Healthcare Energy Leaders Ontario (HELO)

Healthcare Energy Leaders Ontario has now expanded to Healthcare Energy Leaders Canada - see the new site HERE! 

Improving energy efficiency in Ontario's health care facilities

For years, facility managers have been dealing with time constraints and a shortage of funding opportunities that have negatively impacted their ability to move forward with energy conservation and demand management projects.

HealthCare Energy Leaders Ontario (HELO) is an innovative resource designed to improve energy efficiency in Ontario’s health care facilities. With a team of seasoned energy and facility managers, HELO has been helping reduce energy consumption and demand at sites across the province since January 2014. 

HELO North

Recognizing that northern facilities face unique challenges when it comes to energy efficiency, the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care and HELO have created a Networking Hub for members of northern facilities to network and share information. Go to the Hub.

About HELO

Developed by the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, together with the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society, HELO was designed from the inside out by a team intimate with the daily challenges and opportunities faced each day within a health care setting.

What does all this mean for Ontario health care organisations and those involved in energy and facility management? An initiative developed from the inside out by a team intimate with the challenges and opportunities faced each day in a health care setting.

Our HELO Team can provide assistance with consumption audits, identification of energy efficiency opportunities, preparation of business case content to help get senior management's buy in for project formulation and execution, and guidance in completing saveONenergy program documents for potential funding assistance.

Building Upon Successes

In our first 12 months, HELO not only met, but exceeded, the demand and energy savings targets it set out to achieve.

Completed projects have already saved 1.1 MW of electricity demand and 4.6 GWh of energy, while projects in the design and construction stages will save an additional 4.9 MW and 41.7 GWh of energy.

If fully implemented, projects would save the Ontario health care sector $15 M annually in utility costs, and gain an additional $22 M in incentives. GHG would be reduced by 8,567 tons C02e.

Successes to date:

• ○ Submission of 45 saveONenergy applications with demand savings of 3.5 MW and 21.4 GWH energy savings
• ○ Application types go beyond ERII and included many custom, DES, PSUI, and high performance new construction
• ○ Engagement of the health care sector through workshops, webinars, newsletters and conferences and media promotional materials
• ○ Development of CDM plan template to help hospitals comply with Ontario’s Green Energy Act
• ○ The growth in senior leader recognition of the potential of this program
• ○ Identified an internal source of funding - the Health Infrastructure Renewal Fund (HIRF) funding from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care - which can be used to leverage the purchase of energy-saving equipment
• ○ Identified significant interest in Combined Heat and Power (CHP) to help facilities become more resilient and stay open during weather-related disasters
• ○ Engaged with 29 LDCs and over 50 hospitals in the identification of energy-saving projects
• ○ Engaged with LTC sector
• ○ HELO team developed template RFPs for lighting, CHP and ESCO projects. It was the first time we had ESCO agreement on an RFP template, and the first time ESCOs responded to an RFP to service a group of smaller hospitals
• ○ Successfully engaged smaller and medium-sized facilities in the north through a regular conference call networking initiative known as HELO North
• ○ Included gas utility and water incentives to leverage energy savings for electricity using equipment when appropriate

HELO Services

HELO is an energy management initiative developed from the inside out by a team intimate with the challenges and opportunities faced each day in a health care setting. Our team has been successful in helping Ontario’s health care organisations identify potential energy cost savings of over $16 M annually.

Originally funded under the Ontario Power Authority's (OPA) Energy Efficiency Service Providers (EESPs) initiative, HELO became part of a province-wide capability-building initiative to provide resources directly to customers through sector-based organisations.

HELO helps facility managers with project development and help to access incentive programs and funding sources such as the Ontario Power Authority's SaveONenergy initiative.

Find out how you can engage our affordable team of Energy Managers at HealthCare Energy Leaders Ontario to:

• ○ Reduce operating costs
• ○ Improve operational efficiencies
• ○ Assistance in applying to your local electric utility for incentives
• ○ Realize opportunities for capital renewal
• ○ Enhance overall environment of care

Benefits to facility and energy

• ○ Energy Audits
• ○ Incentive Applications
• ○ Energy Data Analysis
• ○ Business Case Development and/or Analysis
• ○ Tracking, reporting and evaluating site-specific projects
• ○ Assistance with service provider procurement and technical specification of equipment
• ○ Delivery of building occupant-, operator-, and or management-focused training.

Healthcare Energy Leaders Ontario is open to:

• ○ Hospitals
• ○ Private-sector and non-municipal senior and long-term care facilities
• ○ Community health centres
• ○ And other health care facilities managers

ENERGY STAR^®

The national ENERGY STAR^® program offers a variety of resources and initiatives designed to help facilities achieve increased energy efficiency:

ENERGY STAR in Canada
ENERGY STAR HELP
ENERGY STAR Newsletter
ENERGY STAR Portfolio Manager

Incentives

Find out how theses energy incentive programs can help you with your next energy saving project:

Hospital and long-term care saveONenergy electricity programs
Union Gas energy management programs
Enbridge Gas energy management programs

SaveONenergy Training for Healthcare Professionals

View the testimonial video

Energy Success Stories

Ontario hospitals are finding great benefits in improving their energy efficiency. Here are some of their success stories: