Tools and Resources

• The Impact of Health Care
• Policies and Resolutions
• Tools for the Health Care Sector

The Impact of Health Care

• Climate Change and Human Health: Present and Future Risks, Lancet 2006 (pdf)
• The Impact of Climate Change on Child Health, Ambulatory Pediatrics 2003 (pdf)
• Major US EPA study: Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems (pdf)
• The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently concluded its Fourth Assessment Report
• American Society for Healthcare Engineering: Energy Use in the Healthcare Industry (pdf) and the Healthcare Energy Guidebook; download full report (pdf 4MB) or individual sections

Policies and Resolutions

• California's 2006 Global Warming Solutions Act
• The American Public Health Association (APHA) has recognized the threat of Climate Change to Public Health. On Nov. 2007, APHA issued a policy statement that the long-term threat of climate change to health is extremely serious and that GHG emissions are primarily responsible for this threat. Among other resolutions, the APHA resolves that the healthcare industry should be better educated about the impacts of climate change and adopt mitigation and adaptation strategies.

Tools for the Health Care Sector

• Addressing Climate Change in the Health Care Setting: Opportunites for Action outlines seven steps health care systems can take to reduce their climate footprint while improving public health, and presents examples from around the world. (pdf)
• Healthy Hospitals, Healthy Planet, Healthy People: Addressing Climate Change in Health Care Settings aims at addressing the climate footprint of the health sector (pdf)
• Green Guide for Health Care
  A voluntary, self-certifying system modeled with permission on the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED rating system. The Green Guide for Health Care is the first green building tool tailored specifically for the health care sector, and includes many strategies for reducing energy use and incorporating energy efficient designs and systems into the building, construction and operation of health care facilities. Download the the Guide (free registration required)
• Sign up for the Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange — available to members of Practice Greenhealth
• The Healthcare Clean Energy Exchange, available to members of Practice Greenhealth. The Guide helps improve energy practices, provides deepest possible energy market intelligence, and web-based reverse auctions for state-of-the-art procurement.
• Energy Impact Calculator

  Calculate Your Impact

  Based on US EPA analysis of health impacts of power plant emissions of sulphur dioxide, nitrous oxide and mercury, the Healthcare Energy Impact Calculator (EIC) estimates health care's energy impacts on premature deaths, chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks, emergency room visits and more, by kilowatt hour per year. The EIC displays the projected number of incidents, estimates of medical treatment costs, their external societal costs, and the likely emissions permit costs for the green house gas carbon dioxide. A typical 200-bed hospital in the coal-powered Midwest using a 7 million kWh year is responsible for over $1 million/year in negative societal public health impacts ($0.14/kWh), and $107,000/year ($0.01532/kWh) in direct health care costs.

• Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction for the Ecosystem: SPHERE by Premier (pdf)
• Green Guide for Health Care Report:
  A Prescriptive Path to Energy Efficiency for Hospitals
  download report (pdf) read abstract (pdf)
• Healthcare Energy Project Guidebook, designed to provide decision makers with knowledge about improving energy efficiency (pdf)
• EPRI Report: Background, Trends, Issues, and Opportunities in Healthcare (pdf)
• EPRI Report: Energy Market Profiles: Hospital Buildings, Equipment, and Energy Use (requires login)