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For just a second, Dan Aten wondered, “Who turned off the lights?” Working quietly one evening in his unfinished office space at Mercy Medical Center – West Lakes, the hospital director was momentarily caught off-guard by the motion-activated lighting, which decided he must have left the room and automatically shut off.

“So I waved my arms, and of course they went right back on,” he said. “But it does take some getting used to.”

Such energy-saving features are part of the reason Mercy expects to save about $145,000 on electricity costs for the new West Des Moines hospital and spend about a half-million dollars less for its total yearly energy needs for the new facility.

Both Mercy and its competitor, Iowa Health – Des Moines, have designed energy-efficient hospitals in West Des Moines that are using state-of-the-art green building techniques. The payoff when both hospitals are completed later this year: buildings that are more efficient for staff and more healthful for patients and visitors. And being greener will also result in healthier bottom lines, say officials with both hospital systems.

Iowa Health officials estimate the new Methodist West Hospital will use nearly 20 percent less energy than it would have had it simply met energy code requirements. By exceeding those requirements through efficient design, selection of equipment and enhanced insulation, the hospital should save nearly $82,000 a year in energy costs, officials estimate.

Recouping costs

Both organizations found that many of the higher costs involved in achieving above-average energy savings will be recouped relatively quickly, whether the money is spent purchasing high-efficiency boilers or specialized roofing materials.

Mercy, for instance, chose a white reflective rubberized roofing material that’s expected to reduce energy costs by $25,000 a year. The hospital expects to recoup the additional expense – $50,000 – in the first two years of operation.

“Our average payback was under three years,” Aten said. “In other words, the savings in the cost of the water or electricity or both compared to the upcharge for the piece of equipment was less than three years, on average. We expect this building to be here for 100 years, so the rest of those years will be savings. Plus, nobody is projecting that our cost of energy per year will go down, so the savings will only increase.”

Given Iowa’s climate extremes, one enhancement that pays for itself quickly is increased insulation, said Jim Lee, a team leader with Shive-Hattery Group Inc., which designed Methodist West. “That’s a no-brainer,” he said. “It’s there for the life of the building and saves money every year, with very little incremental cost.” Iowa Health also opted for an energy-efficient reflective white roof. Other decisions were less clear-cut.

“We looked at alternative-energy sources like photovoltaic solar cells, which are very popular in the Southwest because the sun shines there a lot,” Lee said. “The Iowa Health board was very interested in photovoltaics, and I think they still are, but it was one of those features where the cost versus the potential savings just didn’t make rational sense.” The board also decided against a geothermal heating and cooling system; such systems have produced mixed results for hospitals, Lee said.

Much of the energy savings for both hospitals will be generated within the cavernous basement mechanical rooms, areas that will never be seen by patients or the medical staff. Among the equipment choices at Methodist West are 96 percent-efficient boilers, a tankless on-demand hot-water heating system and an emergency generator that can augment the hospital’s electricity needs during peak load times.

“We worked hand-in-hand with the Weitz Co. and MidAmerican (Energy Co.) to determine some of those strategies,” Lee said, “and along with the subcontractors, put together the associated costs of some of those things so we could make smart decisions up front and stay within budget but still incorporate some of those strategies.”

Buying locally

Aten, who served as Mercy’s executive vice president from 1977 to 1986 before returning last year to serve as director of the new West Lakes hospital, oversaw the construction of the H-shaped twin towers on Mercy’s main campus during his earlier tenure.

Though there was some attention to energy saving and conservation then, “today, the costs are such that it’s just irresponsible not to look at how you can be more efficient,” he said.

Mercy’s West Lakes hospital is a joint venture of Ball Construction Services LLC and J.E. Dunn Construction Co., the latter of which has built more than 100 hospitals across the country. Using primarily local subcontractors and suppliers as much as possible cut costs and improved the building’s “green footprint,” Aten said.

“In everything we bought, we looked at how could we buy it in Iowa, or within a 500-mile range, because it costs so much money to transport (materials),” he said. For instance, the hospital purchased granite that was mined in South Dakota rather than Italy or Brazil, which reduced transportation costs significantly.

Both projects also are focusing major attention on recycling construction materials during the building process, as well as using recycled building materials. Iowa Health estimates it has recycled 77 percent of the construction waste generated at the building site; Mercy figures it has recycled 240 tons of construction waste.

“Product manufacturers are getting on board with the green movement and trying to introduce more recycled content into their products, and making us as designers aware of those features so we can specify them in projects,” Lee said. For instance, nearly all of the carpeting at Methodist West will be made from recycled materials and will be sent back to the manufacturer when it’s replaced to be recycled.

Enhanced construction techniques, such as using scrubbers to eliminate toxic fumes and dust from the air during the building process, protect workers’ health and also keep toxins from being caught in the ductwork or absorbed into the carpeting, he noted. So when the hospital opens, it should smell fresh, rather than having a heavy paint or carpeting odor.

LEED or not?

Both health-care providers are documenting their energy-efficient design features and environmentally friendly building techniques for use in obtaining Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. Mercy will apply for LEED Silver certification in the new building category.

“We felt like it was a really important discipline for us to go through during construction, whether we got certification or not,” Aten said. “Having done all this, I think it sets a good example for others to look hard at these things.”

Though Iowa Health has taken steps to have a green building, officials have not yet decided whether they will pursue LEED certification for the building, said Sherry Stewart, Iowa Health’s director of design, construction and property management. She estimated Iowa Health reduced the length of the construction project by five months and will save up to $500,000 by not immediately pursuing LEED certification.

“We thought it was probably a better use of dollars,” Stewart said. “We spent the dollars for the energy efficiency and to make the building sustainable.” The hospital may pursue certification later as an existing building, but that hasn’t been decided, she said.

Aten said he has agreed to postpone his retirement for a couple more years to serve as the new hospital’s director and ensure continuity from the design and construction phase.

“We’ve heard a lot of stories about, you build a new hospital, you do a lot of things and then you hire somebody new,” he said. “Well, that person says, ‘I don’t know why you would do that; let’s change everything.’ We did find several hospitals that were spending literally millions of dollars modifying the building.”

At the same time, Aten said he sees energy efficiency as a moving target as technologies evolve. “I’m sure that we’ll make many changes over the years as we find things that are more efficient,” he said.