Latest news with #IDEA
Business Wire
2 hours ago
- Business
- Business Wire
Penn State Health Wins 2025 IDEA Innovation Award for Groundbreaking Energy Optimization at its Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
SEATTLE & BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Optimum Energy proudly congratulates Penn State Health on receiving the prestigious 2025 Joseph M. Brillhart IDEA Innovation Award. Presented by the International District Energy Association (IDEA), this prestigious honor recognizes the health system's transformative approach to energy optimization across its Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus, a nationally recognized facility, and the only combined Level I trauma center for both children and adults in Pennsylvania. The award-winning project shows how Penn State Health, Optimum Energy, and a team of partners and contractors worked together on the energy optimization program. Since launching its energy strategy in 2009, Penn State Health has executed a long-term, integrated approach to energy system resilience and efficiency. This includes advanced chilled water optimization delivered in partnership with Optimum Energy, alongside on-site power generation, thermal energy storage, and waste heat recovery innovations. The initiative has reduced the campus's energy use intensity by 25%, generated more than $59 million in financial benefit, and eliminated over 40,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually, all while ensuring uninterrupted patient care in a 24/7 critical care environment. "This recognition from IDEA is an honor and highlights our team's steadfast commitment to innovation, resilience, and environmental responsibility," said Kevin Kanoff, Campus Energy Engineer at Penn State Health. "While the challenges of optimizing energy systems in a Level 1 Trauma Center for both children and adults are significant, the opportunity to lead in this area is equally important. We've proven that reliability and sustainability can be achieved together, even in the most demanding clinical settings." "Research and medical campuses are frequently hesitant to adopt energy efficiency measures, even when the potential for significant cost savings is evident," said Lisa Roy, CEO and President of Optimum Energy. "The risks associated with any interruption to service in critical environments can understandably outweigh innovation. With this project, Penn State Health demonstrated that it's possible to be technically bold while operationally respectful, achieving meaningful gains in cost savings, reliability, and environmental performance." Optimum Energy supported Penn State Health by implementing chilled water optimization, which enhanced system performance and resulted in more than $300,000 in annual electricity savings. The work was carefully phased to ensure zero disruption to clinical operations, supporting Penn State Health's mission to provide world-class care while advancing environmental stewardship. The award-winning project shows how Penn State Health, Optimum Energy, and a team of partners and contractors worked together on the energy optimization program. This teamwork demonstrates that large institutions can reduce carbon emissions while maintaining performance, safety, and continuity of care. To learn more about the IDEA Innovation Award and this year's recipients, visit About Optimum Energy Optimum Energy provides holistic energy solutions that empower mission-critical facilities—including hospitals, research campuses, higher education institutions, and advanced manufacturing facilities—to achieve measurable efficiency and resilience. Our comprehensive offerings span design, engineering, optimization, operations and maintenance, and financing, delivered as an integrated program or tailored to specific project needs. We leverage advanced technologies, such as AI-driven analytics and predictive maintenance, to provide sustained savings and reliability. With flexible delivery models, including Energy-as-a-Service, off-balance sheet structures, and private funding, we help clients accelerate cost savings and meet performance goals with confidence. About Penn State Health Penn State Health is an integrated academic health system serving patients and communities across 15 counties in central Pennsylvania. The system includes Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health Children's Hospital and Penn State Cancer Institute based in Hershey, Pa.; Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center in Enola, Pa.; Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill, Pa.; Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center in Lancaster, Pa.; Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pa.; Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, a specialty provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, in Harrisburg, Pa., and 2,417 physicians and direct care providers at 186 outpatient practices. Additionally, the system jointly operates various health care providers, including Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center and Hershey Endoscopy Center. In 2017, Penn State Health partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region. Penn State Health shares an integrated strategic plan and operations with Penn State College of Medicine, the University's medical school.
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Business
- Associated Press
Penn State Health Wins 2025 IDEA Innovation Award for Groundbreaking Energy Optimization at its Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
SEATTLE & BATON ROUGE, La.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 4, 2025-- Optimum Energy proudly congratulates Penn State Health on receiving the prestigious 2025 Joseph M. Brillhart IDEA Innovation Award. Presented by the International District Energy Association (IDEA), this prestigious honor recognizes the health system's transformative approach to energy optimization across its Milton S. Hershey Medical Center campus, a nationally recognized facility, and the only combined Level I trauma center for both children and adults in Pennsylvania. Since launching its energy strategy in 2009, Penn State Health has executed a long-term, integrated approach to energy system resilience and efficiency. This includes advanced chilled water optimization delivered in partnership with Optimum Energy, alongside on-site power generation, thermal energy storage, and waste heat recovery innovations. The initiative has reduced the campus's energy use intensity by 25%, generated more than $59 million in financial benefit, and eliminated over 40,000 metric tons of CO₂ emissions annually, all while ensuring uninterrupted patient care in a 24/7 critical care environment. 'This recognition from IDEA is an honor and highlights our team's steadfast commitment to innovation, resilience, and environmental responsibility,' said Kevin Kanoff, Campus Energy Engineer at Penn State Health. 'While the challenges of optimizing energy systems in a Level 1 Trauma Center for both children and adults are significant, the opportunity to lead in this area is equally important. We've proven that reliability and sustainability can be achieved together, even in the most demanding clinical settings.' 'Research and medical campuses are frequently hesitant to adopt energy efficiency measures, even when the potential for significant cost savings is evident,' said Lisa Roy, CEO and President of Optimum Energy. 'The risks associated with any interruption to service in critical environments can understandably outweigh innovation. With this project, Penn State Health demonstrated that it's possible to be technically bold while operationally respectful, achieving meaningful gains in cost savings, reliability, and environmental performance.' Optimum Energy supported Penn State Health by implementing chilled water optimization, which enhanced system performance and resulted in more than $300,000 in annual electricity savings. The work was carefully phased to ensure zero disruption to clinical operations, supporting Penn State Health's mission to provide world-class care while advancing environmental stewardship. The award-winning project shows how Penn State Health, Optimum Energy, and a team of partners and contractors worked together on the energy optimization program. This teamwork demonstrates that large institutions can reduce carbon emissions while maintaining performance, safety, and continuity of care. To learn more about the IDEA Innovation Award and this year's recipients, visit About Optimum Energy Optimum Energy provides holistic energy solutions that empower mission-critical facilities—including hospitals, research campuses, higher education institutions, and advanced manufacturing facilities—to achieve measurable efficiency and resilience. Our comprehensive offerings span design, engineering, optimization, operations and maintenance, and financing, delivered as an integrated program or tailored to specific project needs. We leverage advanced technologies, such as AI-driven analytics and predictive maintenance, to provide sustained savings and reliability. With flexible delivery models, including Energy-as-a-Service, off-balance sheet structures, and private funding, we help clients accelerate cost savings and meet performance goals with confidence. About Penn State Health Penn State Health is an integrated academic health system serving patients and communities across 15 counties in central Pennsylvania. The system includes Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Penn State Health Children's Hospital and Penn State Cancer Institute based in Hershey, Pa.; Penn State Health Hampden Medical Center in Enola, Pa.; Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center in Camp Hill, Pa.; Penn State Health Lancaster Medical Center in Lancaster, Pa.; Penn State Health St. Joseph Medical Center in Reading, Pa.; Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, a specialty provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, in Harrisburg, Pa., and 2,417 physicians and direct care providers at 186 outpatient practices. Additionally, the system jointly operates various health care providers, including Penn State Health Rehabilitation Hospital, Hershey Outpatient Surgery Center and Hershey Endoscopy Center. In 2017, Penn State Health partnered with Highmark Health to facilitate creation of a value-based, community care network in the region. Penn State Health shares an integrated strategic plan and operations with Penn State College of Medicine, the University's medical school. View source version on CONTACT: For Media Inquiries Contact Tara Phelan [email protected] KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA WASHINGTON LOUISIANA PENNSYLVANIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: UNIVERSITY EDUCATION HEALTH GENERAL HEALTH OTHER ENERGY UTILITIES HOSPITALS ALTERNATIVE ENERGY ENVIRONMENT ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY SOURCE: Optimum Energy Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 06/04/2025 11:04 AM/DISC: 06/04/2025 11:03 AM
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
I'm Ohio's Teacher of the Year. Proposed state budget changes betray our students.
(Stock photo from Getty Images) Recently, I received a message from my son's teacher, excitedly letting me know he passed his Math Ohio state test. When my son was diagnosed with a neurological disability, I worried about the ways he might struggle, not only physically and emotionally, but academically. I found peace in knowing that Ohio's public schools would support him through protections provided by the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). What I didn't expect was the depth of care, commitment and expertise his public school teachers would bring. They see him. They celebrate his brilliance, advocate for his growth, and make sure I am part of a team. This is why it is devastating to watch our state systematically strip resources from public education while funneling hundreds of millions of dollars more into private and charter schools that are not held to the same standards. This isn't just a financing shift. It's a shift in values. Early in my career, I worked in charter schools, and while that experience shaped me as an educator, it also exposed me to harsh realities. I saw how poor accountability led to inefficiency and blatant disregard for students. These schools prioritized profit over people, with faceless management sending impersonal directives from beach homes in Florida. I watched students be discarded for not fitting an image and dedicated educators penalized for speaking up. My experiences confirm these are not the schools that best serve Ohio's children, yet our state continues to prioritize them over public schools that educate all students – no exceptions. Our public schools don't pick and choose. They don't push out students who need more support. They don't quietly ignore civil rights protections like IDEA. My child thrives today because of this commitment, but I worry—for how much longer? Proposed education budget changes feign a preference for school choice, but reflect a deeper truth: Ohio is abandoning its responsibility to educate all children. Underfunding public education puts supports like my son's at risk. As an educator and a parent, I know what questions to ask and what rights to fight for, but many parents do not. Without the legal oversight and rules public schools must follow, too many students with disabilities may receive inadequate support, or be denied support, and their families may not even realize it. My child, and every child, deserves an education that meets their needs, not one that depends on whether a school chooses to serve them. Voucher and charter schools are not bound by the same transparency, equity, or admissions requirements as public schools. They can, and do, exclude students of color, LGBTQ+ students, students in poverty and students with disabilities, further damaging how these students feel seen and valued in the world. Yet, they're receiving hundreds of millions more in taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile, public schools are expected to do more with less. Because Ohio refuses to fund public education fully, districts are forced to rely on local property taxes. When those levies fail, as they did recently in my own communities of Twinsburg and Stow-Munroe Falls, students pay the price. Teachers stretch their resources, families scramble for support, and achievement gaps widen, particularly for rural and urban districts already struggling. I'm proud to be Ohio's Teacher of the Year, but this title means little if I don't speak up. My colleagues in my district, the educators so tenderly caring for my baby in his, and those across the state working every day to make public schools places of learning, belonging, and possibility for every child can't do it alone, and shouldn't have to. Ohio's children deserve better—all of them. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Live: Linda McMahon testifies about education budget in Senate hearing
(NewsNation) — Education Secretary Linda McMahon testified on Tuesday before a Senate subcommittee about the Trump administration's budget proposal and its effects on her department. President Donald Trump's 2026 budget request includes a 15% funding cut to the department. It allocates $66.7 billion to education, a $12 million drop from the previous year's discretionary budget authority. Student Loans: Ed Dept pauses plan to garnish Social Security checks The funding changes include a $1,000 slash to maximum Pell Grant rewards, a 35% funding cut for the Office of Civil Rights and reductions to other student aid plans. The School Superintendents Association has criticized the plan: 'The Administration preserved funding for priority programs such as IDEA and Title I in the proposal, but eliminated other crucial education funding, under the guise of efficiency.' Harvard-Trump court battle — and polarizing debate — continue When nominated and confirmed to her position, Trump tasked McMahon with putting herself out of a job as the administration works to shutter the Education Department altogether. In a March interview with NewsNation, McMahon said the department's end is not a 'turn off the lights and walk out of the department. It's with close consultation with Congress and looking how the needs of students can best be serviced.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Ahmad Bin Shafar continues representing the region globally on the board of directors of the International District Energy Association
Dubai, United Arab Emirates: In a further testament to the UAE's leadership in the district cooling sector, H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar, CEO of Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC (Empower), continues to play a global role by retaining his position as Member Emeritus on the Board of Directors of the International District Energy Association (IDEA) for the seventh consecutive term. IDEA is the world's leading organization in the field of district energy. Bin Shafar's continued membership reflects recognition of his outstanding contributions to the advancement of the district cooling industry both regionally and globally. It also highlights his key role in sharing best practices from the UAE on international platforms and reinforcing the nation's position as a global hub for sustainable cooling solutions. This achievement marks a continuation of the long-standing partnership and collaboration between Bin Shafar and IDEA, during which the industry has undergone major transformations toward greater efficiency and sustainability. His leadership has been instrumental in shaping policies, guiding strategic discussions, and fostering collaboration among stakeholders around the world. H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar said: 'It is an honor to continue serving the district cooling sector through this membership, which I consider an added responsibility to enhance our region's role in shaping the future of energy efficiency. District cooling has become both an environmental and economic necessity, and my role within IDEA reflects our ongoing commitment to enriching communities through innovative and environmentally friendly cooling solutions.' This announcement comes at a time when global demand for efficient, energy-saving cooling solutions is rising amid climate change and global warming. District cooling technologies play a significant role in reducing electricity consumption, lowering carbon emissions, and delivering substantial long-term economic benefits. It is worth noting that the International District Energy Association, headquartered in the United States, includes among its members a distinguished group of companies, institutions, and public and private sector entities from around the world. The association plays a key role in knowledge sharing and in promoting the adoption of district cooling and heating systems as part of the transition toward sustainable cities. Through his reappointment, H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar continues to elevate the UAE's presence on the global stage, reaffirming the commitment of its wise leadership to supporting national talent and enabling them to help shape the future of vital sectors worldwide.
