“EcoRadiology”—Pulling the Plug on Wasted Energy in the Radiology Department

McCarthy, Colin J.; Gerstenmaier, Jan; Neill, Ailbhe C. O'; McEvoy, Sinéad H.; Hegarty, Chris; Heffernan, Eric J.

doi:10.1016/j.acra.2014.07.010

Cited by 38 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 0 publications

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“…Astonishingly, the study of McCarthy et al found no positive change in user behavior after a departmental teaching session [9]. In conjunction with the rather small reduction in energy consumption we found after the briefing in our study (5.6 %), it is therefore evident that in a clinic's daily routine the effectiveness of this simple measure crucially depends on how well users adhere to this measure.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

“…Nevertheless, it has been shown that power consumption in radiology departments can be considerably reduced even through simple actions like turning off workstations not in use [4,9,10]. Similarly designed studies also found that most computers and workstations in a radiology department are not switched off after work.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, we did not check how well users followed our instructions and actually switched off workstations after core working hours. Data in the literature indicate that there is a short peak in power consumption when turning on a switched off workstation [9]. However, this effect is considered very small and was therefore neglected in our study.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Switching off for future—Cost estimate and a simple approach to improving the ecological footprint of radiological departments

Büttner

Posch

Auer

et al. 2021

European Journal of Radiology Open

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Besides diagnostic imaging devices, in particular computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), numerous reading workstations contribute to the high energy consumption of radiological departments. It was investigated whether switching off workstations after core working hours can relevantly lower energy consumption considering both ecological and economical aspects. Methods: Besides calculating different theoretical energy consumption scenarios, we measured power consumption of 3 workstations in our department over a 6-month period under routine working conditions and another 6-month period during which users were asked to switch off workstations after work. Staff costs arising from restarting workstations manually were calculated. Results: Our approach to switching off workstations after core working hours reduced energy consumption by about 5.6 %, corresponding to an extrapolated saving of 3.2 tons in carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions and 2100.70 USD/year in electricity costs for 227 workstations. Theoretical calculations indicate that consistent automatic shutdown after core working hours could result in a potential total reduction of energy consumption of 38.6 %, equaling 22.2 tons of CO 2 and 14,388.28 USD/year. However, staff costs resulting from waiting times after manually restarting workstations would amount to 36,280.02 USD/year. Conclusions: Switching off workstations after core working hours can considerably reduce energy consumption and costs, but varies with user adherence. Staff costs caused by waiting time after manually starting up workstations outweigh energy savings by far. Therefore, an energy-saving plan with automated shutdown/restart besides enabling an energy-saving mode would be the most effective way of saving both energy and costs.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 50%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Switching off for future—Cost estimate and a simple approach to improving the ecological footprint of radiological departments

Büttner

Posch

Auer

et al. 2021

European Journal of Radiology Open

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“…Healthcare and indeed radiology departments contribute significantly to the world's carbon footprint, and the demand for water and electricity to power our hospitals is largely unavoidable, although significant improvements have been explored such as powering down and using ''sleep mode'' on computer monitors [3] and use of LED lighting [4].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Recycling in IR, What IR Specialists Can Do to Help

Brassil

Torreggiani

2019

Cardiovasc Intervent Radiol

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“…A radiology department in Ireland measured the energy use of computers and PACS left on overnight, a practice that is common in radiology. In 1 year, this habit used 25,040 kWh of energy and produced 17.7 metric tons of carbon dioxide-the emissions equivalent of nearly four passenger cars per year [6]. Simple initiatives such as regularly powering down workstations would allow our smaller and safety-net hospitals to improve their energy efficiency while decreasing energy costs.…”

Section: Wasteful Habitsmentioning

confidence: 99%