Community Care

With over 20,000 long community-term care facilities in North America and the ongoing retirement of 65 million Baby Boomers in the next twenty ten years, meeting current and future energy demands is a real concern for the long-term care industry. Add to that the growing awareness of environmental damage due to greenhouse gas emissions, maintaining a profitable facility requires monitoring and reducing energy consumption with an eye to long-term sustainability.

Decreasing energy costs without compromising the health and comfort of residents is a major priority for long-term community care facilities. Because these facilities are in operation 24/7 and have a diverse range of energy requirements, cutting energy costs can be a challenge. And it should be noted that saving $1 in energy costs equates to a top line revenue of over $9.

Star Energy is at the forefront of bringing energy efficiency and sustainability to long-term community care facilities in order to lower operating costs. Our comprehensive energy audits examine every aspect of energy consumption for your operation, from HVAC and medical equipment to kitchen and laundry facilities and the building itself.

Our exclusive ECRp® program systematically identifies energy cost reduction opportunities that fit your financial criteria, typically delivering an IRR of over 30%.

Examining one year's worth of utility bills and measuring the overall efficiency of your facility is the basis for developing a list of practical and cost-effective improvements that will lower your energy consumption. Improvements may include utilizing new technologies, alternative fuel sources and high-efficiency equipment, as well as simple, no-cost and low-cost solutions to considerably reduce utility bills and lower your carbon footprint.

An example of one of the many cost-effective ways to reduce utility bills is replacing existing lighting with LED lights, which can reduce the electricity required for lighting by up to 85%. Advanced technologies, such as heat recovery systems that reduce water-heating costs by up to 60% and high efficiency HVAC retrofits, ozone laundry systems that reduce water and energy consumption by up to 30%, contribute to vast significant energy savings that translate to lower operational costs and responsible environmental stewardship.

Once improvements are in place, we oversee monitoring and tracking to ensure that savings are sustainable for over the long-term. The ongoing monitoring of energy consumption alone can help reduce energy consumption by up to 15%.

Education is an essential part of energy management in long-term care facilities, and it's a large part of our role in helping you control utility costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. One of the most important factors in maintaining a high level of energy efficiency is the active participation and awareness of management, staff and residents alike to ensure that conservation efforts contribute to a better facility, cleaner environment and lower costs for community care.