Possibilities of Using Sustainable Energy Technologies including CHP Systems, Solar Photovoltaics and Heat Pumps in Hospitals



Abstract Views
676

Downloads
482

Citations

Share

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.sidebar##

Submitted Mar 4, 2022
Published Mar 30, 2022
10.24018/ejenergy.2022.2.2.52

Abstract viewed = 676 times

Table of Contents

##plugins.themes.bootstrap3.article.main##

Hospitals consume large amounts of energy in their daily operations. The necessity to comply with the global targets for climate change mitigation requires the decrease in their energy and fossil fuels consumption as well as reduction of their CO2 emissions. The aims of the current work are to study the possibilities of using several clean and low carbon emission technologies for heat, cooling and electricity generation in hospitals. The use of solar-PV panels, CHP systems and heat pumps has been examined as well as the possibility of financing these environmentally friendly energy technologies with external funding. Our results indicate that the abovementioned sustainable energy technologies are mature, reliable and cost-efficient providing heat, cooling and electricity in hospitals having also positive economic, social and environmental impacts. Their combined use with other low or zero carbon emission technologies could help in the transformation of hospital buildings to nearly zero energy buildings minimizing or zeroing their carbon footprint due to energy use. Various financial tools have been developed so far utilizing mainly private funds for financing clean energy investments in hospitals with external resources. Present work is important since it indicates that the previously mentioned sustainable energy technologies can be used in hospitals assisting in their transformation to low carbon emission organizations since in coming decades the mitigation of climate change in our societies will be necessary and crucial.

Keywords: CHP systems, energy, financing, heat pumps, hospitals, low carbon, solar-PV, sustainability

References

  1. Shen Ch, Zhao K, Ge J, Zhou Q. Analysis of building energy consumption in a hospital in the summer and cold winter area. Energy Procedia. 2019; 158: 3735-3740.
     Google Scholar
  2. Bawaneh K, Ghazi Nezami F, Rasheduzzaman Md, Deken B. Energy consumption analysis and characterization of healthcare facilities in the United States. Energies. 2019; 12: 3775.
     Google Scholar
  3. Hu SC, Chen JD, Chuah YK. Energy cost and consumption in a large acute hospital. International Journal of Architectural Science. 2004; 5(1): 11-19.
     Google Scholar
  4. Ji R, Qu S. Investigation and evaluation of energy consumption performance for hospital buildings in China. Sustainability. 2019; 11: 1724.
     Google Scholar
  5. Rohde T, Martinez R. Equipment and energy usage in a large teaching hospital in Norway. Journal of Healthcare Engineering. 2015; 6(3): 419-434.
     Google Scholar
  6. Harsem TT. Reduction of total energy consumption in hospitals. IFHC Paris. 1 June 2011.
     Google Scholar
  7. Gonzalez Gonzalez A, Garcia-Sanz-Calcedo J, Rodriguez Salgado D. Evaluation of energy consumption in German hospitals: Benchmarking in public sector. Energies. 2018; 11: 2279.
     Google Scholar
  8. Garcia-Sanz-Calcedo J, Gonzalez Gonzalez A, Rodriguez Salgado D. Assessment of energy consumption in Spanish hospitals. In: The role of Exergy in Energy and the Environment. S. Nizetic and A. Papadopoulos (eds), Springer International Publishing, 2018.
     Google Scholar
  9. Szklo AS, Borgetti Soares J, Tolmasquim MT. Energy consumption indicators and CHP technical potential in the Brazilian hospital sector. Energy Conversion and Management. 2004; 45: 2075-2091.
     Google Scholar
  10. Garcia-Sanz-Calcedo J. Analysis on energy efficiency in healthcare buildings. Journal of Healthcare Engineering. 2014; 5(3): 361-374.
     Google Scholar
  11. Santamouris M, Dascalaki E, Balaras C, Argiriou A, Gaglia A. Energy performance and energy conservation in healthcare buildings in Hellas. Energy Conservation Management. 1994; 35(4): 293-305.
     Google Scholar
  12. Vourdoubas J. Energy consumption and carbon emissions in Venizelio hospital in Crete, Greece: can it be carbon neutral?. Journal of Engineering and Architecture. 2018; 6(1): 19-27.
     Google Scholar
  13. Pina EA, Lozano MA, Serra LM. Opportunities for the integration of solar thermal heat, photovoltaics and biomass in a Brazilian hospital. In: EuroSun 2018 Conference Proceedings, 2018.
     Google Scholar
  14. Kassem Y, Gokcekus H, Guvensoy A. Techno-economic feasibility of grid-connected solar PV system at Near East University hospital, Northern Cyprus. Energies. 2021; 14: 7627.
     Google Scholar
  15. Mat Isa N, Shekhar Das S, Wei Tan C, Yatim AHM, Yiew K. A techno-economic assessment of a combined heat and power photovoltaic/Fuel Cell/Battery energy system in Malaysia hospital. Energy. 2016; 112: 75-90.
     Google Scholar
  16. Mat Isa N, Wei Tan C, Yatim AHM. A techno-economic assessment of a grid connected photovoltaic system for hospital building in Malaysia. Materials Science and Engineering. 2017; 217,: 012016.
     Google Scholar
  17. Buonomano A, Calise F, Feruzi G, Vanoli L. A novel renewable poly-generation system for hospital buildings: Design, simulation and thermo-economic optimization. Applied Thermal Engineering. 2014; 67: 43-60.
     Google Scholar
  18. Burger B, Newman P. Hospitals and Sustainability. Curtin University of Technology, Australia. 2017.
     Google Scholar
  19. Al-Akori A. PV Systems for Rural Health Facilities in Developing Areas. Report on International Energy Agency Photovoltaic Power Systems Programme (IEAPVPS) T9-15. 2014.
     Google Scholar
  20. On-site commercial solar-PV decision guide for the healthcare sector Buildings. US Department of Energy. [Internet] 2015. Available from: https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/sites/default/files/attachments/On_Site_Solar_Decision_Guide_Healthcare.pdf
     Google Scholar
  21. Oyewole Olufemi D. A review of combined heat and power systems for hospital applications. International Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research. 2020; 11(11): 312-318.
     Google Scholar
  22. Combined heat and power provides energy resiliency to medical facilities. A fact sheet from The PEW Charitable Trusts. [Internet] 2014. Available from: https://www.pewtrusts.org/-/media/assets/2014/08/chphealthcare814.pdf
     Google Scholar
  23. Combined heat and power resource guide for hospital applications. Midwest CHP application center. [Internet] 2007. Available from: https://archive.epa.gov/region1/healthcare/web/pdf/ushospitalguidebook_111907.pdf
     Google Scholar
  24. Combined heat and power: Enabling resilient energy infrastructure for critical facilities. Oak Ridge National Laboratory. [Internet] 2013. Available from: https://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/chp-enabling-resilient-energy-infrastructure-critical-facilities-report-march
     Google Scholar
  25. Padinger R, Aigenbauer S, Schmidl C. Best practise report on decentralized biomass fired CHP plants and status of biomass fired small-and micro scale CHP technologies. IEA Bioenergy. 32. February 2019.
     Google Scholar
  26. Combined heat and power technologies. A detailed guide for CHP developers - part 2. Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, UK. [Internet] 2021. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/961492/Part_2_CHP_Technologies_BEIS_v03.pdf
     Google Scholar
  27. Combined heat and power fact sheet series, Better Buildings. US Department of Energy. [Internet] 2020. Available from: https://betterbuildingssolutioncenter.energy.gov/resources/combined-heat-and-power-chp-fact-sheet-series-hospitals
     Google Scholar
  28. Combined heat and power potential in hospitals, Combined heat and power alliance. [Internet] 2019. Available from: https://chpalliance.org
     Google Scholar
  29. Vourdoubas J. Applications of distributed electricity generation systems in hospitals. European Journal of Applied Sciences. 2021; 9(1): 10-20.
     Google Scholar
  30. Gulseven C, Zeki Yilmazoglu M. Heating water and tap water production with an air-to-water heat pump by using the waste heat of an oil-free air compressor. E35 Web of Conferences. 2019; 111: 06034.
     Google Scholar
  31. Chalmers B. Heat pumps and heat recovery for healthcare. 2015.
     Google Scholar
  32. European bank, Supporting Guide. Energy and Resource efficiency in Hospitals and health care facilities. [Internet] 2021. Available from. https://e5p.eu/public/upload/media/Healthcare.pdf
     Google Scholar
  33. Abd Rahman NM, Haw LCh, Jamaludin MH, Kamaluddin KA, Ahmad Zaidi TZ, Hussin A, et al. Field study of hybrid photovoltaic thermal and heat pump system for public hospital in the tropics. Case Studies in Thermal Engineering. 2022; 30: 101722.
     Google Scholar
  34. Shen Ch-Ch, Lu J-H, Chuo W-H. Water management of heat pump system for hot water supply in a medium size hospital, World Academy of Sciences. Engineering and Technology. 2009; 53: 386-392.
     Google Scholar
  35. Lemmens B. Why go geothermal? Benefits of integrating ground coupled heat pump in hospital. Workshop 1, in 4th ECHE-51st IHF Conference, May 30th-June 1st, 2011, 34-36.
     Google Scholar
  36. Almeida S. Geothermal heating and cooling in healthcare applications. GEO-XERGY Systems Inc.
     Google Scholar
  37. Valancius R, Cerneckiene J, Singh RM. Review of combined solar thermal and heat pump systems installations in Lithuanian hospitals. In: Eurosun 2018 Conference Proceedings.
     Google Scholar
  38. Taking the climate heat out of process heat. TRANSPOWER. [Internet] 2019. Available from: https://www.transpower.co.nz/resources/taking-climate-heat-out-process-heat
     Google Scholar
  39. Chiang Ch-Y, Yang R, Yang K-H, Lee Sh-K. Performance analysis of an integrated heat pump with air-conditioning system for the existing building application. Sustainability. 2017; 9: 530.
     Google Scholar
  40. Nordic Know-how 2020. Best practices of sustainable healthcare in the Nordics. Geothermal Energy. [Internet] 2020. Available from: https://nordicshc.org/images/2GeothermalEn.pdf
     Google Scholar
  41. Carbonari A, Fioretti R, Lemma M, Principi P. Managing energy retrofit of acute hospitals and community clinics through EPC contracting: The MARTE project. Energy Procedia. 2015; 78: 1033-1038.
     Google Scholar
  42. Guide to energy performance contracting best practices. Department of Energy and Climate Change, UK. [Internet] 2015. Available from: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/395076/guide_to_energy_performance_contracting_best_practices.pdf
     Google Scholar
  43. Kirk A, Grenfell P, Murage P. A planetary health perspective to de-carbonizing public hospitals in Ireland: A health policy report. European Journal of Environment and Public Health. 2021; 5(2): em0067.
     Google Scholar
  44. Climate-smart healthcare-Low-carbon and resilience strategies for the health sector. World Bank Group. [Internet] 2017. Available from: https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/27809
     Google Scholar
  45. Perez-Lombard L, Ortiz J, Pout C. A review on buildings energy consumption information. Energy and Buildings. 2008; 40(3): 394-398.
     Google Scholar
  46. Combined heat and power technology, Fact sheet series, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, US Department of Energy, 2017. [Internet] 2017. Available from: [Internet] 2017. https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2017/12/f46/CHP%20Overview-120817_compliant_0.pdf
     Google Scholar