🚨Industry Perspective: Board Member Spotlight Blog #3
We’re proud to feature Ramé Hemstreet, REEF Board Member and Kaiser Permanente's VP of Operations for National Facilities Services, where he oversees infrastructure projects, reduces total cost of ownership, and advances sustainability initiatives across one of the nation’s largest healthcare systems.
As Chief Energy Officer, Ramé led Kaiser Permanente’s achievement of carbon neutrality in 2020, a milestone that positioned healthcare as a leader in operational decarbonization. A licensed engineer, Certified Energy Manager, and former Commanding Officer in the U.S. Navy, he brings over three decades of experience integrating resilience, efficiency, and climate responsibility across complex facility portfolios.
🏥 Reliability Meets Decarbonization in Healthcare
Q: Healthcare systems like Kaiser Permanente manage critical, 24/7 facilities with some of the most complex mechanical systems in any industry. How do you balance operational reliability with climate goals, particularly when it comes to transitioning refrigerants?
A: We have had success achieving the trifecta with a number of energy initiatives: improved resiliency, lower operating costs, and reduced (in some cases eliminated) carbon emissions. Now we are analyzing our refrigerant inventories and chiller/refrigeration design standards to determine how we can achieve similar results in regard to transitioning to lower emission refrigerants.
⚖️ Aligning Policy, Procurement, and Practice
Q: From a large owner-operator’s standpoint, what kinds of policy alignment or market signals would make it easier for healthcare systems to adopt low-GWP refrigerants and scale recovery programs across portfolios?
A: To state the obvious, a prudent production phase-out of high GWP refrigerants is essential. It would allow a smooth transition without creating price shocks for both existing and new HV AC systems.
🔄 Bridging Supply and Demand for Reclaimed Refrigerants
Q: In earlier REEF spotlights, we explored two sides of the same challenge: the urgent need to expand reclaim capacity and the persistent demand gap that prevents reclaimed refrigerants from reaching their full market potential. How can institutional owners play a catalytic role in bridging those two sides, anchoring the reclaimed refrigerant market through long-term procurement, contracting, or incentive alignment?
A: As I indicated above, owners need to be able to perform a dependable economic analysis to determine how to best conduct refrigerant management for existing systems and the timeline for transitioning to low-GWP HV AC systems. Regulatory uncertainty is making those calculations difficult if not impossible. For critical infrastructure such as hospitals, transitioning to new equipment is complicated by compliance with strict regulatory requirements unrelated to carbon emissions, such as seismic safety.
🌍 Defining Success in a Circular Refrigerant Economy
Q: Looking ahead, what does success look like by 2030 for refrigerant lifecycle management in healthcare and beyond? How do you envision healthcare systems contributing to a more circular, resilient refrigerant economy?
A: Speaking only for Kaiser Permanente, success will mean making decisions regarding refrigerant management and equipment transition using the best information available and making reasonable assumptions where uncertainty exists and persists.