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Being green is something Penn Medicine takes seriously. The hospital system has switched to light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, added variable-speed drives (VSDs) to HVAC equipment when possible, and replaced older chillers and recommissioned entire buildings to increase efficiency, among other things. The system even has entered into a power purchase agreement with a 220-megawatt solar power plant in central Pennsylvania.

All of those efforts are important in the system’s sustainability journey, but Kathleen Fink, energy manager at Penn Medicine, knows that discrete projects that cut emissions and save energy are just the most visible aspects of being green. Today, to be truly focused on sustainability, a health care facility must have a master plan in place, get all hospital departments involved, deal with municipal regulations, and manage downstream and upstream emissions.