JIM CRABB – PRINCIPAL, MAZZETTI, USA DECARBONISATION
Pioneering transition to all-electric hospitals
Healthcare facilities produce a significant proportion of the world’s carbon emissions, which means that decarbonisation in the sector is absolutely crucial, as Jim Crabb, PE, LEED AP, principal at Mazzetti, explains.
The need for decarbonisation in healthcare is becoming increasingly critical. Healthcare represents almost 20 per cent of the US national economy, 8.5 per cent of US carbon emissions, and five per cent of global carbon emissions, with these figures continuing to grow. Traditionally, healthcare is known for its principle of ‘doing no harm’; however, it significantly contributes to the carbon footprint. The built environment, which includes healthcare facilities, is a major contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, accounting for almost 40 per cent of total energy-related emissions. Decarbonising hospitals is an essential step towards a low-carbon future and meeting global climate goals. Major health organisations, including
the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the International Hospital Federation, emphasise the urgency of addressing climate change to prevent a rapidly expanding public health crisis. Similarly, engineering and design organisations such as the International Federation of Healthcare Engineering (IFHE) and American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASRAE) advocate for significant reductions in the collective carbon footprint by 2030. This means not only halting the increase in carbon emissions but also reducing existing emissions by 50 per cent. The transition to all-electric systems in hospitals is a crucial part of this decarbonisation effort. Traditionally, hospitals rely on natural gas for heating, hot water, and steam, while simultaneously using chiller plants to remove heat from buildings and reject it to the atmosphere. A more efficient and less carbon-intensive approach involves using heat pumps and heat recovery chillers. These systems, which run solely on electricity, require zero on-site combustion and recover waste heat from within the building to be repurposed for other heating needs.
56
Northeast Georgia Medical Center Braselton.
Current reliance on fossil fuels in hospitals Most hospitals heavily rely on fossil fuels for their energy needs, particularly for heating and hot water systems. In 2012, the Integrated Design Lab at the University of Washington published a
study titled Targeting 100! which found that 50-60 per cent of hospital source energy is thermal, derived from fossil fuels either on-site or from a district heating plant, with the remaining 40-50 per cent being electric. This reliance on fossil fuels not only contributes to GHG emissions
Jim Crabb
Jim Crabb, PE, LEED AP, is a principal at Mazzetti. For over thirty years, he has been planning and designing high performance mechanical systems for healthcare clients across the country. Jim has been a prominent leader in
sustainable healthcare design. He led the design for the first two hospitals in the state of Georgia to use waste energy for all building heating and hot water production. One of those was the first in the state to receive Gold certification under LEED for Healthcare. He has also contributed to two
editions of the Guidelines for Design and Construction of Healthcare Facilities and co-author of the two premier Decarb Healthcare Guidebooks in the U.S. Additionally, Jim led Mazzetti’s response to designing COVID hospitals in
underserved countries in coordination with the International Federation of Healthcare Engineers (IFHE) and the World Health Organisation (WHO).
IFHE DIGEST 2025
©2019 John Magnoski
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96
