United States. The energy consumption of hospitals for 2014 remains at the same levels presented by this type of facility for 20 years, while the use of water resources decreased, according to figures revealed by the 2014 Hospital Benchmarking Survey published by Grumman/Butkus.
This contrasts with the trend evident in other industries, where companies seek to reduce consumption levels in these two areas due to the increase in the price of these services as well as environmental responsibility policies increasingly common in companies.
The report evaluated the consumption patterns of 102 hospital facilities in the United States and found that consumption levels today are virtually the same as they were 20 years ago. "The introduction of more energy-intensive electronic imaging equipment, as well as the shift from paper records to electronic records, are the main reasons why electricity needs have not gone down."
In contrast, water use by hospitals showed significant improvement, with a decrease from 70 gallons per square meter per year in 2001 to a consumption of 50 gallons per square meter in 2013.
Despite the reduction, combined water and sewer costs currently account for up to 20% of the total utility bill for some hospitals and this trend is expected to continue.
