Energy efficiency in a hospital building case study: Hospitais da universidade de Coimbra

Hospital buildings are usually large and complexes buildings that operates continuously for 24 hours a day, seven days a week and that consume energy on a large scale in different ways. Hospitals have high bills of electricity and fuel. An effective energy management is required to implement energy efficiency measures for energy savings without affecting the quality of service, in particular patient comfort and quality patient care. The aim of this paper is to present the evaluation of the energy saving measures identified and already implemented or to be implemented in the main building of a public Portuguese hospital - Hospitais da Universidade de Coimbra. The energy saving measures analyzed involves lifts, chillers, lighting and building envelope. The paper includes the first results obtained with the implementation of the measures. With these results we can conclude that it is possible to reduce energy consumption without reducing comfort level in a healthcare building.