Dynamic energy performance analysis: Case study for energy efficiency retrofits of hospital buildings

This paper investigates several actions for the energy refurbishment of some buildings of the University Hospital Federico II of Naples. The analysis focuses on a specific lot of 4 buildings, representative of the whole district hospital. For those structures, sustainable energy savings actions are investigated. They regard the installation of: i) roofs thermal insulation; ii) a substation climatic 3-way valve; iii) radiators thermostatic valves; iv) AHU (air handling unit) time-programmable regulation. This paper aims at presenting an investigation methodology, useful for designers and other stakeholders involved in hospital energy refurbishments, based on an integrated approach which combines dynamic energy performance simulations and experimental campaigns. In order to measure all the simulations' missing input parameters, a suitable experimental analysis, including measurements of temperature, humidity, flow rate and density of construction materials, is performed. A thermographic investigation is also performed for investigating the building envelope performance. This analysis showed that significant savings can be achieved especially by adopting radiators thermostatic valves and AHU regulations. Coherently, the installation of a 3-way valve in the substation does not determine significant additional savings when radiators thermostatic valves are already installed. For high-rise buildings, roofs insulation returns only marginal reductions of space heating and cooling demands. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.