GE And Asklepios Hospital Group Announce Their First European Collaboration To Reduce Hospital Environmental Impact

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 06 Jul 2009 - 4:00 PDT

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GE (NYSE:GE), and Asklepios Hospital Group today signed an agreement to create their first project in German healthcare to comprehensively address environmental issues. The renovation and expansion of one of the hospitals owned by Asklepios in Hamburg, Germany, known as the "Green Hospital" project, will be their pilot hospital in Europe entirely planned and designed on ecological principles.

The Asklepios Hospital in Hamburg is particularly well-suited for the "Green Hospital" project. The energy efficiency principles will be employed both in the conversion of existing buildings and the construction of new facilities. Finalization of the project is planned for 2013.

"A well-preserved environment is essential for good health. By working with our customers and partners in the conception and design of healthcare facilities, we aim to reduce energy usage, conserve water, generate renewable energy onsite, maintain air quality, reduce waste, increase staff productivity and improve patient satisfaction," GE Chairman and CEO Jeff Immelt said at the signing ceremony of the cooperation agreement, which took place as part of the celebrations to mark the 5-year anniversary of GE's Global Research Center (GRC) in Germany.

Worldwide, the healthcare sector is faced with new challenges when it comes to the planning of hospitals and healthcare institutions. As natural resources dwindle and costs rise, pathways leading to minimize the impact that healthcare delivery has on the environment are in greater demand than ever. This joint project to create an energy efficient hospital addresses these challenges, making it a first in Europe to be planned and designed while considering all interdependencies across a variety of ecological measures. In addition to GE's close cooperation with Asklepios in Germany, the Company is actively engaging customers in other parts of Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific and the Middle East to deploy environmental concepts at hospitals worldwide.

Achieving the goal to complete this project requires a multi-layered implementation concept. GE will provide the necessary innovative solutions from its different business units and supply Asklepios with unique concepts for building and operating hospitals, optimizing the efficiencies of the design. "One of the benefits of having GE's GRC in Munich is that they will be actively involved with Asklepios in creating and testing new product concepts," Immelt added. GE's technologies to be evaluated are Power-Heat-Cooling co-generation, solar heat and cold, energy efficient medical equipment and lighting as well as systems for water purification reuse.

An Integrative Concept

The "Green Hospital" project is based on a multi-dimensional approach: the combination of ecology, economy and the well-being of people in a hospital. "This collaboration is an integrated concept that harnesses the synergies between innovation, technological progress and the responsible usage of natural resources," explained Dr. Tobias Kaltenbach, CEO, Asklepios.

"This is an exciting opportunity to simultaneously decrease environmental impact and cost while improving the quality of patient care," Dr. Rolf Lucas, President & CEO, GE Healthcare, Germany, emphasized. "All areas are closely interlinked - from the building design and energy management to lighting, control systems and hygiene. These measures will be innovative, reliable and cost-effective. As a result, the investments required are planned to have amortized within three to six years."

Pilot project: Asklepios Klinik Hamburg-Harburg

"We look forward to pushing the limits on what is currently possible. Healthcare should be a leader in creating more sustainable facilities, and we believe this will be an important milestone towards that mission," said Dr. Kaltenbach. "As part of the implementation of the "Green Hospital" project, our aim is to increase energy efficiency by 30 percent while at the same time reducing energy consumption by 30 percent and expanding the proportion of renewable energies in the energy mix by up to 30 percent. Our goal is a 30-30-30 model geared towards the European Union's target for the expansion of renewable energies, and in fact actually even exceeds it."

Four years ago, GE created the global ecomagination program to develop innovations aimed at solving environmental problems. Asklepios has comprehensive medical expertise in the building and operation of healthcare facilities.

Source
GE Healthcare
Asklepios