Hospitals management transformative initiatives; towards energy efficiency and environmental sustainability in healthcare facilities

Energy-saving is a growing challenge worldwide due to population growth, economic activity, and high consumption rates that are unsustainable in the long term. Healthcare facilities and hospitals face the challenge of increases in operational costs. This research aims to appraise challenges to adopting energy-saving policies, and proposes a roadmap for sustainability and energy efficiency management in hospitals and healthcare facilities. Eight hospitals were examined as case studies through qualitative interviews with hospital senior management, executives, and healthcare facilities managers in addition to collecting relevant data from the literature; there is critical appraisal, and content analysis of this data. The research established factors influencing implementation and challenges to energy-saving strategies. The research proposed guidelines for efficient energy management in hospitals and healthcare facilities. The research concluded that best performance is secured by integrating the proposed guidelines with the adoption of ISO 50001 energy management systems to achieve the United Nations’ (UN) sustainable development goal (SDGs) – SDG7 ‘affordable and clean energy.’ The study is limited to the initiatives/experiences of the hospitals studied in the MENA region. The research findings, conclusions, recommendations, and proposed guidelines enrich the body of knowledge. This will allow industry key stakeholders, hospitals and healthcare facilities managers to overcome challenges of implementing energy management. In addition, adopting the proposed guidelines will improve energy efficiency and help hospitals in green initiatives as they seek to demonstrate their support for UN SDGs