Carbon Footprint

A Carbon Footprint is the annual contribution to Global Climate Change that a building, person or business makes in its daily operations. It is the amount of Carbon emitted as measured in tons per year.

Every building requires energy to keep it warm, or cool, the lights on, and the machines running. All this energy comes from somewhere - sometimes coal fired power plants, sometimes nuclear power plants, and more recently from renewable sources like wind & solar. The more energy a building uses from fossil fuel sources the more CO2 gets dumped into the atmosphere, contributing to Global Climate Change.

Since we believe protecting the planet is key to protecting our health, in 2007, Heal with Nature pledged to go “Carbon Neutral” in August, 2007. To do this we needed to know how much we contribute to the problem of Global Warming. This page is dedicated to our study of how much carbon this medical clinic uses.

The Building:

Our office, 500 sq ft., is the far right set of vertical windows in this picture. It’s a recent addition to an existing building - which is better than using “undeveloped” land to create a new building. We use electricity to run the lights, air conditioning, telephone and appliances. We use Natural Gas to heat the office in the colder months. Every room in the office has a window that provides day-lighting.

Electricity Use and Source:

In 2006 we used: 2,686 KWh / year. The average KWh use per square foot was: 5.37 KWh / year.

We currently buy all our electricity from Sterling Planet - a “green” power generating company. Click here to see the difference between a “green” power mix and conventional mix in Connecticut. By choosing to buy green power from Sterling Planet, I am encouraging the growth of renewable and carbon neutral power generation. This green power has almost no carbon emissions and counts towards reducing my footprint.

Heating and Cooling:

Our building is heated using Natural Gas from a common meter - so estimating the amount used by our space is guesswork. According to the folks at CT Natural Gas, they estimate that our office space used 21,500 cu ft of Natural Gas in 2006.

Our building is cooled by a split system (the blower is in the attic and the heat exchanger is located outside of the building) air conditioning unit powered by electricity, so that electricity usage is accounted for in the above mentioned 2,686 KWh / year for 2006.

Waste:

We generate approximately 384 pounds of waste paper per year. We recycle all waste office paper (shredding the confidential papers first.) All cardboard, glass and metal is likewise recycled - these come from shipping containers for the supplements Dr. Kennedy prescribes.

Transportation:

Dr. Kennedy commutes to and from work in a Biodiesel powered pick-up truck. The Biodiesel is purchased from Hale Hill Farms and Green Leaf Biofuels. During the winter, Dr. Kennedy can only run B20 - which results in 284 lbs of CO2 being emitted into the air from November 1 to March 31. During the rest of the year Dr. Kennedy runs the truck on 100% Biodiesel, which is considered a carbon neutral fuel.

Dr. Kennedy’s staff person commutes to work in a 1987 Chrysler Reliant K station wagon. Annual commute related mileage: 818 miles, resulting in 566 lbs CO2 emitted.

Nutritional Products:

Dr. Kennedy prescribes nutritional and botanical supplements in the treatment of his patients. Two thirds of these products come from U.S. companies and distributors. One third is purchased from a local manufacturer here in Connecticut (1,600 lbs of CO2), one third from manufacturers in CA, OR, or WA (3,371 lbs CO2), and one third comes from China as Traditional Chinese Herbal Remedies (183 lbs CO2).

Our total Carbon Footprint in 2006 - 2007 was 6,004 lbs of CO2, or 3.05 MTCe’s.

We choose to offset the emissions associated with the delivery of our supplements as well as our electricity, natural gas and automobile use. We purchase Renewable Energy Credits (RECs) through a carbon off-setting organization that has third party verification and transparency in the projects they invest in.

Mitch Kennedy, ND, P.C. | Tel: (860) 673-9954 | Fax: (860) 673-4063

46 W. Avon Rd., Suite 202, Avon, CT 06001