Boston Medical Center Decarbonization

Boston Medical Center’s (BMC) main objectives for a cogeneration plant were to reduce energy cost and their carbon footprint and to increase the resiliency of their 1.5 million square foot inpatient care buildings during a major campus consolidation effort. A single 2-megawatt internal combustion engine cogeneration system offered BMC the best return on investment and enough power to keep their most critical inpatient care buildings energized and heated in the event of an extended electric power outage or other catastrophic event. This cogeneration system provides $1.5M of annual operating savings.

Resiliency features such as the cogeneration plant and enhanced 15kv switching were implemented as part of a multi-year energy conservation master plan. With this system, all waste heat is utilized during summer months for air reheating, as well as domestic water heating, significantly reducing BMC’s energy footprint. CMTA also helped BMC obtain large incentives from the local utility company and the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, which reduced the cost of the project by $5.0 million.

As significant energy reductions are a cornerstone goal for BMC, so is carbon neutrality. As a result, BMC engaged in the largest collaborative power purchase agreement (PPA) in the United States. 16 megawatts of the 60 megawatt solar field is allocated to BMC, making BMC a zero-energy campus. Through the cogeneration plant, PPA and the campus consolidation strategies, BMC has reduced their carbon footprint by 90% since 2011.