I work for GE Healthcare and we recently introduced a new CT (Cat-Scan) Scanner to the market that is 60% more electrically efficient. We are the first and only company to come out with a scanner approved by the FDA as an energy-efficient unit. The vast improvement in energy savings & efficiency is due to the integration of a new "sleep-mode" feature.
As you know, medical equipment (especially CT & MRI) represents a significant percentage of energy loads in healthcare facilities annually. It has been said that large medical equipment is, on average, only "in-use" (meaning with a patient being scanned) about 70% of the time; the other 30% of the time the machines, although not "in-use," have to still be "up & running" due to the elongated ramp-up/ start up time and the necessary internal cooling of certain parts. With this unique FDA-cleared CT Scanner developed by our GRC team, we have now circumvented that 30% extra up-&-running time, allowing for 60% decrease in energy consumption.
With that said, I am curious as to whether there are any incentive programs or tax credits (possibly Pilot Credit 3 or others I am unaware of) that this new scanner may align with so that customers are monetarily or LEED-point incentivized to make a slightly more expensive capital investment for a more efficient system. Would a product like this qualify for any: Tax credits? LEED points? LEED Pilot Credit 3? Incentive Programs?
I apologize for the long explanation, but any guidance you can provide would be much appreciated as I have been unsuccessful in finding any information on this matter.
Thank you,
Catherine
Marcus Sheffer
LEED Fellow7group / Energy Opportunities
LEEDuser Expert
5906 thumbs up
January 13, 2012 - 1:03 pm
Hi Catherine,
Certainly looks like this would help teams meet this pilot credit.
The only financial incentives that come to mind would be in those areas with demand side management programs. Many utilities offer rebates for energy efficiency. Typically they have a whole series of set rebates and incentives and also a custom incentive. Sounds like this would probably need to be submitted under a custom incentive program. The requirements for applying will vary depending on the program so this would have to be investigated based on the location of the project where it would be installed.
A great source of information to find out about local incentives is:
http://www.dsireusa.org/