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Genesis HealthCare Corporation is one of the nation's largest long-term
care and rehabilitation therapy providers. It operates 200 Skilled
Nursing Centers and Assisted Living Communities in 12 eastern states.
A sister division, Genesis Rehabilitation Services, provides contract
therapy to over 650 health care providers in 18 states and the District
of Columbia. Late in 2003, it was spun off from Genesis Health Ventures
into a separate publicly traded company (NASDAQ: GHCI).
Because it is a publicly traded company, cost management is essential to its bottom line.
The Challenge:
“Our heating, cooling and refrigeration system energy costs constitute one of our biggest operating expenses. The proven ability IntelliCon® gives us to reduce the amount of energy we are consuming will have a significant impact on our operating budget,” said Henry St. Hilaire, Vice President of Environmental Services & Property Management.
Focus on one facility, the Groton Regency, a 259-bed facility located in Groton, Connecticut. Take a comprehensive approach towards reducing energy consumption and, in turn, operating expenses.
Facility: Nursing Home.
Location: Groton, Connecticut.
The Products Used:
IntelliCon-RU - Commercial Refrigeration Electrical Economizer
IntelliCon-CAC - Commercial Air Conditioner Electrical Economizer
IntelliCon-LCH - Light-Commercial Heat Economizer
 A single IntelliCon-RU was installed on two (2) different commercial refrigeration systems. This unit simultaneously managed one Copeland walk-in refrigerator and one Copeland walk-in freezer.
A single IntelliCon-CAC control was installed on one (1) 10-ton Carrier Packaged Rooftop Unit.
Two (2) IntelliCon-LCH units were installed on an AO Smith Hot Water Heater with two (2) boilers.
All systems were operated around the clock at the Groton live-in health care facility for the eight-day test period during early August.
The Results:
Energy Savings: In all cases, the IntelliCon controls provided tangible energy savings with no change to the maintained temperatures in the facility, the refrigerator or the freezer. In addition, the IntelliCon-LCH reduced the cycling of the domestic hot water boilers by 58.0%.
| Customer Unit |
IntelliCon Control |
Measured Reduction in Energy/Fuel Consumption |
| Copeland walk-in refrigerator |
RU |
10.42% |
| Copeland walk-in freezer |
RU |
11.34% |
| 10-ton Carrier Packaged Rooftop Unit |
CAC |
13.75% |
| AO Smith Hot Water Heater |
LCH |
23.57% |
Payback Period: Conservatively, Genesis Healthcare’s expected overall payback period for this facility is less than 12 months based strictly on energy cost savings alone, using an energy cost of $.10 per KWH and $0.75 per Therm range. The likely payback period will be shorter when including savings derived from reduced “Peak Electrical Demand Charges” and lower maintenance costs.
Final Notes: Following the success of this pilot test, Genesis is now installing IntelliCon energy economizers in 12 more facilities in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Chesapeake regions. |
