Balancing Between Indoor Air Quality and Energy Efficiency in Healthcare Facilities

Today, due to the strict milestones set for phasing out fossil fuels and sustainable energy supply, energy efficiency has become a significantly important matter parallel with renewable energy production. In spite of a drastic energy efficiency enhancement trend in different building sectors over the recent years, healthcare settings and hospitals still use too much energy and present a poor energy performance compared to other types of buildings. In such buildings, priority is given to secure a healthy indoor environment by providing high indoor air quality and ensure thermal comfort to the occupants (patients and staff). Thus, less attention is paid to energy efficiency enhancement and energy management. Investigations show that a certain focus is especially required for the ways heating and cooling demand in different sections of hospitals are supplied and distributed. In the Nordic countries, most hospitals have their own heat and cold production facilities and district heating and cooling networks. One of the previous projects of the applicant has been on the cooling system of Aarhus University Hospital, in which the absorption chiller has several technical challenges during the summer operation and there are dramatic inefficiencies and fuel consumption. This project proposes a thorough audit of the current heating and cooling supply methods in Nordic hospitals to recognize the primary sources of inefficiencies and thereby propose practical solutions to optimize the production and distribution of heat and cold within the hospitals without affecting the air conditioning service quality. One of the most critical components of hospitals for heat supply is the clean steam generator which is used for supplying clean air for sensitive rooms (e.g. burnt patients’ rooms) and thermal disinfection of medical tools. Therefore, the immediate focus of the project is to develop an efficient and cost-effective solar-based clean steam generator design. The system will take advantage of a solar semi-parabolic trough collector with a maximum temperature output of 160 C, which is sufficient for steam generation. The ultimate goal is to form a competitive collaborating consortium of Nordic academic and commercial partners with a strong proposal on this concept for a funding application for the Nordic-Built program in late 2023. The further developed concepts and solutions coming out of this 2-year cooperation will form the foundation of the future joint projects of the partners for different EU and Nordic frameworks.