The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) through Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) conducted a multifaceted approach to help increase the awareness of healthcare facility professionals about CHP systems during the American Society of Healthcare Engineering (ASHE) 40th Annual Conference and Exhibition on July 14-16 2003 in San Antonio, TX. The objectives of DOE and ORNL participation in the ASHE conference include disseminating specific merits for healthcare facilities of custom and packaged CHP systems, and obtaining feedback from conference participants on their perspective of the role of CHP in their energy needs by conducting an open panel discussion and a survey.

Information presented at this event showed how CHP can dramatically increase power reliability and decrease operating costs for hospitals. It also showed how more than 200 hospitals and healthcare facilities nationwide are relying on CHP to decrease power outages and interruptions, in addition to lowering energy costs by up to 50%. In addition, the information showed how CHP could significantly improve air quality and comfort at lower costs. The link at the top of this page for ASHE Conference Events contains links to information on the Breakout Session on “CHP: Improving the Way Energy is Produced and Used”, the CHP tradeshow exhibit, and the Humidity Control Exhibit.

If you were unable to participate in that conference and if you are from a healthcare facility or provide energy-related services to such facilities, the DOE is still interested in your thoughts and would greatly appreciate it if you would take 10 minutes to complete the survey by clicking here (or going to the link at top of this page). Your responses will help the DOE improve CHP packaged systems that are under development to be more responsive to healthcare facility needs. Your insights will help us shape the future. It is important to learn more about the energy needs/issues of healthcare facilities and to gauge interest in CHP packaged systems to help increase the number of healthcare facilities that can benefit from CHP installations in the future.