The Pen Bay Healthcare Laundry Department now produces brighter whites, cleaner linens and fresher towels as well as two significant added bonuses: a reduced annual carbon footprint and lower operating costs.

Fully operational since September 2009, a new laundry system, housed on the White Street campus of the Knox Center for Long Term Care in Rockland, has saved a considerable amount of money, but more than that, it has sparked something of a green revolution at Pen Bay Healthcare, encouraging others to look for additional ways to implement more environmentally friendly technologies.

"Who wouldn't be inspired by a project where the results are equivalent to taking 153 cars off the road for a full year?" said Don Gross, Knox Center Administrator.

The new laundry system is part of a energy-saving effort which began on the Knox Campus in 2007. After implementing easily-identifiable energy-saving changes such as motion sensors on lights in non-patient areas and high-efficiency light bulbs throughout the Knox Center, Knox Campus Physical Plant Director Bruce Royer turned to WBRC of Bangor for an energy audit to identify additional areas where savings could be realized.

WBRC's recommendations included changes in the Knox Center boiler room and the Pen Bay Healthcare laundry, housed on the Knox campus and responsible for handling the laundry needs for the entire PBH system, including Penobscot Bay Medical Center in Rockport.

To realize energy savings in the laundry, there were several key considerations. Hot water and the energy that it takes to provide it are costly. WBRC recommended that the Knox Center and PBH Laundry representatives visit St. Mary's Hospital in Lewiston, where the laundry uses far less hot water than the average commercial laundry.

In Lewiston, the findings during that visit were nothing short of staggering, including hot water utilization reduction of more than 75 percent; a "super-bug" kill rate of nearly 100 percent and reduced operating costs.

After researching the "ozone system" in use at St. Mary's, and confirming that the amazing statistics were indeed true, the Knox Center and PBH Laundry moved swiftly to implement the same system. Harnessing the natural cleaning power of ozone as a strong oxidizing agent, the self-contained system injects the ozone it creates into each wash load along with the detergents and softeners.

Royer is already looking ahead to PBH's next green project.

"We're in the process of replacing our old steam boilers with new, high-efficiency hot water boilers. We're also looking at the possibility of a solar panel installation on our roof as a means to supplement current energy resources," said Royer. "Through these changes, we anticipate seeing a continued return on our investments -- both financially and environmentally."

"We anticipate the $54,000 savings from this new system will pay for its cost in a single year," said Gross. "That's absolutely huge. In the national effort to reduce healthcare costs, this is just one of the ways in which we can make responsible use of our resources and in turn benefit the community. It's also the right thing to do for the environment."