RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software

The Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care is pleased to collaborate with Natural Resources Canada in the promotion of RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software to Canada’s health care sector.

JUST RELEASED: Case study

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton embraces RETScreen with calculated results – RETScreen Expert Energy Management software has proven to be exactly what the doctor ordered to substantiate the value energy management initiatives bring to St. Joe’s bottom line. click here to view the case study!

FRAICHEMENT PUBLIÉ : Étude de cas

St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton adopte RETScreen avec des résultats calculés – le logiciel de gestion de l’énergie de RETScreen Expert s’est avéré être exactement ce que le médecin a ordonné pour justifier la valeur des initiatives de gestion de l’énergie pour Saint-Joe’s. CLIQUEZ ICI pour lire l’étude de cas!

Overview

RETScreen Expert is a comprehensive Clean Energy Management Software platform which enables professionals and decision-makers to identify and assess the viability of potential energy efficiency, renewable energy and cogeneration projects; and to measure and verify the actual and ongoing energy performance of buildings, factories and power plants around the world.

The software is developed by the Government of Canada in collaboration with notable international partners and is used by over 600,000 people in every country and territory of the world. RETScreen is also used as a teaching and research tool by well-over 1,100 universities and colleges worldwide, and is frequently cited in academic literature.

Health Care

This “Made-in-Canada” software is well suited to assisting Canada’s health care facility and energy managers to take a data-driven approach to managing the energy in their facilities.

From benchmarking, to consumption tracking, energy audits and more, RETScreen provides a solution for health care energy professionals to take control of their facility portfolio.

Project Life-Cycle Analysis

RETScreen Expert has analysis capabilities covering an entire project life cycle.

Benchmark Analysis allows user to establish reference climate conditions at a facility site for any location on earth and compare the energy performance of various types of reference (benchmark) facilities with the estimated (modeled) or measured (actual) annual energy consumption of a facility. Energy benchmarking allows designers, facility operators, managers and senior decision-makers to quickly gauge a facility’s energy performance, i.e., expected energy consumption or production versus reference facilities, as well as scope for improvements.
Feasibility Analysis permits decision-makers to conduct a five step standard analysis, including energy analysis, cost analysis, emission analysis, financial analysis, and sensitivity/risk analysis. Fully integrated into this five-step analysis are benchmark, product, project, hydrology and climate databases, as well as links to worldwide energy resource maps. Also built in is an extensive database of generic clean energy project templates as well as specific case studies. Performance Analysis allows a user to monitor, analyze, and report key energy performance data to facility operators, managers and senior decision-makers, including a facility’s actual energy performance versus predicted performance. The Performance Analysis module integrates near real-time satellite-derived weather data from NASA for the entire surface of the planet.
Portfolio Analysis allows a user to manage energy across a large number of facilities, spanning multiple energy efficiency measures in a multi-facility portfolio comprising thousands of buildings and power plants in multiple locations. A user can also create a new portfolio or open an existing file. The “My portfolio” database file is made up of individual facilities analyzed with RETScreen. Additional facilities can easily be added to the portfolio database. Sub-portfolios can be created to allow for comparison across different facility types and geographic regions, and a mapping tool helps the user visualize assets across the globe.

With a populated database, the user can enable a portfolio-wide analysis dashboard which can be configured to include the results of benchmark, feasibility and performance analysis for each individual facility in the portfolio. The dashboard allows the user to consolidate results to readily track energy consumption and/or production, as well as costs and greenhouse gas emissions, all of which can be sorted by facility type, fuel type, country, etc. These results can then be used to report key metrics to various stakeholders.

Inputs and Outputs

The RETScreen Expert workflow consists of a series of worksheets (tabs located at top of software window) and accompanying databases. Generally, the user works from left to right, completing the Location worksheet first, followed by the Facility worksheet, etc. On each worksheet, it is recommended that the user follows the steps outlined in the ribbon near the top of the software window, completing each worksheet from top to bottom. The Energy Model worksheet is used to simulate the energy consumption and/or production of various types of facilities, including individual measures and systems. A fully integrated user manual facilities data entry by the user.

Visit the RETScreen website (www.retscreen.net) to download RETScreen Expert and see why it is so aptly suited to assisting Canada’s health care facility and energy managers in taking a data-driven approach to managing energy use. From benchmarking, to consumption tracking and GHG emissions, energy audits and more, RETScreen provides a solution for health care energy professionals to take control of their facility portfolio.

Interested in rapidly developing an understanding and gaining hands-on experience with RETScreen? Then consider taking the three-day Certified RETScreen® Expert (CRE) course (https://cietcanada.com/programs/cre/) which includes access to a fully-functioning 90-day trial subscription. Depending upon your location, training subsidies may be available to help reduce your cost. (See also https://las.on.ca/LearnWithUs/RETScreenExpertWorkshops.aspx)

Training Incentives

Training subsidies are currently available in many provinces. Please see the relevant course webpages at: https://cietcanada.com/programs/cre/

Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (CHES) members may qualify for educational assistance. Please check with your chapter.

How can HealthCare Energy Leaders Canada (HELC) help you?

Developed by the Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care, together with the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society (www.CHES.org), HELC was designed from the inside out by a team intimate with the daily challenges and opportunities faced each day within a health care setting. In addition to assistance with RETScreen, 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 and other funding program documents for potential funding assistance.

Our HELC team is equipped to assist you in implementing RETScreen in your health care organisation and helping you develop a sound energy management plan. In addition, HELC also provides 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 and other program documents for funding assistance. Reach us at jj.knott@greenhealthcare.ca

JJ Knott, the Coalition’s Certified RETScreen Expert is available to help health care organisations across Canada establish RETScreen Clean Energy Management Software as an integral part of their overall strategic energy management initiative.

Through the RETScreen software, the Healthcare Energy Leaders Canada program can help health care facilities quickly analyze cost savings, feasibility, and emissions reductions related to proposed energy conservation measures. The program can also be used to help prioritize projects based on net present value analysis, return on investment, cost to benefit analysis, and future cash flows. It also enables the health care organisation to monitor and track energy savings and to report on cumulative savings resulting from completed projects, with adjusted baselines based on project completion dates. RETScreen can also be used to track energy consumption by single facility or based on a portfolio of multiple facilities, and has the capability to simplify report writing based on any project.
The Coalition and HealthCare Energy Leaders Canada looks forward to assisting health care organisations across Canada with analysis of energy conservation measures and/or the implementation of the RETScreen analysis tool within their organisation.

FREE RETScreen webinar – March 27, 2019

Learn how RETScreen Expert Energy Management Software can help health care energy managers quickly identify, assess and optimize the technical and financial viability of energy projects while assisting them to improve their climate change impact resilience. RETScreen helps in measurement and verification of actual energy performance and will help uncover additional energy savings possibilities.

RETScreen is a comprehensive “made-in-Canada” clean energy management software platform which enables health care energy and building professionals to identify and assess the viability of energy efficiency, renewable energy and cogeneration projects; and measure and verify the actual and ongoing energy performance of hospitals, long-term care homes, and energy plants.

Presenters will include:

JJ Knott, HealthCare Energy Leaders Canada – Canadian Coalition for Green Health Care

Kevin Bourque, Senior Engineer, Innovation and Energy Technology Sector, Natural Resources Canada

Stephen Dixon, Energy Consultant, Know Energy

To view the webinar please click here.