Programs Overview
The DHA Sustainability Policy, DHA-AI 4710.01, establishes sustainability goals and environmental compliance targets for military hospitals and clinics and requires the formation of cross-functional sustainability teams to promote a resource-aware stewardship culture.
*Source: Rossi, Mark, and Tom Lent, “Creating Safe and Healthy Spaces: Selecting Materials That Support Healing,” Designing the 21st Century Hospital (September 2006), p. 55
Our Management Approach
Bottom Up and Bottom Down
- Enable military hospitals and clinics through Sustainability Teams
- Develop and enforce policies
- Annual data call
- Accountability
Innovative and Collaborative
- Cross-functional support and engagement
- Work with Commands and host installations
Continually Improving
- Capture trend data
- Industry benchmarking
- Recognize achievements
Our Partner: Practice Greenhealth
We partner with Practice Greenhealth (PGH) to track sustainability metrics and allow military hospitals and clinics to compare their sustainability performance against their civilian counterparts. PGH is a membership organization representing health care organizations committed to the integration of sustainability principles and practices as a means to better protect the health of patients, staff, the communities served, and the environment. PGH Awards are a recognized Standard of Excellence, and topic areas correspond with Sustainability Focus Areas for Federal Agencies.
PGH capabilities include:
- Third party validation of sustainability efforts
- Trend data; relevant metrics
- Facility report cards to compare against National facilities/peers (mostly hospitals/ambulatory care centers)
- Review and revise questions to reflect emerging issue areas
- Knowledge sharing through webinars, SME access, training, and case study results
Toolbox
Earth Day Resources
The Environmental Protection Agency put together a site of resource, events, and ideas to assist in planning for Earth Day on April 22nd of each year.
ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR is a joint program of the U.S. EPA and the U.S. DOE focusing on energy efficient products and practices. Americans, with its help, saved enough energy in 2009 alone to avoid greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to those from 30 million cars, all while saving nearly $17 billion on utility bills.
Greenhealth Academy
PGH created the Greenhealth Academy to offer innovative, essential information through programs covering all aspects of sustainability in health care. It offers webinars, eLearning, sharing calls, and face-to-face programs designed for all functional areas of green teams within the health care sector.
Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator
This EPA calculator expresses quantities of GHGs in terms of metrics such as number of cars, gallons of gasoline, acres of forest, etc. This calculator is useful for expressing GHG reductions or emissions in a way that is easier to comprehend.
State-by-State Regulated Medical Waste Resource Locator
Interactive resource which contains regulated medical waste definitions, statues, and guidelines for each state.
Did You Know?
- If the U.S. health care system were a country, it would rank 13th in the world for greenhouse gas emissions!1
- Within the U.S., health care comprises 10% of greenhouse gas emissions2
- The DOD considers climate change to be a serious threat to national security and international stability, referring to it as a “threat multiplier”3
- Air pollution kills at least 7 million people worldwide every year4
- Sustainability saves! The 327 hospitals that submitted data to PGH in 2018 saved $68 million on sustainability initiatives5
Publications
