Sustainability Program
By Amanda Jepson | Categories: | Comments Off on Sustainability Program
Boston Medical Center (BMC) began its sustainability journey in 2012 after recognizing that the communities it serves are disproportionately affected by climate change. Implementing sustainability efforts is part of the health care the hospital provides, with a focus on improving energy efficiency, reducing carbon emissions, decreasing operating costs, and increasing access to care. BMC first reassessed its real estate portfolio to maximize the impact of every square foot, which led to the sale of several real estate assets. The proceeds then were used to upgrade other buildings for increased energy efficiency. BMC reduced 300,000 square feet while increasing its capacity to care for patients: patient volumes increased by almost 30 percent.
BMC’s climate mitigation work covers a variety of entities that all aim to serve the local community. BMC is the largest safety net hospital in New England; 73 percent of the hospital’s patients are covered by public insurance, and many reside in communities facing environmental inequalities. In 2022, BMC opened the Brockton Behavioral Health Center, the first net-zero behavioral health facility in the United States. The center is powered by solar energy and heated by geothermal wells. Since spring 2017, Boston Medical Center has generated much of its own electricity and heat through a natural gas–fired, two-megawatt combined heat and power plant, also known as cogeneration. The plant operates at 70 percent efficiency compared with a typical gas-fired power plant’s 35 percent efficiency. It also has “black start” capability, meaning that if the electric grid goes down, the hospital can use the cogeneration plant in combination with a recently-installed Tesla battery system to heat and power its inpatient units on an “island” for months at a time, as long as it has a natural gas supply.
In 2016, BMC took a major step toward a carbon-neutral campus with an innovative solar purchase and partnership with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Post Office Square Redevelopment Corporation. Through this partnership, BMC invested 255,000 solar panels across 650 acres in North Carolina. BMC purchases 26 percent of the power the solar facility produces, which is equivalent to 100 percent of BMC’s electricity consumption.
BMC’s reduced physical footprint and efforts to improve energy efficiency reduced utility costs significantly which generated savings that were reinvested back into patient care. Between 2011 and 2022, BMC reduced carbon emissions by 91 percent and electric consumption by 29 percent. These savings have enabled the reinvestment of funds in patient care and other sustainability projects, such as the opening of the Brockton Behavioral Health Center.
To learn more about BMC’s sustainability efforts, please visit their website through this link.