May 22, 2008 - Premier Healthcare Alliance (PHA), an industry trade group, has launched a climate and energy collaborative focused on helping healthcare facilities cut costs and reduce their carbon footprint.

Dubbed SPHERE (Securing Proven Healthcare Energy Reduction for the Ecosystem), the new program aims to help PHA's 50,000-plus members lock in stable energy prices while purchasing more power from clean, renewable sources. SPHERE will also encourage hospitals to share best practices for energy management and benchmark their energy use.

As part of the program, PHA is leading an industry effort to develop a large-scale electronic energy auction for healthcare. By establishing competition among energy suppliers, the auction will help reduce the cost of energy as well as environmental commodities such as renewable energy certificates and carbon offsets, PHA says.

"There is an urgent need for an intensified national healthcare-focused program to share expertise, tools, and services," says Gina Pugliese, vice president of Premier's Safety Institute. "SPHERE will help hospitals measure their energy usage and carbon footprint, implement cost-effective strategies for reducing both energy usage and cost, and increase the use of clean and renewable energy."

Healthcare is the second most energy-intensive industry in the U.S., spending more than $6.5 billion each year in energy costs. Hospitals are the sector's largest energy consumer and producer of greenhouse gases, according to PHA.