NJBPU approves Jersey Shore University Medical Center energy incentive

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The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) approved on Wednesday a $732,213 energy efficiency incentive for Hackensack Meridian Health’s Jersey Shore Medical Center under New Jersey’s Clean Energy Program’s Large Energy Users Program.

The total cost of the project is $1,215,612, with the hospital paying the difference between the incentive and total cost.

The proposed project will have an estimated annual energy cost savings of $339,556. Each year this project is anticipated to conserve 1,825,094 kWh of electricity, the amount of power it would take to operate a home air conditioner for 600,000 hours, as well as 168,626 therms of natural gas. The project, according to NJBPU will also reduce peak demand by an anticipated 208 kW per year.

“Fighting climate change is everyone’s responsibility, and buildings are one of our largest sources of those harmful greenhouse gasses that we must reduce. That’s why I’m especially heartened every time I see a project like this one, in which a large energy user steps up to the plate to make their facilities more energy-efficient. What’s more, the energy and the money that they’ll save will enjoy a triple bottom line – good for people, good for the planet, and good for profits,” said Joseph Fiordaliso, president, NJBPU.

According to NJBPU the project will refurbish and upgrade the hospital’s air handling unit, the part of the HVAC system that regulates and circulates air. It will include replacing one heat wheel, three centrifugal fans with fan arrays, and installing controls to provide efficient operation of the four fan arrays and the hot and cold decks.

The proposed upgrades – which will dramatically reduce the hospital’s energy costs – will ensure heating and cooling to be delivered as efficiently as possible while still maintaining necessary airflow.