And now for a personal note and announcement. My publishing here has been infrequent for the past month and a half as I have moved and started a new job. I was until late March an Energy Manager for a local energy public organization in Nantes, now I am an Energy Transition and Sustanaibility Advisor for the Healthcare Sector in Epinal. After my technical degree and training two years ago, this is my second forray with medical facilities.
Yup, am back to working in Healthcare and I am closer to my family, my roots and my friends. Epinal is the prefecture of the Vosges Département. It is located in Northeastern France. It’s four hours away from Paris, Brussels and Lyon and two and a half hours from Strasbourg. Add to the fact that this position is my first permanent position in the energy transition and you will better understand why I am so so happy right now.
Regarding my new job, and given the current situation we are in – urgency of climate action, skyrocketing energy bills, fossil fuels paying wars started by autocrats and dictators – my primary objective is to assess the energy and water consumptions of the 30 hospitals and retirement homes I am working with. My second mission will be to accompany them in slashing their utilities costs and consumptions thru sufficiency / sobriety, efficiency and of course, renewables.
This is is already a massive amount of work ahead. And, as the job title contains sustainability, I will also also assist these structures in providing better food, work on installing electric car charging stations, renovate buildings’ envelopes, assess and improve indoor air quality, slash the amounts of all kinds of wastes and so on. I have a list of a 30 different topics. I may be busy until retirement (if I am to retire…)
On a national level, 150 such positions have been created, out which around a hundred have been already filled. Working together within a network, we will assist 5,000 structures. To my humble knowledge, this is the first concerted effort anywhere to help the healthcare sector become more efficient, sustainable and resilient. Given the massive consumptions of energy, water and food, this is most welcome. Of course, if I am wrong and other countries have done the same, please comment and tell me more !
Image credits : myself. A picture of the Moselle river that crisscrosses the city.
