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

Purpose: Energy-saving is a growing challenge worldwide because of population growth, economic activity and high consumption rates that are unsustainable in the long term. Health-care facilities and hospitals face the challenge of increases in operational costs. This paper aims to appraise challenges to adopting energy-saving policies and proposes a roadmap for sustainability and energy efficiency management in hospitals and health-care facilities. Design/methodology/approach: Eight hospitals were examined as case studies through qualitative interviews with hospital senior management, executives and health-care facilities managers in addition to collecting relevant data from the literature; there is critical appraisal and content analysis of this data. Findings: This study established factors influencing implementation and challenges to energy-saving strategies. This study proposed guidelines for efficient energy management in hospitals and health-care facilities. This study concluded that the best performance is secured by integrating the proposed guidelines with the adoption of ISO 50001 energy management systems to achieve the United Nations' sustainable development goal – SDG 7 “affordable and clean energy”. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to the initiatives/experiences of the hospitals studied in the Middle East and North Africa region. Originality/value: This study’s findings, conclusions, recommendations and proposed guidelines enrich the body of knowledge. This will allow industry key stakeholders, hospitals and health-care 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 United Nations' sustainable development goals.