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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has awarded its ENERGY STAR® certification to NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center's flagship building at 525 East 68th Street — the only hospital facility certified in New York City in 2011.

This certification recognizes that the Hospital building performs in the top 25 percent nationwide for meeting strict energy efficiency standards set by the EPA and emits 35 percent less greenhouse gas emissions, on average, than similar hospital buildings nationwide without tradeoffs in performance or comfort.

In addition to the recent certification, NewYork-Presbyterian has received six ENERGY STAR awards for its energy management program — more than any other hospital in the country — beginning in 2005. Most recently, NewYork-Presbyterian was honored with an ENERGY STAR Award for Sustained Excellence in Energy Management, recognizing the Hospital's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency.

Examples of recent energy and environmental initiatives at NewYork-Presbyterian include the following:

• NewYork-Presbyterian's 7.5-megawatt cogeneration plant is reducing emissions of CO2 by more than 27,000 tons each year — the equivalent to taking 4,600 cars off the road, while adding millions of dollars in annual cost savings. In 2010, NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell achieved an annual energy cost savings of $6.1 million from its co-generation plant.
• NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia's Vivian and Seymour Milstein Family Heart Center received Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold Certification from the Green Building Certification Institute — one of only six hospitals in the country with a Gold or Platinum designation. The building features recycled materials and is estimated to be 30 percent more energy efficient than a standard structure.
• NewYork-Presbyterian's environmental workplace certification program and "green champions" encourage environmentally friendly practices throughout the organization.

NewYork-Presbyterian is active in energy conservation efforts from the local to international level. In October 2010, the Hospital hosted a conference on green initiatives that brought participants from around the world to discuss sustainability and energy conservation in the health care setting. On the national level, the Hospital is a partner in the EPA's ENERGY STAR program and the Department of Energy's Energy Alliance Steering Committee. On the local level, the Hospital is part of PlaNYC, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's sustainability initiative, and the New York Energy Consumers Council.

ENERGY STAR was introduced by the EPA in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. Today, the ENERGY STAR label can be found on more than 60 different kinds of products as well as new homes and commercial and industrial buildings that meet strict energy-efficiency specifications set by the EPA. Last year alone, Americans, with the help of ENERGY STAR, saved $18 billion on their energy bills while reducing the greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those of 34 million vehicles. For more information about ENERGY STAR Certification for Commercial Buildings: https://www.energystar.gov/buildings/about-us.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital, based in New York City, is the nation's largest not-for-profit, non-sectarian hospital, with 2,409 beds. The Hospital has nearly 2 million inpatient and outpatient visits in a year, including 12,797 deliveries and 195,294 visits to its emergency departments. NewYork-Presbyterian's 6,144 affiliated physicians and 19,376 staff provide state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine at five major centers: NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, NewYork-Presbyterian/Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital, NewYork-Presbyterian/The Allen Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division. One of the most comprehensive health care institutions in the world, the Hospital is committed to excellence in patient care, research, education and community service. NewYork-Presbyterian is the #1 hospital in the New York metropolitan area and is consistently ranked among the best academic medical institutions in the nation, according to U.S.News & World Report. The Hospital has academic affiliations with two of the nation's leading medical colleges: Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. For more information, visit www.nyp.org.