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September 20, 2023
OSHKOSH – Though the entire Aurora Health Care system embraces a mindfulness of sustainability, Jedd Winkler, energy program manager, said Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh is a shining example of best practices in action.
Recently, the Oshkosh facility was one of only 10 hospitals nationally to be recognized with the 2023 Sustainability Championship Award – which is granted by the American Society for Health Care Engineering (ASHE), a part of the American Hospital Association.
Winkler said the Aurora Health Care facilities operations teams were recognized for their efforts at the ASHE annual conference in early August.
In addition to the Oshkosh location, five other Aurora Health Care hospitals were among the 31 in total recognized, including Aurora Medical Center-Manitowoc County, Aurora Lakeland Medical Center, Aurora Medical Center-Grafton, Aurora Medical Center-Burlington and Aurora St. Luke’s South Shore.
Sustainability Championship Award
To qualify for the award, which is part of the ASHE Energy to Care program, a hospital must:
Achieve an Environmental Protection Agency ENERGY STAR score of 75 or higherPossess ENERGY STAR certificationDiligently track energy water and greenhouse gas emissions.
According to ASHE, the site must also be able to represent sustainability measures taken above and beyond peer applicants.
Winkler said Aurora Health Care recertified 10 hospitals last year in ENERGY STAR certification, with the Oshkosh site serving as a high-performing example with a consistent score of 98.
Headed in the right direction
Winkler said a recognition of performance like this reinforces that sustainability efforts by the entire system are moving in the right direction.
In his role as energy program manager, Winkler said he oversees all Wisconsin Aurora Health Care facilities and Advocate Health Care facilities in Illinois – a total of 25 acute hospitals, one psychiatric care hospital and 500 additional satellite locations.
“The primary reason I submitted Oshkosh (for award consideration) is because I thought the solar would take them above and beyond their competitors in not only talking the talk but walking the walk,” he said.
Winkler said the facility operations team at the Oshkosh location is a testament to how team members embrace sustainability.
Not only did the two main electricians on the facility operations team lead the charge with the facility manager, but Winkler said it also obtained North American Board of Certified Energy Practitioners (NABCEP) training, the gold standard for solar certification and did much of the onsite labor for it on a volunteer basis.
The first solar panels on the roof of Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh were installed in 2022. An additional solar panel installation on the flat roof to double the production level was installed earlier this year. Photo Courtesy of Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh
The first solar panel install on a south-facing part of the facility, Winkler said, occurred in October 2022 – which is easily visible to anyone driving through the parking lot.
Phase two of the project continued this past spring, with an additional solar panel installation on the flat roof to double the production level.
Between the two installs, Winkler said 96 solar panels capture solar energy that is tracked via an online portal.
In addition, using the Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, Winkler said he determined the solar panels’ annual production of energy created is the equivalent of the energy needed to provide energy for 8.9 homes for an entire year.
“The projects showed us we could do it, and now we have plans to expand and repeat that process,” he said. “Since 2006, we have done heavy benchmarking on a daily basis so we can make improvements. It’s been a long process, and it gets a little gritty, but it keeps us vigilant toward the goal and allows us to be competitive both internally and externally.”
Though the Oshkosh facility was in the limelight, Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh President Jeff Bard said all the Aurora facilities share a sustainability mentality.
“We’re committed to increasing sustainability and conserving natural resources for our communities today as well as our future generations as part of our commitment to helping people live well,” he said. “I am proud Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh is helping to set that precedent.”
Whether it’s in Marinette or Hazel Crest, Illinois, Winkler said “all of our teams work hard at it.”
Other sustainability efforts
In addition to the solar installations at Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh, Winkler said the facility also recovers condensate water from HVAC coils to cooling towers and installed a “food forest” for teammates and the community.
The facilities operations team, he said, also led these efforts.
Winkler said the HVAC coil cooling and recovery has been in place for at least five years since team members asked why that condensate water was simply allowed to go into a drain.
“The team innovated and said, ‘This is cool water in the middle of summer and we’re getting rid of it – What can we do with it?’” Winkler said. “They took the initiative to recover it and pipe it along the roof to another piece of mechanical equipment. Bringing the temperature down (on other equipment) allows it to run more efficiently and reduces energy use.”
In its totality, Winkler said the Oshkosh facility has reduced its utility use by 40%.
“That’s massive,” he said. “Making those reductions is beneficial to the community, the climate, the business.”
The local facility manager, Winkler said, also led the establishment of a food forest about four years ago in an area that also serves as a healing garden with a walking path and several plants and trees.
Food forests, also called forest gardens, Winkler said offer a diverse planting of edible plants that mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature.
The resulting area on the Oshkosh property, he said, is one employees and visitors alike can enjoy as it also includes a walking path.
The Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh facility recovers condensate water from HVAC coils to cooling towers. Photo Courtesy of Aurora Medical Center-Oshkosh
It features landscaping and a number of raised gardens growing a variety of fruits and vegetables.
A few weeks ago, Winkler said there was a surge of green beans harvested.
“A lot of our locations have healing gardens, but this is like a healing garden 2.0 with production and providing a space for patients and team members,” he said.
Future focus
Aurora Health Care, Winkler said, has a number of sustainable-focused projects to both celebrate and look forward to, including the recent installation of solar panels at facilities in Plymouth and Sheboygan.
He said he embraces the mindset of continuous improvement, especially when it has such staggering impacts in using less power, gas or water.
“We’re going to see quite a bit more than we have seen in the past two years, and I’m excited to see that,” he said. “I like to see the impacts, especially over those last two weeks we had 95-degree weather. It’s exciting to see the impacts the (solar panels) have on our power use and to see the work come to fruition. We will definitely see a number of sites come online (to solar) in the next year.”
