Advanced Energy Design Guidance Offered for Large
Hospitals
ATLANTA—A dose of guidance to help save energy in
hospitals is prescribed by the newest Advanced Energy Design Guide (AEDG),
written by a group of leading building industry organizations.
The AEDG for Large Hospitals is the fourth in the series,
designed to provide recommendations for achieving 50% energy savings when
compared with the minimum code requirements of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard
90.1-2004, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings.
The book was developed by a committee representing a
diverse group of energy professionals drawn from ASHRAE, the American Institute
of Architects (AIA), the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES), the Department
of Energy (DOE) and the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).
“Most important in the Advanced Energy Design Guide for
Large Hospitals is the recognition that patient outcomes, safety and experience
trump all cost- and energy-saving strategies,” Shanti Pless, chair of committee
that wrote the guide, said. “However, a well designed, constructed, operated
and maintained facility is a major contributor to the environment of care and
can improve patient outcomes, safety and comfort.”
The Guide focuses on standard mid-to-large-size hospitals
that would typically be at least 100,000 square feet in size but the strategies
apply to all sizes and classifications of large hospitals. Space types covered
include conference, lobby, lounge and office areas; reception/waiting areas and
examination and treatment rooms; clean and soiled workrooms; nurse stations,
nurseries, patient rooms; operating rooms, procedure rooms, recovery rooms and
sterilizer equipment areas; pharmacies and laboratories; triage, trauma and
emergency rooms; physical therapy and radiology/imaging rooms; and storage,
receiving and mechanical/electrical/telecom rooms.
Included in the Guide are recommendations for the design
of the building opaque envelope; fenestration; lighting systems; HVAC systems;
building automation and controls; outdoor air requirements; service water
heating; measurement and verification; and plug and process loads, including
kitchen equipment.
Along with whole building and technology case studies,
the Guide highlights that existing reliable technologies and design
philosophies can be used to reduce energy, according to Pless. Some of the
technologies and philosophies highlighted in the book include:
• Use of
shape and form to give access to
daylighting in spaces that usually have no windows
• Daylighting
of staff areas and publics spaces while at the same time specifying proper
glazing to control solar gain
• Elimination
of reheat, which is the largest energy saver from the HVAC system. Other HVAC
savings comes from the de-coupling of ventilation air treatment and space
conditioning and the elimination of steam boilers
•
Recommendations to reduce and control plug and process loads including
commercial kitchen equipment
• Reductions
in interior and exterior lighting
•
Recommendations involving LED surgery lights, which have the added
benefit of allowing surgeons to set the thermostat higher in the operating
rooms
• Measurement
and verification recommendations to demonstrate savings are being realized with
the added benefit of helping solve operational issues
The 50% Advanced Energy Design Guide series follows an
earlier series that provided guidance to achieve 30% savings. The ultimate goal
is to provide guidance to achieve net zero energy buildings; that is, buildings
that, on an annual basis, produce more energy than they consume.
Other books in the 50% savings series deal small to
medium office buildings, K-12 schools and medium to big box retail buildings.
Since the Guides first began to be offered as free downloads at the beginning
of 2008, more than 400,000 have been downloaded.
For more information on the entire Advanced Energy Design
Guide series, or to download a free copy, please visit
www.ashrae.org/freeaedg. A print
version of the Guide may be purchased for $82 ($69, ASHRAE members). To order,
contact ASHRAE Customer Service at 1-800-527-4723 (United States and Canada) or
404-636-8400 (worldwide), fax 404-321-5478, or visit
www.ashrae.org/bookstore.
