.

West Park has been serving the communities of Toronto and Ontario for over 100 years. During that time, the hospital has greatly reduced its impact on the environment by consistently implementing solutions to improve its energy management. In continuing their commitment to energy conservation, Michael Bonnah was appointed as the Chief Energy Conservation Officer in May 2009 to oversee West Park’s ongoing journey to improve energy efficiency.

Project Snapshot

• Project cost: $1,419,342.00
• Annual electricity savings: 118.7 kW
• Annual cost savings: 37% of electrical energy use related to cooling
• Annual CO2 savings: 127 tonnes of CO₂
• Incentives received: BBP ($47,480.00)
• Payback period: over ten years

About Better Buildings Partnership

The Better Buildings Partnership is an innovative partnership program that provides resources including financial assistance, to help energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in building renewal and construction in multifamily buildings, industrial, commercial, and institutional buildings. The BBP’s primary goal is to reduce carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions which come from the energy used to heat, light, cool and operate buildings.

For more information please contact:

Better Buildings Partnership
Tel: 416-392-1500
bbp@toronto.ca

Click here to download this case study in a PDF format