Jane Paulson, MnTAP and Jordan Reller, North Memorial Health MnTAP Water Conservation Success: Hennepin Health & North Memorial Health Jane Paulson, MnTAP and Jordan Reller, North Memorial Health

Who is MnTAP? Provide no cost technical assistance Through University of Minnesota, School of Public Health Provide no cost technical assistance Pollution Prevention Energy Efficiency Water Conservation Cost Savings Through On Site Assessments Intern Projects Minnesota Materials Exchange

Considerations for Water Projects Water is cheap, making it difficult to justify upgrades and replacements on the cost of water alone However, other factors may make it worthwhile: Energy – if heated water is saved, the cost of energy can quickly justify upgrades. This can also make the project eligible for utility rebates. Wastewater charges Sewer Availability Charges (SAC) Improved utility or reliability Consider efficiency when purchasing necessary replacements

Recent MnTAP Water Projects at Hospitals Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, MN, 2016 North Memorial Health Hospital, Robbinsdale, MN, 2018

Snapshot – Hennepin County Medical Center 3 million square feet 6 campus buildings Over 6,000 full time equivalent employees 130,000 in-patient days 46 million gallons of water These numbers represent the HCMC’s impact in 2015. HCMC has a very large urban footprint – it’s about 3 million square feet, 7 city blocks and it employs over 6,000 people and experiences about 130,000 in-patient days. In total, HCMC used 46 million gallons of water in 2015.

Benchmarking – from Practice Greenhealth Explain what practice green health is!

Project Overview Updating fixtures to efficient flow levels. Sinks, showers, and toilets Replace aging water intensive equipment dishwashers, washers, sterilizers, and washing machines Eliminating all unnecessary use of tap water to cool discharge water. Reuse reject water from reverse osmosis systems Main water-reducing projects: ensure efficient flows, document equipment updates, discontinue water use to cool discharge water, and reuse reject water from RO systems

1. Domestic Fixture Savings Sinks from 2.2 gpm to 1.0 gpm 2,300,000 gallons potential savings 12,000 therms in energy savings $38,000 in savings with 0.20 year payback Showers from 2.5 gpm to 1.5 gpm 520,000 gallons potential savings 3,200 therms in energy savings $9,000 in savings with 0.78 year payback By placing an aerator on each faucet, the sink flow is reduced from 2.2 gpm to 1.0 gpm which produces a total savings of 3.3 million gallons. These calculations are derived from the soap usage with an assumed one pump of soap and 20 seconds per wash. So far 30% of the sinks have aerators, therefore there’s approximately 2.3 million gallons more opportunity in savings. Updated shower heads (shown on the left) produce a flow of 1.5 gpm compared to those on the right which have a flow of 2.5 gpm. Switching all of the shower heads to the more efficient model would produce a savings of 750,000 gallons total. The shower calculations are based on 470 patient room showers if each of the 150,000 in-patients in 2015 showers for 5 minutes. 30% of which has been realized so far, with just over half a million gallons more available in savings.

Estimating Usages Complicated to estimate sink water use in a hospital Hand washing protocols and requirements are high Estimated the amount of water used based on the amount of soap used After trying to base the estimate on the number of sinks and length of time spent washing hands Additional assumptions: 20 seconds and 1 pump of soap

Domestic Fixture Savings (Continued) Toilets from 3.5 gpf to 1.6 gpf 710,000 potential savings An additional 40,000 gallons if dual flush Retrofitting the toilets will cost $20,000 25 flushes per day would produce a 2 year payback Recommended to investigate high use areas Only updated toilets can be retrofitted Estimated one flush per day per toilet – conservative estimate. Include picture of dual flush handle Newer toilets have a 1.6 gallon flush and older model toilets have a 3.5 gallon flush. In total, about 1 million gallons in savings from updating all of the toilets by assuming one flush per day per toilet – very conservative estimate. Currently about 25% of the toilets have been changed with about 700,000 more in potential savings. There could be an additional 150,000 gallons saved if there are dual flush capabilities installed. This estimate is rough because not every flush will be the lower flush. The two choices would be the current full amount (1.6 gpf) or 1.0 gpf. 150,000 comes from a reduction from 1.6 gpf to 1.0 gpf and assuming 50% of the flushes are the lower flush option. 25 flushes per day in order to create a 2 year payback.

2. Equipment Replacements 3 Large Washers $32,000 and 2,130,000 gallons in savings with 5.06 year payback 6,000 therms in energy savings 2 Sterilizers $53,800 and 2,840,000 gallons in savings with 6.69 year payback 20,000 therms in energy savings 1 Dishwasher $16,500 and 720,000 gallons in savings with 7.77 year payback 4,000 therms in energy savings 4 Washing Machines $7,000 and 530,000 gallons in savings with 0.43 year payback 3,000 therms in energy savings Currently, 1 dishwasher in the main kitchen has been replaced and there is another one in the Cafe that could be updated. There are 3 washers that are being replaced in central sterile processing and 2 others on campus. There are 2 sterilizers also in central sterile processing that are in the process of being requested and 7 other sterilizers on campus that could have water savings similar to that listed above. In the psych department, there are 4 washing machines that are highly used and very old. The amount of savings looks small in comparison to the others, but the payback is quick, so it is recommended that they are replaced. Add energy**

3. Eliminate Discharge Water Tempering Cold water mixed with washer discharge water In the past, discharge needed to be cooled below 140°F Regulations now allow maximum discharge temperature of 180°F Over 1.5 million gallons of water saved among 4 washers Regulations required discharge water to be below 140 degrees in the past, so cold water was mixed with discharge. The regulations were updated to allow 180 degree discharge, therefore that water use was unnecessary. Simply by eliminating this water use, HCMC saved approximately 1.5 million gallons of water.

4. Reverse Osmosis Reject Water Reuse 510,000 gallons per year of reject water total Reject water reuse recommended Floor cleaning – about 5,000 gallons per month Irrigation – about 27,000 gallons monthly in summer months Utilizing 35% or 180,000 gallons per year Floor cleaning uses approximately 5,000 gallons of water monthly and a new reverse osmosis system will be put in place near the filling station for the floor cleaning equipment. This reverse osmosis system will produce about 4,500 gallons of reject water per month that could be used to fill the floor cleaning machines. In the hot summer months, irrigating the hospital’s landscape uses about 50,000 gallons of water monthly. A reverse osmosis system that is located conveniently to use the reject water for irrigation produces about 27,000 gallons of water per month. Ideally this water would all be able to be used for toilet water because all of the water would then be used year-round and it’d all be put toward the same use. However, after speaking with John, he has said that plumbing-wise that’d be very complicated.

Total 13,020,000 48,200 $182,600 Type Upgrade Water Savings (gal/yr) Energy Savings (Therms) Cost Reduction Implementation Cost Payback (yr) Domestic Fixture Updates Sink Aerator 3,300,000 12,000 $38,000 $7,500 0.20 Shower Heads 750,000 3,200 $9,000 $7,000 0.78 Toilet Replacement 1,100,000 N/A $10,000 TBD Toilet Retrofit 40,000 $400 $20,000 2 (25+ flushes) Equipment Replacements Washers 2,130,000 6,000 $32,000 $162,000 5.06 Sterilizers 2,840,000 20,000 $53,800 $360,000 6.69 Dishwasher 720,000 4,000 $16,500 $130,000 7.77 Washing Machines 530,000 3,000 $3,000 0.43 Other Water Tempering 1,500,000 $14,000 Immediate RO Reuse 180,000 $1,600 Unknown Total 13,020,000 48,200 $182,600

Snapshot – North Memorial Health North Memorial Health Hospital 1.7 million sqft 5,000 full time employees 38 Million Gallons of Water in 2018 These numbers represent the HCMC’s impact in 2015. HCMC has a very large urban footprint – it’s about 3 million square feet, 7 city blocks and it employs over 6,000 people and experiences about 130,000 in-patient days. In total, HCMC used 46 million gallons of water in 2015.

Project Overview 1. Kitchen rinse trough solenoid and timer 2. Providing cooling of walk in compressor system from winter chiller system 3. Update of Reverse Osmosis System 4. Irrigation system weather sensors 5. Update of kitchen dish machine

1. Kitchen Trough Solenoid Valve and Timer for Soup Kettle Trough Used over 1.5 million gallons each year of 127 degree water Valve could be turned on, but be forgotten to be turned off Installed NC solenoid valve with timer

1. Kitchen Trough Before After Will save over 1.3 million gallons and 7000 Therms $500 to implement $13,000 in savings each year Implemented August 2018

2. Walk-In Compressor Cooling Placed three – 2 ton water cooled compressors for Kitchen walk-in coolers on the hospital chilled water loop. Cooling lines were piped off of chilled water return line to year round cooling system Inlet side of cooling system pumped in at 58 degrees. Eliminated 2.6 mil gal/year single pass cooling water Implemented Feb 2019

3. Reverse Osmosis System 764,000 gallon water use reduction 3 year ROI New system would have 3:1 efficiency vs current 1:2 Currently under review with facility to determine cost and criticality before capital approval

4. Irrigation System Weather Sensor 162,000 gal annual reduction 2.7 year ROI Weather sensors prevent overwatering during wet weather.  Automation also reduces labor of manually adjusting the system. Currently under review with facility and irrigation vendor

5. Update Dish Machine 170,000 gal water reduction - $1600 150,000 kwh reduction - $10,000 $7500 reduction in chemical usage 8.1 year ROI 14 year old unit nearing end of life, requiring increased maintenance Currently under review with facility and contracted dietary teams.

Project Analysis Recommendation Annual reduction Total cost Annual savings Payback period Solenoid Valve and Timer 1.3 mil gal water 7,000 Therms $500 $12,500 $600 2 weeks Condensers Loop 2.6 mil gal water $25,000 $24,000 1.1 years New Reverse Osmosis System 764,000 gal water $7,000 3 years Irrigation System weather sensors 162,000 gal water $4,000 $1,500 2.7 years Dish machine update 170,000 gal water 150,000 kWh $155,000 $1,600 $10,100 $7,500 8.1 years

MnTAP Partnership Able to efficiently quantify data and transform to dollars that will support approval of funding from Hospital Leadership Cost effective engineering partners Piqued interest from Senior Leadership helps to close the gap between clinical and operations leaders Community partnership that is able to aid in fulfilling obligation to conserving critical resources as high volume users in community