Infrastructure Optimization
Optimize Your Health System Infrastructure
Oakwell is a team of critical experts equipped to improve your health system’s financial and environmental performance of your health system’s infrastructure from start to finish.
There is unused capital and wasted operating dollars locked inside your facilities. Oakwell’s infrastructure optimization solutions can help you unlock it.
Hospitals are the third-most energy-intensive buildings in the world. In fact, their power needs are three to six times that of a regular office building. Wouldn’t it be great if you could reduce your energy consumption and free up funds to reinvest in patient care?
Today’s Landscape
Oakwell can help you dramatically reduce your energy use, improve the quality of your environment, and renew aging infrastructure — all while lowering your operating costs.
How Oakwell Unlocks Healthcare Infrastructure Sustainability
Oakwell takes a meticulous, measured approach to helping health systems solve their healthcare infrastructure performance and sustainability needs.
Reduce Energy Usage
The first step hospitals can take to optimize their infrastructure is to reduce the energy use in their existing systems. Oakwell can guide your team through low-hanging fruit that offers a myriad of ways to tighten the belt and establish better practices moving forward.
Engineer Evaluation
Oakwell engineers visit the medical site to evaluate their systems and identify opportunities to reduce carbon emissions, energy consumption, and costs. They will target all energy-using systems from the central plant to the individual room level.
Audits and Projections
Oakwell’s comprehensive evaluations include detailed audits by senior engineers, interviews with staff, and in-depth analysis of the entire infrastructure to create energy models that help identify savings opportunities and project your future usage reduction. We consider seasonal impacts, abnormalities, implementation costs, and the return on investment of each measure our team recommends.
Retro-Commissioning
We test the facility’s energy management systems that control the building’s central plant, HVAC, and climate control systems. The goal of this “tune-up” is to optimize the operation of the mechanical equipment to be as efficient as possible and improve the hospital’s environment.
Identify Electrification Opportunities
When we evaluate the facility’s infrastructure, our team always looks for ways to move away from using climate-intensive fossil fuels and convert those systems to use electricity where appropriate. We won’t recommend electrification where technologies aren’t proven or the ROI is unreasonable.
Planning and Oversight
The Oakwell team knows firsthand how difficult it can be to optimize the operation of a hospital without interrupting patient care. We ensure that your facility remains fully functional throughout the optimization process. It can be a long journey, but the long-term benefits are immense.
Financing Options
Infrastructure optimization isn’t cheap. While the long-term financial gains are significant, starting the process requires some level of capital investment. Oakwell’s team of financing experts can help you source the funds you need to move your organization forward.
Follow Up, Follow Up, Follow Up
Oakwell stays with you for the long haul. Throughout the implementation process and for years after, we help make sure you’re using as little energy as possible. We’ll calibrate your systems, monitor energy bills, identify trends, and analyze data to give you the confidence that your energy infrastructure remains optimized.
Benefits of Energy Utilization Optimization
Whether you need a simple tightening of the belt, a massive infrastructure renovation, or anything in between, Oakwell can help you achieve a healthier, more financially viable future.
Cost Savings
When you upgrade your energy and water systems for efficiency, it translates to lower operational costs. Modernized, efficient utility systems are also built to require less maintenance, making them even more financially sustainable.
One of our key case studies, Boston Medical Center, is on track to save more than $150 million in energy costs from 2011 to 2030 due to its diligent sustainability efforts.
Enhanced Patient Care
Optimizing your health system infrastructure environments has a direct impact on the well-being of your patients. Better temperature control, improved air quality, and reduced carbon emissions all lead to faster recovery times and a more positive experience for your patients.
Environmental Stewardship
You can significantly lower your carbon footprint by reducing your energy and water consumption. These kinds of real-impact improvements show your community that you genuinely care about their environment and well-being and take your responsibility to care for them seriously.
Increased Asset Value
Sustainable infrastructure upgrades can increase the value of your facilities, making them more attractive to potential investors. Your commitment to sustainability also results in better employee retention and recruitment, reduced patient churn, and a stronger overall reputation.