Tips for improving HVAC performance in hospitals

Measuring performance in hospital HVAC systems goes beyond heating and cooling, since lives are at stake every day. Infection control is a key requirement in hospital HVAC systems to lesson the risk of microbial contamination, which means those responsible for facilities management have additional concerns when dealing the heating, ventilation and air conditioning.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Hospital Energy Alliance developed a fact sheet entitled, “Hospitals Save Energy and Money by Optimizing HVAC Performance.” http://apps1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/publications/pdfs/alliances/heahvacfs.pdf

I’ll highlight some of the key points that relate to coils here:

• Hospitals should schedule and perform regular maintenance checks to minimize pressure drops across the coils.

• Keeping coils clean can dramatically improve performance of the hospital’s entire HVAC system.

• Hospitals should consider adding a coil bypass on both heating and cooling coils. When coils are not in operation, a bypass damper will open to allow air to pass through with a substantial pressure drop, significantly reducing energy use by fans.

Other tips related to HVAC performance in hospitals undergoing renovations or expansions include:

• Wait until after energy efficient upgrades in areas such as lighting and windows are completed before assessing the entire HVAC system, because those upgrades may impact heating and cooling requirements.

• Assess air-flow requirements for different hospital regions, since office and storage spaces may have different HVAC needs than medical areas.

If you need help selecting coils for your hospital’s HVAC system, please give us a call at 1-855-Coil-Now.