What’s the power paradigm shift and how are hospitals prime to lead?

(Originally published for Canadian Healthcare Facilities: Journal of Canadian Healthcare Engineering Society. Volume 39. Issue 2. p.18 – 19) 

Understanding new ways to provide emergency power to healthcare facilities By Troy Savage & Walt Vernon

The silent operation of a hospital microgrid illustrates a paradigm shift. The rapid advancement of technology is forcing people to reevaluate the opportunities and, resultantly, regulations for how power is provided to critical facilities like hospitals. Code-making organizations, hospital facility planners and teams must understand how the combination of economics and technological advancements has bent the concept of ‘emergency power’ to the breaking point. For the sake of the safety of healthcare facilities and the benefit of patients, new ways of thinking about, and designing for, emergency power generation are required.