Energy performance and energy conservation in health care buildings in hellas

Abstract

Energy performance data for 30 health care buildings have been collected during an extensive energy audit of buildings in Hellas, within the frame of a National Energy Programme sponsored by the CEC VALOREN Programme for energy conservation in buildings. This short monitoring campaign was performed with on-site visits of a trained panel of engineers to each building, in order to register all information relevant to the buildings' construction, heating, cooling, lighting, systems and all other mechanical and electrical systems. The technical results of these audits, the role of the cooling and heating systems on the energy consumed in health care buildings, are discussed. The annual average total energy consumption in hospitals is 407 kWh/m 2 and in clinics is 275 kWh/m 2, the majority of which is consumed for space heating (73.4% in hospitals and 65.3% in clinics). Several scenarios for possible interventions to the outer envelope of the buildings and to the heating, cooling and lighting systems, are proposed and evaluated, in order to assess the effectiveness of various energy conservation techniques. Based on the results from several simulations, it is concluded that it is possible to reach an overall 20% energy conservation. The energy consumption for heating can be reduced by 15% in hospitals and 11% in clinics by using more efficient heat production and distribution systems. Proper insulation of the buildings can conserve 173 kWh/m 2 in hospitals and 103 kWh/m 2 in clinics. Cooling can be reduced by 68% (in hospitals) and 56% (in clinics) by using night ventilation and by 80 and 97%, respectively, by using ceiling fans. Natural cooling techniques, under certain conditions, can also provide an important reduction of the cooling load. The use of high efficacy lamps can reduce the electric energy consumed for lighting by up to 50%. This information provides a representative picture of the existing conditions on energy consumption in health care buildings and can be used as guidelines for future energy efficient building construction.