Abstract
Hospitals require the highest energy demands in non-residential buildings. They provide healthcare 24/7/365 and, at the same time, they ensure indoor air quality, thermal comfort and sterility. However, several studies reveal that high indoor temperatures and low relative humidity (RH) are often perceived in patient rooms during the heating season, suggesting an important energy saving potential. Against this background, radiant ceiling panel (RCP) systems result to be one of the most appropriate solutions as they allow to achieve significant energy savings while providing the highest level of thermal and acoustic comfort, as well as of infection control. In the present study the microclimatic survey of a patient room at Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, Italy, equipped with an air conditioning system integrated with RCP, has reported occupant thermal discomfort. Experimental data were used to calibrate a building model and dynamic building energy simulations were carried out to analyse indoor air temperature, relative humidity, predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage of dissatisfied (PPD) indexes under different inlet air temperatures, to identify the best design conditions for energy efficiency and thermal comfort improvement. It was found that the highest advantages can be obtained when neutral air is supplied.
Highlights
Hospitals require the highest energy demands in non-residential buildings, as they provide healthcare 24 h a day and 7 days a week while performing energy-consuming activities and hosting thousands of employees, patients, and visitors
High levels of energy are required by multiple end-use categories, including heating, cooling, humidification, service water heating and electricity consumption, as well as to ensure indoor air quality, thermal comfort and sterility according to the tightening mandatory requirements [5,6,7,8]
Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems result to be responsible for the highest energy consumption rates in hospitals, reaching values ranging from 51% to 65%, together with the highest volumes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [9,10,11]
Summary
Hospitals require the highest energy demands in non-residential buildings, as they provide healthcare 24 h a day and 7 days a week while performing energy-consuming activities and hosting thousands of employees, patients, and visitors. Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems result to be responsible for the highest energy consumption rates in hospitals, reaching values ranging from 51% to 65%, together with the highest volumes of GHG emissions (about 47%) [9,10,11]. A growing number of studies have uncovered that thermal discomfort related to high indoor temperatures and low relative humidity (RH) levels is often perceived in patient rooms during winter due to the poor regulation of building plants, revealing an important energy saving potential. In a study by Verheyen et al, field measurements of thermal comfort were performed for 99 patients in different wards (maternity, medicine oncology, neurology and gastroenterology, abdominal surgery and thoracic-vascular surgery); the analysis resulted in operative temperatures that were too high and low relative humidity levels during the heating season, with critical values for oncology patient rooms [12]. Despite the significant reduction in hospital beds due to both the ongoing shift from inpatient toward outpatient care and the tighter budget constraints, patient rooms still represent a significant percentage of the conditioned floor area in existing hospitals [41]
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