Gundersen Health’s Sparta Clinic Recognized

On July 23, DOE visited Sparta, Wisconsin to recognize Better Buildings Alliance partner Gundersen Health System at their Sparta Clinic for impressive portfolio-wide energy efficiency advances.

The 35,000-square-foot Sparta Clinic was built with numerous energy-efficient design features aimed at achieving its initial energy usage goal of 35 kBtu/sq. ft. These features include mechanical rooms with geothermal pumps, rooftop solar PV, double pane windows, spray foam insulation, LED lighting, and more.

Attendees had the opportunity to see and learn about these efficiency measures, such as how the clinic’s 40 geothermal wells are able to help heat and cool the building more efficiently. They also learned that the building’s on-site and off-site solar capacity generates enough renewable energy to offset the building’s consumption, making Sparta Clinic an energy-independent facility.

Since opening in 2017, Sparta Clinic surpassed its energy savings goal by 9% in its first year of operation, resulting in an annual energy savings of more than $68,500, and now only consumes 33 kBtu/sq. ft.

As a Better Buildings Alliance partner, Gundersen Health is able to share best practices that they’ve developed and implemented throughout their portfolio of facilities. Read more about Sparta Clinic and Gundersen’s commitment to energy efficiency in this Solution-at-a-Glance, and check out pictures from the site visit below. From left to right:

1. Maria Vargas, Director of DOE’s Better Buildings Initiative, Alan Eber, Manager of Engineering and Management at Gundersen, and Corey Zarecki, Director of Envision at Gundersen on the roof of Sparta Clinic with the clinic’s photovoltaic solar panels in background

2. Gundersen’s Alan Eber sharing opening remarks at Sparta Clinic on the significance of the clinic being an energy independent building

3. DOE’s Maria Vargas acknowledging Gundersen as an industry leader in sustainability