Energy Retrofit Guide for Caribbean Hospitals

The Energy Retrofit Guide for Caribbean Hospitals, published by RMI in August 2015, provides a framework for healthcare administrators in the Caribbean to reduce operating costs and improve facility resilience through deep energy retrofits. The guide outlines a three-step process—Find, Finance, and Follow-through—and introduces a complementary online tool to help facilities benchmark performance and identify energy efficiency measures (EEMs).

• Energy costs in the Caribbean are significantly higher than in other regions, creating a strong business case for energy retrofits. The average cost per kilowatt-hour in the Caribbean is $0.38, which is more than three times the average cost in the United States ($0.12).
• Deep energy retrofits are defined as whole-building analysis and construction processes that can achieve energy cost savings of more than 50 percent, which is significantly higher than individual energy efficiency retrofits.
• The guide proposes a three-step process for implementing retrofits: 'Find' (identifying opportunities through benchmarking and energy audits), 'Finance' (securing funding from owner-financing, third-party sources, or development funds), and 'Follow-through' (designing and installing measures with qualified professionals).
• Analysis of 118 public and private healthcare facilities across more than 20 islands revealed that the average facility is over 40 years old, with an average energy use intensity (EUI) of approximately 156 kWh/m2-year.
• The guide identifies several categories of Energy Efficiency Measures (EEMs) for hospitals, including building envelope improvements (e.g., reflective roof coverings), lighting upgrades (e.g., LED installation), HVAC optimizations (e.g., variable speed drives on pumps), and the installation of renewable energy generation systems like photovoltaics.
• To ensure the long-term success and profitability of a retrofit, the guide recommends hiring a third-party Commissioning Agent (CxA) to verify installation and develop operations manuals, as well as an M&V (measurement and verification) professional to confirm predicted savings are achieved.

APA

Fortier, M., Giefer, K., Locke, J., & Sherwood, J. (2015). Energy Retrofit Guide for Caribbean Hospitals. RMI. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_RMI_2015_CaribbeanHospitalRetrofitGuide.pdf

Chicago

Fortier, Michael, Karin Giefer, Justin Locke, and James Sherwood. Energy Retrofit Guide for Caribbean Hospitals. RMI, 2015. https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_RMI_2015_CaribbeanHospitalRetrofitGuide.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Fortier |first1=Michael |last2=Giefer |first2=Karin |last3=Locke |first3=Justin |last4=Sherwood |first4=James |title=Energy Retrofit Guide for Caribbean Hospitals |publisher=RMI |date=August 2015 |url=https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_RMI_2015_CaribbeanHospitalRetrofitGuide.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{fortier2015energy, author = {Fortier, Michael and Giefer, Karin and Locke, Justin and Sherwood, James}, title = {{Energy Retrofit Guide for Caribbean Hospitals}}, institution = {RMI}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {https://rmi.org/app/uploads/2017/05/RMI_Document_Repository_Public-Reprts_RMI_2015_CaribbeanHospitalRetrofitGuide.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }