Healthcare: Pollution Prevention & Best Management Practices
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Index of Topics
- Sustainable Hospital Project
- Best Management Practices
- Energy
- Environmental Management Systems
- Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)
- Food
- Green Buildings
- Greenscapes
- Pollution Prevention
- Stormwater
- Transportation
- Waste Management
- Water Conservation
Sustainable
Hospitals
Support for selecting products and work practices
EPA New England Hospital Environmental Assessment Template - An Environmental Compliance & Pollution Prevention Tool (PDF) (8 pp., 281 KB, about PDF)
Best Management Practices Catalog for Colleges & Universities
Energy Star
- Become an Energy Star Partner
- Building Upgrade Manual
- Carbon Emission for Building Energy Use
- Commercial Kitchen Package
- Design to Earn Energy Star
- Energy Star for Healthcare
- Evaluate Your Hospital or Medical Office's Energy Performance
- Healthcare Benchmarking Starter Kit
- Internet Presentations
- Labeled Healthcare Facility Profiles
- New Building Guidance
- Purchasing and Procurement
- Quantity Quotes
- E2C Quick Reference Guide, September 2006 (PDF) (3 pp., 447 KB, about PDF)
- E2C Recognition Application (PDF) (9 pp., 84 KB, about PDF)
Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
Combined Heat and Power (CHP) is an efficient, clean, and reliable approach to generating power and thermal energy from a single fuel source. By installing a CHP system designed to meet the thermal and electrical base loads of a facility, CHP can increase operational efficiency and decrease energy costs, while reducing emissions of greenhouse gases that contribute to climate change.
- EPA CHP Partnership
- EPA CHP webinars
- Combined Heat and Power Resource Guide for Hospital Applications (PDF) (81 pp., 3.75 MB, about PDF)
- Northeast CHP Application Center
- Eastern Maine Medical Center CHP information including real time data
- North County Hospital (VT) Biomass CHP project (PDF) (4 pp., 86 KB, about PDF)
Massachusetts Technology Collaborative
The state's development agency for renewable energy and the innovation
economy funds projects and studies in a range of areas, including
green buildings, green power, and solar energy.
Department of Energy – Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy – Industrial Technologies Program
The Industrial Technologies Program works with U.S. industry to improve industrial energy efficiency and environmental performance. Find software tools (pumps, motors, fans, steam systems, process heaters), training and other useful information.
DOE EnergySmart Hospitals
A Department of Energy (DOE) Initiative to provide hospitals the resources, tools, and strategies to cost and energy savings through efficient and renewable energy technology applications for both new and existing facilities.
EnergyPlus Version 2.0
The US Department of Energy has released the newest version of EnergyPlus. Key new features include green roofs, phase-change materials, and enhanced building controls.
Database of State Incentives for Renewables & Efficiency (DSIRE)
DSIRE is a comprehensive source of information on state, local, utility, and federal incentives that promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) State Energy Efficiency Policy Web site
Online database of energy efficiency policies in the states, searchable by state or by policy. The database covers: 1) appliance standards; 2) building codes; 3) clean distributed generation policies, 4) tax incentives, 5) vehicle policies and 6) a host of utility-related energy efficiency information
Heat Island Effect: Energy Savings web page
Energy & New England’s Environment
Environmental Management Systems
Health
Care Guide to Pollution Prevention Implementation through Environmental
Management Systems, Draft 2nd Edition, 2005, Kentucky Pollution
Prevention Center
The KPPC has this document on CD-ROM and it can be obtained free by contacting KPPC toll-free at (800) 334-8635, extension 8520965, direct at (502) 852-0965 or by email to INFO@kppc.org
College & University Environmental Management System Guide
Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP)
EPA Environmentally Preferable Purchasing Program
Find a database of "green" procurement language, EPP publications, case studies, policy documents, tip sheets, and federal EPP links on the Internet.
Practice Greenhealth, EPP
Find the H2E 10-step guide to EPP.
Practice Greenhealth, Green Cleaning
Find the H2E 10-step guide to Green Cleaning Implementation.
ENERGY STAR Purchasing & Procurement
Find a database of energy efficient products, energy savings calculators, purchasing specifications, and a vendor locator.
Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool
"EPEAT" is a procurement tool to help institutional purchasers in the public and private sectors evaluate, compare and select desktop computers, notebooks and monitors based on their environmental attributes (including energy efficiency).
Green Chemical Alternatives Wizard
This web-based tool provides information on chemical alternatives for some of the most commonly used hazardous solvents and substances in research laboratories.
Building for Environmental and Economic Sustainability (BEES) version 4.0
The tool updates data on more than 200 products and adds 30 new products for review. It also offers users the option of a new set of consensus weights for scoring the environmental impact of individual building products, based on a BEES stakeholder panel convened last year.
Pharos Project
Developing a framework for comparing products.
Organic Materials – Food Scraps EPA Waste site
Composting – Practice Greenhealth
Health Care Without Harm Food site
Practice Greenhealth Green Buildings page
Healthcare Without Harm Healthy Buildings page
Healthcare Environmental Resource Center Green Buildings page
EPA New England Green Buildings
Green Guide for Health Care
This toolkit provides guidance for integrating enhanced environmental health principles and practices into the planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance of healthcare facilities. The Green Guide for Health Care is available as a free download (registration required).
Global Health and Safety Initiative
A sector-wide collaboration to transform the way that healthcare designs, builds and operates its facilities, as well as the products used within those facilities
U.S. Green Building Council
This broad coalition from the construction industry, financial sector, government, and public interest organizations develops and promotes green building principles.
Healthy Building Network
Find information on green building topics specific to the healthcare sector
Center for Health Design
Through research, education, advocacy and technical assistance, the Center supports healthcare and design professionals in their efforts to improve the quality of healthcare through evidence-based building design.
Building Healthy Hospitals: Top 5 Green Building Strategies for Healthcare
EPA Region 9 collaborated with green building experts from across the United States as part of its "Building Healthy Hosptials" project. For an overview of the project and to access the case studies for each of the 5 Top Green Building Strategies for Healthcare: Energy Efficiency—Integrated Design and HVAC Systems, Process Water Efficiency, Sustainable Flooring Material Selection, Indoor Air Quality: Materials Selection, and Lighting Efficiency—Optimizing Artificial and Natural Lighting
Environmentally
Beneficial Landscaping
Greenscaping can save you money and prevent pollution.
Greenscapes Tools
Find downloadable on-line calculators that allow you to compare costs (e.g. between environmentally preferable methods, using virgin materials). The calculators demonstrate that these activities are often cost competitive and provide numerous environmental benefits. They can aid in your decision making and implementation of more sustainable landscape design, construction, and operations and maintenance.
Joint
Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
Environmental Compliance and Improvement Guide
Guide relates each JCAHO Element of Performance to specific federal
regulations, to help facilities achieve compliance with both. The
Guide also suggests steps that facilities can take to encourage
environmental performance improvements.
Meeting
JCAHO Standards with Pollution Prevention
Information on how health care facilities can use pollution prevention
to meet JCAHO’s performance improvement standards.
Low Impact Development (LID)
National LID home page. Contains extensive EPA and Non-EPA resources and publications
Pollution Prevention Plans for Construction Activities
Green Infrastructure – Technologies and Approaches
University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center
Diesel Emission Reductions
- Northeast Diesel Collaborative homepage
- Northeast Diesel Collaborative Diesel Emissions Reduction Toolkit for Colleges/Universities, Hospitals, and Municipalities
- Northeast Diesel Collaborative model construction spec (PDF) (6 pp., 94 KB, about PDF)
- Dana-Farber Yawkey Center for Cancer Care Case Study
- Clean Construction USA
SmartWay Transport Partnership, US EPA
A voluntary partnership between various freight industry sectors and EPA that establishes incentives for fuel efficiency improvements and greenhouse gas emissions reductions
SmartWay Transport Partnership Program: Reduce Pollution from Your Vendors' Shipping Operations, Health Care Without Harm Fact Sheet, April 2006 (PDF) (2 pp., 83 KB, about PDF)
Fact sheet includes suggested RFP specification or contract language and a sample letter for purchasers to send to existing vendors to encourage them to join EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership Program
Practice Greenhealth Waste Reduction Website
Resource Conservation Challenge (RCC)
The RCC is a national effort to conserve natural resources and energy by managing materials more efficiently. The goals of the RCC are to:
- Prevent pollution and promote reuse and recycling;
- Reduce priority and toxic chemicals in products and waste; and
- Conserve energy and materials.
EPA WasteWise
Waste Wise is a free, voluntary partnership program sponsored by the EPA, through which organizations reduce municipal solid waste, benefiting their bottom line and the environment. Waste Wise is flexible, allowing partners to design waste reductions programs tailored to meet their needs. To join Waste Wise
Going Green Waste Minimization, Healthcare Without Harm
Mercury
Assessment Worksheet
To help organizations inventory their mercury-containing devices
and calculate their mercury content. Also includes a 2-page how-to-manual
(click on TOOLKIT INSTRUCTIONS at bottom of spreadsheet).
Reuse in New England
A guide to donation opportunities for businesses, local governments, and residents
to promote reuse over traditional solid waste disposal of materials that
still have "use."
EPA's eCycling
EPA is working to educate consumers and others on why it is important to reuse and recycle electronics and what the options are for safe reuse and recycling of these products. This website offers: basic information, information on where to donate, regulations/standards, frequently asked questions and resources.Going Green: Computer and Electronics, Healthcare Without Harm
Construction & Demolition (C&D) Debris
C&D Debris
Construction and demolition (C&D) debris consists of waste that is generated during new construction, renovation, and demolition of buildings, roads, and bridges. C&D debris often contains bulky, heavy materials that include: concrete, wood, and asphalt (from roads and roofing shingles); gypsum (the main component of drywall); metals, bricks, glass, and plastics; and salvaged building components, such as doors, windows, and plumbing fixtures.Use this site to access a range of resources from New England and beyond to help you reduce, reuse, and recycle waste during construction, renovation, deconstruction, and demolition, and to help you understand some of the environmental issues associated with C&D debris.
Recycling Construction and Demolition Wastes - A Guide for Architects and Contractors, April 2005 (PDF) (57 pp., 1.83 MB, about PDF)
The Institution Recycling Network wrote this guidance document as an introduction and "how to" for job site recycling.
Practice Greenhealth Water Conservation
Energy Star Water Tracking System
By tracking water use alongside energy use, you can better understand how these resources relate to one another, make integrated management decisions that increase overall efficiency, and verify savings from improvement projects in both energy and water systems. Organizations that manage water and energy performance together can take advantage of this relationship to create greener, more sustainable buildings.
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority Water Efficiency & Management for Hospitals
Waterwiser
A clearinghouse of resources on water conservation, efficiency and demand management for conservation professionals and the larger water supply community.