Case Study: Washington State Department of Health’s Public Health Laboratories achieves 87% emissions reduction with McKinstry electrification project

Washington Commits to Complete Electrification of Public Health Lab Facility

The Washington State Department of Health’s Public Health Laboratories, a critical health facility, faced challenges with its aging and unreliable 50-year-old steam boiler plant. The inefficient system required constant specialized maintenance, was prone to outages, and produced significant greenhouse gas emissions. To decarbonize and improve reliability, the facility partnered with McKinstry for a full electrification project.

McKinstry designed and is building an innovative ground source heat pump system that uses an on-site aquifer for heating and cooling instead of fossil fuels. This solution will reduce the facility's emissions by 87%, save $66,000 in annual energy costs, and avoid $65,000 in annual penalties. The McKinstry project also created 90 local jobs and is expected to be completed in May 2024, providing a resilient and efficient operation for the vital lab.