Connecticut Natural Gas services saves New Britain’s Hospital for Special Care $12,600 in annual energy costs

New Britain, CT Hospitals are typically heavy energy users, as ensuring patient care requires full-service operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Unusually high energy expenses prompted an energy audit at New Britain’s Hospital for Special Care (HSC), a 228-bed long-term acute and chronic care hospital. During the audit, failing systems were found to be causing an annual energy loss of $13,000. Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG), a subsidiary of AVANGRID, Inc., provided guidance and a cost analysis for HSC to complete an energy retrofit at the hospital main building. CNG also identified funding assistance available through the Energize Connecticut program to help make the upgrades, which are estimated to save HSC $12,600 a year. By upgrading its steam trap system, the facility is able to run cleaner and with more dependable, energy-efficient solutions. The energy audit revealed that 10 of the facility’s 100 steam traps were malfunctioning, creating an annual estimated loss of $13,000, said facilities supervisor Stefan Pazdzior. Steam traps are automatic valves designed to discharge, condensate and vent air. Steam is then converted to heat and fed throughout the 287,000 s/f building. The work done replaced 10 steam traps and wrapped the piping with thermal insulation to prevent any further steam loss through pipe joints. 

“Anywhere that we can conserve energy, we can see serious monetary savings, which brought us this opportunity to do the project,” said vice president of facilities Donald Cyr. “Companies are always presenting ways for us to save money and make upgrades to our facilities, and Energize CT and CNG made the process much more affordable. When we’re just trying to get by on our budget, these savings help tremendously. 

We also worked with local contractors, trying to be good neighbors and provide work to the local economy.” 

The original hospital building was built in the 1940s, with an addition and complete renovation between 1989-1993. 

“Each steam trap was tested to see if they were operating properly and to gauge any loss of heat,” said Pazdzior. “If one steam trap is failing, the boilers have to run more and use more natural gas… These projects show savings in the operating budget and helps with equipment maintenance.” 

“Due to their size and round-the-clock hours, hospitals can realize major savings with even minor energy upgrades like the steam trap work done at HSC,” said Will Riddle, manager of commercial & industrial energy services at CNG. “Initiatives from Energize CT and CNG help make energy upgrades manageable, projects don’t have to be big budget to be effective.”