Being environmentally responsible is not just something energy and oil companies have to worry about. Everyone has a part to play, and this is why PAMF is working hard to reduce its carbon footprint and become a greener organization.

"As a health care organization, we should do everything we can to protect patients, and this includes creating a healthier environment for them to live in," explained Greg Mills, director of Facilities at PAMF.

For PAMF, this starts with purchasing slightly more expensive wind-generated energy from the City of Palo Alto Utilities and participating in the PG&E Climate Smart Program at the Fremont Center.

Fremont Center is the first large medical facility in California to be involved in the Climate Smart Program, which invests in green sources of energy and research," Mills said. "Because of the Climate Smart Program, our Fremont Center is now carbon neutral, meaning that any carbon emitted into the atmosphere because of the Center’s energy usage is offset by carbon that is not released due to energy conservation programs."

In addition, various PAMF facilities either already have or soon will undergo an energy audit with a power company expert, Mills added. This is similar to the energy audits power companies now offer home customers but on a much bigger scale.

"The independent auditor will look at everything from temperature settings to lights and appliances to see if we are operating as efficiently as we can,” he said. "We are also 'recommissioning' older facilities, which means examining the hundreds of different settings on the systems that run the buildings to see if those settings have changed over the years. If they have, we reset them to the high-efficiency settings they started from when the buildings were new."

Although it takes a lot of work to be as green an organization as possible, Mills said, "It is a great way to further PAMF's mission of community service and long history of innovation."