See this story at BrooklynDaily.com.
By Joanna DelBuono
Brooklyn Daily
Marine Park
Give me an E for Energy
Let’s hear it for energy efficiency. Beth Israel Medical Center, Brooklyn, has gone totally green. Collaborating with Ecosystem and Continuum Health Partners, Beth Israel has implemented several measures over the past two years, slashing energy costs by a whopping 31 percent while reducing its environmental footprint. The staff celebrated Let’s Go Green on Jan. 30 with a raffle of 12 emergency solar-hand crank combination LED flashlight/AM-FM NOAA Weather digital radio/cellphone charger with glow-in-the-dark locator. Sheesh, how many names does it have? Anyway, Standing O could have used it when the lights went out, thanks to Sandy, but I digress.
The greening project centered on converting the hospital’s heating system from full steam to hot water, and installing a cogeneration plant that uses natural gas to simultaneously generate electricity and hot water. It included the installation of new water heaters, more efficient fluorescent lighting, low-flush toilets, and upgrades to the system’s automated controls.
But enough of the science. Let’s get to the important stuff — the raffle winners! Those included Melissa Dobles, RN, Glenn Esteller, ED, Heidi Poulakos, Patsy Plenty, Theresa Balzano, Marie Rudlophe Time, Rupert McAllister, Cathy DiMarco, Mario Wint, Linda Daniel, Marylene Calo, and Jean Gangadyal. Other winners included Felicia Gironda who received an e-gift from Home Depot, and Cheryl Weinstein-Shama, Teresa Flynn, Abigail Kristt, and Randy Grant, who won glass water bottles from Ecosystem’s Green Energy Quiz.
The initiative saved lots of watts for the hospital.
“Savings achieved through these measures allowed us to reduce next year’s operating utility budget by $500,000 — that’s 50 percent more than originally estimated,” Stephen M. Monez, assistant veep Corporate Engineering, Continuum Health Partners, told Standing O.
And that ain’t nothing to sneeze at.
Beth Israel Medical Center [3201 Kings Highway, between New York Avenue and East 32nd Street in Marine Park, (718) 252–3000].
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