{"id":1706,"date":"2024-02-26T00:00:06","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T05:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/sustainability\/?p=1706"},"modified":"2024-05-14T10:14:13","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T14:14:13","slug":"university-leaders-co-create-decarbonization-guide-for-new-york-hospitals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochester.edu\/sustainability\/university-leaders-co-create-decarbonization-guide-for-new-york-hospitals\/","title":{"rendered":"University leaders co-create decarbonization guide for New York hospitals"},"content":{"rendered":"
Over the past year, staff from\u00a0Energy Services and Sustainability (ESS)<\/a>\u00a0joined peers and industry leaders from across New York State to establish\u00a0Decarbonize with Resilience: A Guide for New York Hospitals<\/a>. This guide provides a roadmap for hospital and healthcare-related buildings to reduce carbon emissions and meet state and federal mandates while also creating operational best practices for the benefit of patients, employees, stakeholders, and the larger community.<\/p>\n In 2023, Mike Whitmore, executive director of ESS, and Rachel Stuckey, assistant director of building commissioning & standards, ESS participated in the New York Healthcare Protocol, a public\/private collaboration led by the\u00a0American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE)<\/a>. Whitmore and Stuckey joined leaders from over 80 organizations to create the primary resource for New York State hospitals to decrease their carbon emissions called\u00a0Decarbonize with Resilience: A Guide for New York Hospitals<\/a>.<\/p>\n This resource provides assistance and technical guidance to hospitals working to meet goals detailed in New York State\u2019s\u00a0Climate and Community Protection Act (CLCPA)<\/a>, also known as The Climate Act. Passed in 2019, the Act mandates that Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions in New York State are reduced to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and 85% below 1990 levels by 2050.<\/p>\n While the University of Rochester is not currently mandated to reduce their carbon emissions, there are voluntary steps being taken. However, Stuckey shared that we face some barriers, including age of equipment, overall costs, and the fact that URMC is routinely over capacity, making it challenging to shut down any section of the hospital for renovations.<\/p>\nDecarbonization challenges<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Current projects<\/strong><\/h2>\n